Justin Amash is joining a crowded Republican field looking to flip a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan.
The former Republican from Grand Rapids posted on X saying, "I’m convinced that no candidate would be better positioned to win both the Republican primary and the general election."
It comes just over a month after Amash launched an exploratory committee to join the Senate race.
Amash left the U.S. House and did not run for re-election in 2021, and previously left the Republican Party in 2019 to become an Independent then said he was joining the Libertarian Party in 2020.
"Regardless of who wins the White House and Congress, the United States will remain deeply polarized. What we need is not a rubber stamp for either party, but an independent-minded senator prepared to challenge anyone and everyone on the people’s behalf," Amash wrote on X.
He has been a past critic of former President Donald Trump, and had even explored a 2020 presidential run as a Libertarian candidate.
The list of Republicans running for the open Senate seat has a wide variety of candidates. They include former Rep. Mike Rogers, former Rep. Peter Meijer, who replaced Amash and was also a vocal Trump critic, and several others. Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig was running and then withdrew from the race.
On the Democratic side, candidates include Rep. Elissa Slotkin, actor Hill Harper, Nasser Beydoun and Zack Burns.
They are running to replace Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who announced last year she would not seek re-election in 2024.
