‘The Good Doctor’ Actor Hill Harper Announces Campaign For U.S. Senate Seat In Michigan

Hill Harper announced on Monday, his plans to run for U.S. Senate in Michigan to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who stated in January that she would not be running for reelection in 2024. The actor posted his message to Twitter, dedicating his bid for office to his adopted son, Pierce Harper.

In the attached campaign video, Harper addresses Pierce, saying, “You see the world you’re growing up in doesn’t feel like it’s getting any better, it’s getting more divisive and more dangerous. When you told me you were afraid to go to school because of shootings, that’s not freedom.”

He later added, “At the core of so much of this are too many politicians in office who don’t really care about people.”

Harper told The Detroit News that as a member of the Screen Actors Guild, he would be the only senator who is “a current dues-paying, card-carrying union member.” He also told the outlet that he owns a coffee shop in Detroit, mentioning that he would also be one of the few small business owners in the U.S. Senate.

Harper is best known for his role as Dr. Marcus Andrews on the ABC drama series The Good Doctor and also hosted HLN’s true-crime series How It Really Happened.

He is running as a Democrat and will enter the primaries against candidates such as Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin.

Harper isn’t the only actor from TV to run for U.S. office in 2024. Ben Savage, who played Cory Matthews on the 90s sitcom Boy Meets World, announced that he would run for Rep. Adam Schiff‘s (D-Calif.) position in the House.

This Senate seat is important for Michigan, which is a state that changed sides from Donald Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020. During next year’s election, Democrats will be defending 23 of their 34 Senate seats, including those in key battleground states like Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nevada.