I admit I had never heard of Hill Harper until yesterday. He’s currently on The Good Doctor (a show I do not watch), but if you look up his acting resume he’s been working steadily in (mostly) TV since 1993. But he’s not just a pretty face! Harper graduated from Brown with a BA in Economics and Sociology, and received a couple masters degrees from Harvard, where he also played basketball with a kid named Barry Obama. So he’s an interesting, multi-faceted guy. But should he be making his first political run for office for the 2024 Democratic Senate seat in Michigan, where he’s only lived for 5 years? He announced his candidacy yesterday:
Actor Hill Harper announced on Monday that he’ll challenge U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin for the Democratic nomination for a Michigan Senate seat in 2024.
Both Harper, 57, and Slotkin, 47, will be campaigning to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow in what is expected to be one of the most highly competitive (and expensive) 2024 Senate contests.
In a campaign video posted Monday morning, Harper can be heard reading a message to his son, Pierce, whom he adopted in the spring of 2017.
“Dear Pierce,” Harper says in the voiceover of the ad, “I’m recording this video for you because I’m about to make a big announcement. And it’s going to be tough for us.”
As clips to the actor and his son are seen, Harper continues: “You know, I’m not going to be able to tuck you in every night, or do our nighttime prayers together… Fighting for what you believe in is hard enough, but it’s worth doing when you found something that makes your heart beat faster. And for me, it’s you.”
“For me, adopting you is the greatest thing I’ve done in my life,” Harper continues.
Harper, who plays Dr. Marcus Andrews on the hit ABC medical drama The Good Doctor, moved to Detroit in 2018 and purchased a local coffee roaster and has since spent time revitalizing one of the city’s most historic homes.
This campaign marks his first run for office. Prior to pursuing his acting career, Harper attended Brown University and Harvard Law.
“We’re in a state where I think the triple blue leadership in Lansing has done really hard work moving the state forward, but in Washington, D.C., it’s still broken. And folks feel like it’s still broken. And I’m one of them,” the actor said in a statement to The Detroit News.
He continued: “Without energized, bold leadership in the U.S. Senate, our state will continue to be held back from achieving its full potential. We deserve a better brand of politics than politics as usual, and that’s why I’m running for the U.S. Senate.”
Speaking to The Detroit News, Harper acknowledged he wasn’t sure whether, if elected, he would continue to film The Good Doctor, noting that filming has been put on pause amid the Writers Guild of America’s ongoing strike.
“That is impossible to say because we’re on strike. The industry is on strike right now. Nothing’s happening as far as the industry, so who knows? he told the outlet.
Harper faces an uphill battle in launching a campaign against Slotkin, who announced her campaign four months ago and has since raised more than $5 million and secured a number of high-profile endorsements.
Harper wouldn’t commit to quitting acting if he becomes a senator, saying it was hard to tell with the writer’s strike. First of all, if he gets elected, he would start work as a senator in January 2025. Is he suggesting that the strike will still be going on then? And second, of course he won’t be filming if he’s elected to Congress. As educated and dynamic as he seems to be, it’s hard to see how Michigan would select him against Rep. Elissa Slotkin. (Damn, I just looked her up and her birthday was yesterday–he announced he was running against her on her birthday!)
You can see the campaign video below, so you can judge for yourself how the speaking-to-his-son construct works for you. It didn’t work for me. “You know, I’m not going to be able to tuck you in at night, or do our nighttime prayers together.” He’s choosing to run. He doesn’t have to be doing this, it’s certainly not an expected (or even logical) next step in his career.
And those are all my thoughts before even getting to the conversation of: aren’t the stakes in our country too high right now for an actor to try breaking into the US Senate?
We can all feel it: D.C just isn’t getting things done for people.
We need representatives who'll take on special interests, get money out of politics, and make our government work for all of us.
That’s why today, I’m announcing my campaign for U.S. Senate in Michigan! ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/lv11ncDcsK
— Hill Harper (@hillharper) July 10, 2023
photos credit: Michael Simon/startraksphoto.com/Cover Images, Olivier Huitel / Avalon and via social media
I’m confused. Is Slotkin bad at her job? I glanced at her wikipedia page and she seems competent and committed to serving as a Democrat. I haven’t looked at her voting record so I don’t know if she is voting for Dem issues as much as she should.
So at first glance, this seems like a vanity project for Harper. Why go up against an elected official who seems to be good at her job?
Also, that candidacy announcement speech is terrible. Directing the speech to his child comes off as pithy, pretentious, and as if he’s afraid of talking with adult voters.
I’ve always liked him but this is a bad look for him.
She’s currently my parents’ congressional rep and she’s AMAZING. They’re really bummed that it looks like they’ll lose her as their rep. She managed to flip a district that’d been Republican since Debbie Stabenow left the seat for her senate role in 2000. I love the symmetry that she’s following that same path from the same district.
She also has the increasingly rare ability to talk to Republicans and have them hear what she’s saying without immediately demonizing her. My aunt/uncle always voted R until Trump, and they actively enjoy voting for her.
No thankyou – deeply problematic individual.
“And those are all my thoughts before even getting to the conversation of: aren’t the stakes in our country too high right now for an actor to try breaking into the US Senate?”
Sorry, but what an antiquated take! Without knowing anything about this guy, I hate judging people by their careers. You shouldn’t have to be a career politician with an Ivy league degree and 2 JDs to be a politician. Plenty of people (actors, writers, plumbers, servers) are very politically active, engaged, and would make great politicians.
I agree. I’ve been hearing of Hill Harper and his activism for over 10 years. He has been active in the community for over 20 years. As a party Dems are starting at Joe Biden as the top guy. That tells me we need to make some serious changes now.
