Debbie Dingell, wife of U.S. Rep. John Dingell, a Dearborn area Democrat, announced this week that she will not run for the U.S. Senate seat that is being vacated at the end of 2014 by Carl Levin.

Debbie Dingell.

Dingell released a statement through the Michigan Democratic Party on Saturday morning, stating:

“It’s also no secret that I think we need more women in the Senate and in the House, and there was an attraction to potentially being the junior member of an all-Debbie Senate delegation, but I think it is critical that Democrats unite behind one candidate for what will be a difficult and expensive race, and it’s one of the reasons I have concluded that now is not the time for me to run for the United States Senate.  We have good candidates like Gary Peters considering running, and a primary would be divisive at a time that cries out for unity.”

Had Dingell chosen to run, she would have faced a tough primary against Gary Peters, a Bloomfield Township Democrat in his third term in the U.S. House. In her press release, Dingell pointedly expressed her support for Peters, calling him a “good candidate” for the position.  g