Who’s most excited by the news that Sen. Gary Peters is bowing out?

Well, we weren’t expecting this one. U.S. Sen. Gary Peters pulled a surprise on Michigan Tuesday, announcing that he’s retiring well before you’d think his time had come.

Peters turns 68 in 2026. He’d probably rather spend time with his new grandchild in California than hang out in Washington dialing for dollars or keeping a breakneck campaign schedule.

Such retirement announcements are not that uncommon in Michigan. Debbie Stabenow was 74 when she hung it up. Don Riegle was 57, but he had other issues. Carl Levin was 80, but tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for anyone.

Ten Michigan U.S. senators died in office, and Peters clearly doesn’t want to make it 11.

While unexpected, the announcement gives politicos on both sides of the political spectrum a new golden ring to chase. That’s why I say the people most happy with Peters’ announcement are:

1.Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Stick with me on this.

Obviously, she’s not going to run for the U.S. Senate, but “Mayor” Pete Buttigieg would be foolish if he didn’t. Some were pushing Buttigieg to run for governor, now that he’s out of a job with Donald Trump in charge. He wasn’t completely sold on the idea.

Washington is more Buttigieg’s speed. A U.S. Senate seat gives the 43-year-old a new place to serve on the national stage. He’ll be in prime position for his presidential run whenever that happens. It probably won’t be 2028.

Win or lose, the odds of Buttigieg transitioning from a 2026 U.S. Senate campaign to a 2028 presidential campaign are long.

This, by extension, improves Whitmer’s national aspirations in 2028.

2. Jocelyn Benson. Phew, that was close. If Buttigieg were to run for the gubernatorial nomination, Benson would be in real trouble. Early polling on a hypothetical race between the two done by Steve Mitchell had Mayor Pete at 38% and Benson at 18%.

Yeah, some complain that Buttigieg is not a native Michigander. Others say he’s a carpetbagger. Nobody cares. People like this guy; if he’s on the ballot, he’s a force. At this point, Benson becomes the undisputed frontrunner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

3. Aric Nesbitt. On the Republican side, Senate Minority Leader Nesbitt got everyone’s attention this month when, three days after he announced his intention to run for governor, he said he’d already raised $1 million. Talk about letting the air out of the balloon for other semi-serious GOP hopefuls.

The most heavily rumored alternative was U.S. Rep. John James, the ambitious two-term congressman.

With Peters’ U.S. Senate seat suddenly open, James has a new rung to grasp, having overachieved against Stabenow in 2018 and Peters in 2020. Now, Nesbitt has former Attorney General Mike Cox and businessman Perry Johnson to worry about. Cox hasn’t been on a ballot in 15 years, and Johnson is 0-for-2 in getting on a ballot.

4. Tudor Dixon and Kevin Rinke. With the West Michigan money apparently going to Nesbitt for governor, Dixon, from the Muskegon area, was a political hopeful without a race until now. Theoretically, she could still run for governor, but without DeVos money, she’ll struggle.

Do the DeVos folks see her as an option for the U.S. Senate? She’s got a second chance, at least.

Rinke is in a similar situation in that he has a new option to consider. If James ends up running for the U.S. Senate, Rinke may want to go back and give running for governor a try, even though getting people to like him should be his top priority.

5. Gary Peters. When you’re 68, don’t you want to retire? From his time in the state Legislature, the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, Peters has plenty of retirement income before we even get to what he socked away as a private-sector financial consultant.

Peters is leaving as one of the most effective lawmakers we’ve seen in D.C., having passed more bills in his six years in the Senate than colleagues with tenures three times as long. Kudos to him for retiring on top. It makes us all dream that we can do the same.

(Kyle Melinn is the editor of the Capitol news service MIRS. You can email him at melinnky@gmail.com.)