'The Good Doctor' Star Hill Harper Announces Senate Run

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 Michigan 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 dramaThe 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.

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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.