Lydia's family comes from Ironwood, MI, the heart of the Upper Peninsula. She was born across the border in Ashland, Wisconsin, helicoptered there because the UP lacked the hospital infrastructure to deliver her safely.

About | Lydia Christensen for U.S. Senate

She didn't have an easy start. Growing up in the foster care system, she built her foundation from scratch, earning the equivalent of two degrees in computer science and computer programming, and eventually founding her own company.

Christensen is a member of the Kiowa-Sioux Nation and has connected her campaign's civil liberties platform to tribal sovereignty and federal treaty obligations. She lives in Ironwood, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Christensen's committee, Lydia Christensen for United States Senate, is registered with the Federal Election Commission under Committee ID C00903575.

Lydia Christensen Confirmed as Libertarian Nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan

Lydia Christensen's family comes from Ironwood, Michigan. She earned the equivalent of two degrees in computer science and computer programming. She lives in Ironwood, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Lydia Christensen founded her own company.

2026 Michigan General Election

Nonpartisan

Lydia’s campaign is built on a vision to secure Michigan’s environmental and economic future while championing equality and fairness. She will advocate for federal investments to protect the Great Lakes, which hold 20% of the world’s freshwater, and promote clean energy projects like wind, solar, and hydropower to create jobs and combat climate change.

Her economic plan includes:

Replacing outdated industries with sustainable ones.
Securing federal incentives for green manufacturing.
Expanding fiber optic broadband to rural areas like the Upper Peninsula.

Lydia Christensen Announces Candidacy for U.S. Senate from Michigan in 2026 Election

As a fierce defender of rights, Lydia will:

Protect Social Security for the next 100 years by closing tax loopholes for the ultra-wealthy, ensuring seniors enjoy dignified retirements without poverty.
Raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.
Strengthen voting rights to ensure every Michigander’s voice is heard.

Lydia will champion inclusive marriage equality, defend LGBTQIA+ civil rights, and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion through federal policies that uplift underserved communities. She supports federal legalization of marijuana to drive social equity and economic growth, alongside legislation to foster Bitcoin and cryptocurrency innovation with consumer protections.

Advocates federal incentives for green manufacturing, sustainable industries, and expanded rural fiber-optic broadband.

Supports protecting Social Security by closing tax loopholes for the ultra-wealthy.

Supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Supports federal marijuana legalization and legislation encouraging cryptocurrency innovation with consumer protections.

- Advocates federal incentives for green manufacturing, sustainable industries, and expanded rural fiber-optic broadband.
- Supports protecting Social Security by closing tax loopholes for the ultra-wealthy.
- Supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.
- Supports federal marijuana legalization and legislation encouraging cryptocurrency innovation with consumer protections.

Economy

Defending the 2nd Amendment
Lydia will unchain Michiganders’ constitutional right to bear arms by defending the 2nd Amendment. She supports responsible gun ownership, ensuring law-abiding citizens can protect themselves, their families, and their property. She promotes safety education, and opposes efforts to confiscate firearms from lawful owners.

Defending the 2nd Amendment | Lydia Christensen for U.S. Senate

Sneak-and-peek warrants let investigators search your home and delay telling you for weeks, sometimes longer with extensions. National Security Letters let the FBI compel a company to hand over your records without a judge's approval, often under a gag order that stops the company from ever telling you.

Lydia will push to end sneak-and-peek delayed notice outside genuine emergencies and require judicial approval before a National Security Letter can compel anyone's records.

Repealing the Patriot Act: Defending Civil Liberties | Lydia Christensen for U.S. Senate

The same warrantless tracking now watches Michigan's roads. Networks of automated license plate readers photograph every passing car and feed the data into nationwide databases that police, federal agencies, and even individual officers have searched without warrants, including officers documented using them to stalk women. As Senator, Lydia will vote against reauthorization of Section 702 without a warrant requirement, work to close the data broker loophole that lets agencies buy your location history instead of getting a warrant, demand declassification of the FISA Court opinions that govern this collection, and work to tear the license plate reader dragnet out by the roots: banning federal agencies from accessing or funding these networks and standing with every Michigan community that removes them.

Fighting Mass Surveillance and Technofeudalism: A Bill of Digital Rights | Lydia Christensen for U.S. Senate

The same data markets serve the private companies that own the platforms you depend on, so Lydia will propose a comprehensive Bill of Digital Rights: your data recognized as your private property, your right to privacy guaranteed,no collection or sale of personal identifying information without consent, a ban on federal use of facial recognition for mass surveillance and strict penalties for violations. Your digital life belongs to you, and Lydia will put that into law.

IRONWOOD, MI — Independent U.S. Senate candidate Lydia Christensen today sent a formal letter to Governor Gretchen Whitmer calling on her to request a federal civil rights investigation into Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility following three inmate deaths in less than a month.

