Moss announces for Stevens' congressional seat

By Lisa Brody

Democratic State Senator Jeremy Moss announced on Thursday, May 8, that he is running for the open 11th District congressional seat which Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-Oakland County) is vacating to run for U.S. Senate.

“My candidacy is born out of the anxiety and frustrations I have been hearing about the economy and about democracy,” Moss said. “I think it will take a generation of new leaders to take on this fight.. That's the way forward. It's time for us to step forward.”

Moss said he doesn't believe he fits into a “category,” such as progressive or moderate. “I consider myself effective,” he said. “I'm rising to the challenge,” brought on by the times.”

He believes it is imperative to uphold truth and data, and the Voting Rights Act “secures all other rights.”

While Moss is the first candidate to jump into running for the open seat, he is not likely to be the only one. Oakland County Board of Commissioners Chairman Dave Woodward, also a Democrat, is considering running, as is former Congressman Andy Levin of Bloomfield Township, who Stevens beat by 20 points in a primary in 2022. Former Republican Congressman David Trott, who held the seat for four years before Stevens, is floating the idea of running again – as a Democrat.

Moss, who currently represents Southfield, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, Auburn Hills, Lake Angelus, Lathrup Village, Pontiac, parts of Detroit, Waterford and Southfield Township, was Southfield's youngest city council member. He then moved to the state House of Representatives and state Senate, where he made history as the first openly-gay state Senator. Technically Moss lives just outside the district in Southfield but members of the U.S. House are not required to live in the district.

If elected to congress, he said he would be the first “out gay member of congress from Michigan.” He would continue working and fighting for the LGBTQ+ community.

“I believe in a government that will lift communities up, not leave them behind,” Moss said. “I’m running in the mold of my mentor, retired Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, who impressed on me that public service is about putting people first. Her leadership continues to inspire me and I will take that spirit with me to Washington.”

Moss currently serves as Michigan Senate President Pro Tempore and has spent his tenure in the state legislature tackling the biggest issues facing Michiganders, and noted that in 2023, when the Democrats controlled the state House, Senate and governor’s office, he had the most bills signed in the Senate. He noted that even when the Republicans controlled all three branches, he still was one of the top sponsors of bills that were signed into law. Moss has successfully fought to protect reproductive freedom, pass Michigan’s first gun safety laws in a generation, repeal taxes on seniors, and expand the Working Families Tax Credit. He’s also been the legislature’s leading champion to safeguard voting rights and make state government more transparent. He is a prime mover of legislation extending the state’s Freedom of Information Act to include the legislature and administration, and was an early supporter of extending the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include the LGBTQ+ community.

“I look for ways to get into these fights – and sometimes that means speaking out and sometimes that means passing legislation to improve lives,” Moss said.

One of those fights – which garnered Moss national attention – was a press conference called by state Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) to announce he was introducing a resolution to have the Supreme Court overturn same-sex marriages. “I went there to see what it was about, and found a seat up front because I wanted him to look me in the eye. He left without taking any questions – so people asked me questions,” Moss explained. “It was a huge opportunity for me to tell the other side of the story.

“My feet took me into that room but my heart got me to speak,” he said.