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 2020.
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 2018 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 liberal–conservative 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 6, 2015 to Dec 3, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Gary Peters sits on the following committees:
- Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
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Senate Committee on Armed Services
- Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
- Member, Subcommittee on Airland
- Joint Economic Committee
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Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
- Member, Subcommittee on Aviation and Space
- Member, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
- Member, Subcommittee on Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather
- Member, Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety
Enacted Legislation
Peters was the primary sponsor of 7 bills that were enacted:
- S. 3031 (115th): Federal Personal Property Management Act of 2018
- S. 3678 (115th): A bill to amend the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 to provide flexibility with respect to the leaseback of certain Federal real property, and ...
- S. 791: Small Business Innovation Protection Act of 2017
- S. 322: Pet and Women Safety Act of 2017
- S. 3492 (114th): A bill to designate the Traverse City VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Traverse City, Michigan, as the “Colonel Demas T. Craw ...
- S. 565 (114th): Federal Vehicle Repair Cost Savings Act of 2015
- H.R. 5302 (111th): State Small Business Credit Initiative Act of 2010
Does 7 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 (22%) Armed Forces and National Security (18%) Transportation and Public Works (14%) Science, Technology, Communications (13%) Education (9%) Health (9%) Commerce (8%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Peters’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 2974: A bill to require the Postmaster General to establish a comprehensive organizational strategy ...
- S. 2905: Preventing Diabetes in Medicare Act of 2019
- S.Res. 433: A resolution designating February 1, 2020, as “Blue Star Mother’s Day”.
- S. 2749: DOTGOV Online Trust in Government Act of 2019
- S. 2730: Drone Advisory Committee for the 21st Century Act
- S. 2643: Judge Damon Keith Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2019
- S. 2560: Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act of 2019
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2015 to Dec 2019, Peters missed 12 of 1,483 roll call votes, which is 0.8%. This is better than the median of 1.5% 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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