Christensen is calling on Whitmer to formally request a Department of Justice investigation under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, which authorizes the Attorney General to investigate state prisons where a pattern or practice of constitutional violations is causing grievous harm to residents.

Senate Candidate Lydia Christensen Calls on Governor Whitmer to Request Federal CRIPA Investigation into Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility

MICHIGAN -- Lydia Christensen, independent candidate for United States Senate, today issued a formal demand that the full Federal Communications Commission go on record publicly regarding the use of early broadcast license renewal as a pressure mechanism against Disney and its ABC-owned stations, and called on the Senate Commerce Committee to convene an immediate oversight hearing.

Christensen is calling for two immediate actions: The full FCC commission must go on record publicly -- each commissioner must state whether they support or oppose the use of early license renewal as a pressure mechanism against broadcasters. Silence is complicity.

Christensen Demands FCC Commission Go On Record, Calls for Senate Hearing on Coordinated Campaign Against ABC and Disney

Lydia Christensen, candidate for U.S. Senate, stood in solidarity with Michigan’s Tribal Nations to demand the immediate and unredacted release of a $1.1 million state-commissioned report documenting abuses at Native American boarding schools.

Christensen’s Plan for Truth and Accountability

Immediate Public Release: The full $350-page manuscript must be released to Tribal Nations and the public without further delay.

Justice for the Fallen: Conduct a full investigation into the 229 documented deaths at the Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School.

Christensen Vows to End the Silence: 'Our Ancestors’ Truth Is Not Shoddy or For Sale'

Supports responsible gun ownership, safety education, and protecting lawful owners from firearm confiscation.

Proposes ending delayed notice for searches in nonemergency situations and requiring judicial approval for National Security Letters.

Plans to oppose Section 702 reauthorization without requiring warrants and restrict warrantless government access to location and license-plate-reader data.

Proposes a Bill of Digital Rights requiring consent for the collection or sale of personal data and banning federal mass surveillance using facial recognition.

Calls for a federal civil-rights investigation of Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility following three inmate deaths.

Calls for Federal Communications Commission transparency and a Senate hearing on use of broadcast-license renewals to pressure broadcasters.

Demands release of Michigan's Native American boarding-school report and a full investigation of documented deaths at the Mt. Pleasant school.

- Supports responsible gun ownership, safety education, and protecting lawful owners from firearm confiscation.
- Proposes ending delayed notice for searches in nonemergency situations and requiring judicial approval for National Security Letters.
- Plans to oppose Section 702 reauthorization without requiring warrants and restrict warrantless government access to location and license-plate-reader data.
- Proposes a Bill of Digital Rights requiring consent for the collection or sale of personal data and banning federal mass surveillance using facial recognition.
- Calls for a federal civil-rights investigation of Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility following three inmate deaths.
- Calls for Federal Communications Commission transparency and a Senate hearing on use of broadcast-license renewals to pressure broadcasters.
- Demands release of Michigan's Native American boarding-school report and a full investigation of documented deaths at the Mt. Pleasant school.

Public Safety

"The IOC's decision to implement mandatory SRY gene testing is a regressive step that violates the fundamental right to bodily autonomy and biological privacy," said Lydia Christensen. "As we prepare to host the world in Los Angeles, the United States must lead with values of inclusion and respect, not by subjecting women to invasive 'gender policing' that has historically targeted Black and Brown athletes and those with natural biological variations."

Christensen Calls IOC Mandatory SRY Gene Testing a Violation of Bodily Autonomy and Biological Privacy

Federal Oversight: Under the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020, Congress has the authority to oversee the USOPC. Lydia Christensen pledged that, if elected, she would use this oversight to ensure the USOPC does not comply with international mandates that violate the civil rights of American athletes.

What Lydia Stands For

Environment
Protecting Michigan's Great Lakes, clean water, and natural landscapes for generations to come.

Healthcare
Ensuring affordable, comprehensive healthcare for every Michigander, including Medicaid for All.

Opposes mandatory SRY gene testing and pledges congressional oversight to prevent U.S. Olympic bodies from complying with mandates she says violate athletes' civil rights.

Supports affordable, comprehensive healthcare for every Michigander, including Medicaid for All.

- Opposes mandatory SRY gene testing and pledges congressional oversight to prevent U.S. Olympic bodies from complying with mandates she says violate athletes' civil rights.
- Supports affordable, comprehensive healthcare for every Michigander, including Medicaid for All.

Healthcare

Ironwood, MI , Lydia Christensen, Independent candidate for the United States Senate, today called for an immediate halt to federal "fishing expeditions" in Michigan school districts following the Department of Justice’s announcement of compliance reviews in Lansing, Detroit, and Godfrey-Lee.

Christensen Calls for 'Federal Restraint' in Michigan School Investigations

"Michigan is currently caught in a legal whiplash between conflicting federal rulings," said Christensen. "While D.C. lawyers argue over memos and mandates, our local districts are being subjected to invasive investigations. As your next Senator, I will fight to ensure that the federal government respects the 10th Amendment. Education is a local responsibility, and our school boards are accountable to Michigan voters,not federal agencies."

