Debbie Stabenow

Deborah Ann Stabenow ( STAB-ə-now; née Greer; born April 29, 1950) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Michigan from 2001 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she was Michigan's first female U.S. senator. Before her election to the Senate, Stabenow was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Michigan's 8th congressional district from 1997 to 2001. Previously, she served on the Ingham County Board of Commissioners and in the Michigan State Legislature. Stabenow was reelected to the Senate in 2006, 2012, and 2018. She became the state's senior senator upon Carl Levin's retirement in 2015. Stabenow chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2021 to 2025. She became the chair of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee in 2017 and served in that role until she retired from the Senate. At the start of the 118th Congress, Stabenow became the dean of the Michigan congressional delegation, upon the retirement of Representative Fred Upton. On January 5, 2023, she announced that she would not seek reelection in 2024.