Re: the anti-actor bias, I kinda get it. For one, one of the worst Presidents in US history was a former actor. For another, his experience is so far from the average person, and I for one would like an elected official who has spent much more time in the state and who has experienced more of the mundane parts of life that affect us the most. And there is such an arrogance in his statement. He’s barely lived in Michigan, suggests that he might want to keep his day job, and is running against a terrific (female) politician who has devoted more of her life to service. I don’t think being an actor eliminates him, but it’s pretty flippin’ arrogant to not gain even a tiny bit of experience in politics before he thinks he deserves one of the most powerful positions in the nation.
Full disclosure I haven’t watched the video so can’t comment on how the ‘talking to my son’ approach lands with me but starting on such negative notes is a very questionable choice. I know you can argue that wanting to do this in spite of the negative impact on his family shows how committed he is but I don’t agree with the choice. Tell us how excited you are and how your passion will have a positive impact on your prospective constituents (not sure that’s the right term – I’m British – but you get the idea).
I’m no Michigander—I would love to hear what people from the state think about this.
Elissa Slotkin has a very Biden-friendly voting record, is a more conservative (Not! like a Joe Manchin at all though!) Democrat, pro choice, worked in the CIA and DoD in the past and is able to beat Rs in her district. From the outside looking in she seems to be doing a good job. In her personal life, she announced that she’s getting divorced.
Hill Harper has actively helped Ds get elected and has been involved in political-adjacent ventures. Since he’s a single father to his son, that is why he’s aimed his speech at his child. (How would a single mother do this—to me that’s okay.) I’m not against people from different sectors of society running for office (outside of the US many politicians have never studied law, for instance), but I don’t like that he announced his candidacy on his rival’s birthday.
If you’re an American voting from abroad, like me, please make sure you register to vote well in advance. Everything takes longer now than in the past. Also, my eldest is now 18 and has US citizenship though born abroad. About 2/3 of US states allow US children of US citizens born abroad to vote.
I am a Michigander and we’ll have to see what he brings to the table. I really like Slotkin in her current district and I fear that another Democrat may not be able to hold the seat. And I can’t vote in that election because I live in Rashida Tlaib’s district. 😀
#TheSquad
I know him from CSI:NY. If he wants to run, that’s fine – there should be more voices. Personally, I think the real place for change is in the state level. Not as glamorous, but he’d get a better idea of what his state needs.
I only know him from watching a few episodes of NCIS. I had such a negative visceral reaction to the tone of this post. He announced on her birthday? Really? So what? It’s not the logical next step in his career. What? He’s “only” lived in Detroit for 5 years. Know how long Hillary lived in NY before running?
One commenter said he was problematic. Tell me more about that. Another commenter posted that he’d been involved in getting D’s elected and been involved in politically adjacent venture. Tell me more about that and maybe why it’s a bad idea to run against Rep. Slotkin. I also agree that if a single mom had made such a video we wouldn’t look at the same way. This feels like some bias against this guy for some weird reason – because he’s an actor? There’s a place for conversation around that but geez.
A Michigander here – I have never heard of this guy. I’m a Democrat and I have been very happy with Slotkin’s service so far. While I am glad to see him move to Detroit and help contribute to the revitalization of the city, it would a lot for me to change my vote to him.
Thanks for responding , TNA.
Same @tna. I’m happy with Slotkin. I’m a Yooper (former Detroiter) and would love some better congress candidates up here though.
I don’t know who he is, but I have to say I’m really tired of people with zero policy or public service experience thinking that they are qualified for positions of national leadership. Isn’t there a seat on the school board or county commission that he can run for and get his feet wet first???
I agree with this. Sure, there are some people with the experiences and the connections and the drive to start at the top — even without nepotism, but I think that those people are, and should be, extreme exceptions. How have you voted in the past? How have you transformed your ideals and talking points into action? Those are questions that I’d have of anyone running for any office, but I’d look even more closely at someone trying to make the leap to US Senator — and for me, the acting background compounds my concerns, although years of obvious commitment to the communities that Harper hopes to represent would allay them somewhat.
Picky point: Harper talks about the importance of his son in his life, and the importance of raising his son “in Michigan – a community where people are kind”. When it comes to living his values though, I have questions, since Harper made his relationship with his son the focus of this ad. Is he leaving his very young son with others in his quest to make him “proud”? Dragging him with him to Washington— removing him from the kind Michigan community he claims to value? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
If he wins, or if he doesn’t, I hope he can be the kind of politician and parent that he claims he wants to be.
It’s no secret that Republicans have the money while Democrats have the voting numbers. Not a stretch to see the GOP disrupt the chances for Democrats to win by inserting straw or even fake candidates into important races. Problematic Eric Adams, former conservative Republicans, won his NYC mayor position as a Democrat. Florida had several “ghost” candidates on the ballot that came fuse voters. Is Harper this type of candidate? I don’t know. But I do know Elissa Slotkin has been a popular and effective representative on important House committees, including those convening on Homeland Security and Armed Services.
I am a longtime Michigander, who has voted for both Debbie Stabenow & Elissa Slotkin. (I’ve actually met Sen. Stabenow several times and she has always been wonderfully genuine.) Michigan–and even my county–is pretty purple, so having a ‘moderate’ Democrat who can flip a red district as Slotkin did is a great asset. I am planning on voting for her in the democratic primary.
I am not a fan of people with virtually zero political experience coming in & trying to start at the highest levels(*coughtrumpcough*), so I’m not enthusiastic about Harper Hill’s approach. Get some experience, work your way up, and then run for US Senate. Why are you choosing to run against a ‘good’ member of your own party, instead of running against, say, a bad Republican incumbent in your district?