New York Stock Exchange exec mulling Michigan Senate bid

The vice chair of the New York Stock Exchange is considering a run for Senate in Michigan, where Republicans have been searching for a candidate for retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s seat.

Southeast Michigan native John Tuttle is weighing a bid, according to two people familiar with his thinking who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his plans. An alum of Eastern Michigan University, Tuttle served in George W. Bush’s administration before joining the world's largest stock market in 2007.

The Michigan Senate seat is so far the only open seat in a swing state this cycle, and it promises to attract massive sums of money as both parties battle for control of a closely divided chamber.

Tuttle is only in the early stages of exploring a run. But his interest comes as Republicans have so far struggled to field any serious contenders for the seat. Democrats, meanwhile, have united quickly behind Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a strong fundraiser who ousted an incumbent GOP representative in 2018. Her launch spooked a slew of other prominent Michigan Democrats out of the race, though a handful of other potential candidates are still considering jumping in. The state went for President Joe Biden in 2020 but former President Donald Trump won it in 2016.

With his work based in Manhattan, Tuttle splits his time between New York City and Michigan. He is from Milford, Mich. in Oakland County and maintains deep ties to the state. He was the commencement speaker last year at Eastern Michigan University, his alma mater.

Tuttle, 41, has considered a run for Congress in the past. And he’s been somewhat politically active too. In his role as president of the NYSE Institute, he hosted Speaker Kevin McCarthy in April on Wall Street when he visited the stock exchange to give a speech on the debt limit. Tuttle conducted a brief question-and-answer session with McCarthy afterward.

A timeline for Tuttle’s decision was not clear. But he has spoken with Republicans in D.C. and Michigan about a possible run and the National Republican Senatorial Committee has shown interest in his candidacy.

“John Tuttle is a strong potential recruit in Michigan,” NRSC Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said.

GOP Rep. John James, who won a Michigan House battleground seat last fall, declined to make a third run for Senate in 2024. (He lost to Stabenow in 2018 and Democratic Sen. Gary Peters in 2020.) Former Republican Rep. Peter Meijer is considering a run. Meijer lost his Grand Rapids-based House seat in 2022 after voting to impeach Trump, which could also be a liability in any Senate primary. Another potential GOP candidate is Kevin Rinke, who lost a primary bid to be the Republican nominee against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2022.

While Tuttle would have the funds to support a campaign and a major network of potential donors to tap, he is a political neophyte. Senate Republicans have actively been looking to recruit candidates who have fundraising prowess or large personal wealth after being vastly outraised by Democrats in the midterms.

Through his work, Tuttle knows former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, who is CEO of the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. Loeffler joined the Senate in 2020 after she was appointed by Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. But she lost to Democrat Raphael Warnock in a runoff election the following year, under attacks that her personal wealth made her disconnected from the needs of the state.