Sen. Gary Peters will take over as director of the Center for the Political Future following the end of his term in Congress in January 2027, according to a press release from the CPF on Monday. Peters will take over for the CPF’s founding director Robert Shrum, who is retiring at the end of 2026.

The Michigan Democratic senator has served terms in the Senate as well as three terms in the House of Representatives, and is known for working across partisan lines. Peters was rated the most effective senator in Congress three times in a row by the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint project by Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia to evaluate the effectiveness of United States legislatures.

Peters will join current co-director Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist, to continue the CPF’s tradition of being jointly led by a Republican and Democrat.

As the new director, Peter plans to split his time between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., teaching at both USC’s home campus and the Capital Campus. In addition to serving as the CPF’s director, Peters will also hold the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Endowed Chair in Practical Politics, through which he will work to get students more civically active. The Warschaw Chair is currently held by Shrum.