Peters is the junior senator from Michigan and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 6, 2015. Peters is next up for reelection in 2026 and serves until Jan 3, 2027.
He was previously the representative for Michigan’s 14th congressional district as a Democrat from 2013 to 2014; and the representative for Michigan’s 9th congressional district as a Democrat from 2009 to 2012.
![Photo of Sen. Gary Peters [D-MI]](/static/legislator-photos/412305-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2020 Report Card for Peters.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Peters is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Peters has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jun 16, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Gary Peters sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Peters was the primary sponsor of 25 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 3418 (116th): STORM Act
- S. 1869 (116th): Secure Federal LEASEs Act
- S. 2216 (116th): TEAM Veteran Caregivers Act
- S. 2730 (116th): Drone Advisory Committee for the 21st Century Act
- S. 1342 (116th): Great Lakes Environmental Sensitivity Index Act of 2020
- S. 1694 (116th): One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act
- S. 4472 (116th): Ensuring Network Security Act
Does 25 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Peters sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (31%) Armed Forces and National Security (13%) Science, Technology, Communications (12%) Commerce (11%) Health (10%) Education (9%) Emergency Management (8%) Transportation and Public Works (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Peters’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 2007: A bill to require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct ...
- S. 1941: A bill to direct the Director of the Office of Management and Budget ...
- S. 1917: A bill to establish a K-12 education cybersecurity initiative, and for other purposes.
- S. 1853: A bill to amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a Motorcyclist ...
- S. 1720: Postal Service Reform Act of 2021
- S. 1681: Promoting Service in Transportation Act
- S. 1556: A bill to require a report on the feasibility and benefits of establishing ...
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2015 to Jun 2021, Peters missed 22 of 2,061 roll call votes, which is 1.1%. This is better than the median of 1.6% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- Office of Sen. Gary Peters for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
