Photo Courtesy of Hill Harper campaign site
CSI: NY actor Hill Harper announced he’s running for Michigan’s available U.S. Senate Seat on Monday in an Instagram post.
“We can all feel it. DC just isn’t getting things done for people – because special interests always come first,” The Good Doctor actor wrote in the post’s caption. “As a union organizer, single dad, and business owner, I understand the challenges Michiganders are facing right now. They demand a Senator who’ll do what’s right for ALL of us – not just lobbyists.”
He concluded with a bomb-dropper, “That’s why today, I’m announcing my campaign for U.S. Senate!”
The Instagram post included a video that served as an announcement and open letter to his adopted son, Pierce Hill Harper.
Harper made it clear in the video that one of his motivations for running for Michigan’s U.S. Senate chair was to improve the world for his son and others, which has become dangerous and divisive.
“When you [Pierce] told me that you were afraid to go to school because of shootings, that’s not freedom,” he stated.
With Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow retiring, six Democratic candidates are in the race.
Harper’s campaign focuses on being “for the people” and providing an improved way of life.
“Whether you drive an Uber, work in a hospital or teach in our schools, we all feel the impacts of a broken health care system, a crumbling democracy, and the urgent crisis of climate change. Without energized, bold leadership in the U.S. Senate, our state will continue to be held back from achieving our full potential. We deserve better than politics as usual,” Harper stated, according to his campaign site.
He added he aims to “be an independent voice to fight for all Michiganders, instead of just special interests and big dollar donors.”
In addition to his successful acting career, Harper has released insightful books like “Letters to a Young Sister: Define Your Destiny,” “Letters to an Incarcerated Brother” and “The Conversation.”
He also opened a coffee shop in Detroit, Roasting Plant Coffee, in 2017. He attended Brown University and Harvard Law School, earning three Ivy League degrees, before embarking on his acting journey.
As a thyroid cancer survivor, Harper sat on his Harvard classmate and former President Barack Obama’s Cancer Panel.
The other Democratic candidates are Nasser Beydoun, Zack Burns, Lesilie Love, Pamela Pugh and Elissa Slotkin.