DETROIT – A once-in-a-generation political opportunity has opened with the decision of U.S. Sen. Carl Levin not to seek re-election, creating just the second open seat U.S. Senate race in Michigan in the past 36 years, and the names of both parties’ heaviest hitters are in the mix for the race.

Depending on who decides to run, Levin’s (D-Detroit) retirement could trigger multiple open-seat races for the U.S. House, turbocharging an already high-stakes 2014 election environment.

On the Democratic side, three names are in the mix: powerful attorney, key Democratic financier and University of Michigan Regent Mark Bernstein; Debbie Dingell, the party powerbroker, longtime former General Motors executive, member of the Wayne State University Board of Governors and wife of U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Dearborn); and U.S. Rep. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township). Democratic sources said national Democrats approached former Governor Jennifer Granholm, but she declined.

Republicans, euphoric at Levin’s decision not to run, sensed their best opportunity in years to reverse their struggles in U.S. Senate races. Since Mr. Levin unseated Republican U.S. Sen. Robert Griffin in 1978, there have been 12 U.S. Senate elections in Michigan in which Democrats boast an 11-1 record. Only Spencer Abraham, in 1994, succeeded for the Republicans.

The list of potential candidates is long: U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Cascade Township), Lt. Governor Brian Calley, U.S. Rep. Dave Camp (R-Midland), state Sen. Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw Township), U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Harrison Township), Delta Air Lines executive and U-M Regent Andrea Fischer Newman, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) and Attorney General Bill Schuette although the word from the Schuette camp is that he is not interested.

While Democrats lose Levin, an electoral juggernaut who would have been a near lock to win re-election had he run, there was some hope the silver lining is that the national focus on the election would bring in huge sums of money to generate turnout. Additionally, a contested U.S. Senate race would make national issues a major focus. Both factors would help the party in trying to win the governorship, they said.

Democratic political consultant Joe DiSano said Peters clearly is the strongest potential Democratic candidate, citing his fundraising ability, nearly winning statewide office in the 2002 attorney general race, geographic base in Oakland County and Detroit and moderate voting record.

“I think he’s our best chance, but he’s not our only chance,” he said, saying if Peters pulled a surprise and passed the race that Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) would make solid candidates.

Republicans saw mostly upside – the chance to win a U.S. Senate seat they have not seriously contested since 1990 when Levin won a third term against Schuette.

There was one point of concern, however. If Amash runs, he would have the inside track on tea party activists yet the establishment faction of the party almost surely would push for someone else to run like a Rogers or Camp. One party strategist said this type of a primary would be a political bloodbath.

That dynamic could prompt major Republican players to make a move on the race sooner than later. If Amash runs, for example, the first major establishment candidate to declare would leave little room in the race for anyone else at the risk of creating a situation where the establishment vote would split and pave the way for Amash.

DiSano said no one in the Republican field “puts fear in my heart” and said the party would benefit from the national energy on the race. Michigan has not seen a truly contested U.S. Senate race since the 2000 donnybrook in which now-U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) unseated Abraham.

“This is a great opportunity for us to gin up the base going into 2014,” he said.

Rogers has long been seen as a rising star in the party. His initial U.S. House win in 2000 revealed his talent as a candidate, winning a razor-thin race against his then-fellow state senator, Dianne Byrum despite a Democratic-leaning seat in a presidential year. Camp, while a force in Washington as the Ways and Means Committee chair, has not had a seriously contested race in memory. In December, he said physicians had declared him cancer-free after a battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

What both have in common is they are one term away from having to step down as chairs of their committees (Rogers is House Intelligence Committee chair) under House Republican rules setting term limits on committee chairs.

Miller has seen her name floated for governor or U.S. Senate for years, and she has always taken a pass although reportedly national Republicans are intrigued by the idea of her running in 2014.

Republican strategist Greg McNeilly called Levin’s announcement a “game-changer for the 2014 elections.” Both sides will gain energy from it, he said.

“But … Republicans more, because they’re the ones that have the opportunity for a pick-up,” he said. “Democrats on are defense.”

The ripple effect of Levin’s decision will be enormous.

If Peters runs, it will set up a Democratic scramble in the 14th U.S. House district with perhaps former U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke trying to return to Washington after Peters bested him in 2012 after redistricting resulted in them running for the same district. There are a slew of other current and former Democratic office-holders in that seat that would surely consider the race.

On the Republican side, Amash running for the Senate would attract major interest in his 3rd U.S. House District seat. The same is true of Rogers and especially Camp, who just began his 13th term.

If Schuette had a change of heart, he would have some flexibility because he could still run for attorney general, which the party nominates at a convention several weeks after the primary, if he ran for U.S. Senate but lost the primary. Still, the expectation is that Schuette is building toward a 2018 bid for governor.

Calley would also have the same flexibility as Schuette with the lieutenant governor post nominated at the convention.

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