Gary Peters is an attorney, a two-term state senator, a financial advisor, and a U.S. Navy reservist. He has a wide range of experience, and now he wants to put some of that experience to work in a job that requires a full range of talents: he's the state Democratic candidate for Michigan attorney general.

"My experience is very broad," said the 43-year-old Oakland County resident, "but the office is very broad."

As a state senator, Peters has sponsored dozens of anti-crime laws and has worked to provide tax relief, improve Michigan schools and hold elected officials accountable. Peters has sponsored a number of anti-terrorism laws, and has supported measures to crack down on child abuse, fight domestic violence, punish abusers of the elderly, enact tough penalties on repeat DUI offenders, reduce utility taxes, stop unwanted telemarketing, and prohibit predatory lending.

The chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, Peters serves as the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Finance Committee, Education Committee, and Natural Resources Committee.

Peters serves as a lieutenant and a Seabee combat warfare specialist in the U.S. Naval Reserve. His reserve duty included time in the Persian Gulf supporting Operation Southern Watch, and he served overseas during increased military activity following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. During his service he received numerous awards and citations, including the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

A marksman as a Seabee, Peters told the building trades rally in Lansing last month, "I am proud to say that I am a gun owner, and I am a hunter, and I will fight to preserve our Second Amendment rights in Michigan."

At the rally Peters pointed to his union background (his father was a public school teacher and his mother was a nursing home union steward) and pledged to support union causes as attorney general.

"I will fight for pensions and good wages and safety. I will fight for you and take your case in Lansing," he said.