Christensen’s Education Governance Platform

Constitutional Autonomy: Reaffirming that education is not a power delegated to the federal government.

Parental Rights: Strengthening the partnership between parents and local boards through transparency, not federal coercion.

Ending Administrative Overreach: Opposing the use of federal agencies to bypass local democratic processes.

Calls for an immediate halt to federal compliance reviews in Michigan school districts.

Advocates local school-board control and parent-board transparency rather than federal coercion in education policy.

- Calls for an immediate halt to federal compliance reviews in Michigan school districts.
- Advocates local school-board control and parent-board transparency rather than federal coercion in education policy.

Education

Lydia’s campaign is built on a vision to secure Michigan’s environmental and economic future while championing equality and fairness. She will advocate for federal investments to protect the Great Lakes, which hold 20% of the world’s freshwater, and promote clean energy projects like wind, solar, and hydropower to create jobs and combat climate change.

Advocates federal investment in Great Lakes protection and wind, solar, and hydropower projects.

Supports decommissioning the line 5 pipeline and removing it from the water.

- Advocates federal investment in Great Lakes protection and wind, solar, and hydropower projects.
- Supports decommissioning the line 5 pipeline and removing it from the water.

Energy & the Environment

As Senator, Lydia will introduce legislation repealing the inland "reasonable distance" extension in 8 U.S.C. § 1357. Border inspection stays at the border, where it belongs; at an actual port of entry or crossing point. It does not follow you 100 miles inland.

Away from the actual crossing point, probable cause and a warrant apply, the same as they do for every other law enforcement agency in America.

Ending the 100-Mile Constitution-Free Zone | Lydia Christensen for U.S. Senate

"Citizenship is the foundation of our Republic. It is not a subscription service that the government can cancel to meet a monthly quota," said Christensen. "By ordering bureaucrats to 'find' hundreds of cases to justify their budgets, this administration is treating 400,000 naturalized Michiganders like suspects instead of citizens. We will not allow a two-tier system of American rights to take root in our state."

"This is a 'Power of the Purse' issue," Christensen continued. "The Executive Branch is weaponizing taxpayer dollars to build a pipeline for judicial harassment. As your Senator, I will move to defund any office that utilizes numerical targets for stripping Americans of their status."

Christensen Condemns Reported Federal Denaturalization Quotas

On the global stage, Lydia will push for U.S. leadership in fighting climate change, countering authoritarianism, and ending reckless foreign wars through diplomacy. She will uphold the U.S. Constitution as the bedrock of Michigan’s freedoms, ensuring equal protection and due process for all.

Plans to repeal the provision allowing border inspections 100 miles inland, limiting them to ports of entry and crossing points.

Plans to defund offices that use numerical targets to revoke the citizenship of naturalized Americans.

Plans to pursue U.S. leadership in addressing climate change and authoritarianism and to end foreign wars through diplomacy.

- Plans to repeal the provision allowing border inspections 100 miles inland, limiting them to ports of entry and crossing points.
- Plans to defund offices that use numerical targets to revoke the citizenship of naturalized Americans.
- Plans to pursue U.S. leadership in addressing climate change and authoritarianism and to end foreign wars through diplomacy.

Foreign Policy and Immigration

I am writing as a candidate for the United States Senate from the state of Michigan and as a citizen who has spent the last twenty-one days tracking the systematic effort by the Trump administration to assert federal control over state-administered elections. I am calling on you to immediately withdraw the Department of Justice's April 14 demand for Wayne County ballots and to drop the federal lawsuit against the state of Michigan over its voter rolls.

Christensen Calls on DOJ to Withdraw Wayne County Ballot Demand and Drop Michigan Voter-Roll Lawsuit

Lydia's Pledge

When elected, Lydia will publish plain-English explanations of every vote she casts within 48 hours - so Michigan voters always know where she stands and why. No spin. Full transparency.

Accountability Tool | Lydia Christensen for U.S. Senate

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Calls on the Justice Department to withdraw its ballot demand for Wayne County and dismiss its Michigan voter-roll lawsuit.

Pledges to publish plain-English explanations of Senate votes within 48 hours.

Opposes Trump's Save America Act, which would add a new layer of documentation requirements to vote.

- Calls on the Justice Department to withdraw its ballot demand for Wayne County and dismiss its Michigan voter-roll lawsuit.
- Pledges to publish plain-English explanations of Senate votes within 48 hours.
- Opposes Trump's Save America Act, which would add a new layer of documentation requirements to vote.

Voting & Elections

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Lydia Christensen

- Calls on the Justice Department to withdraw its ballot demand for Wayne County and dismiss its Michigan voter-roll lawsuit.
- Pledges to publish plain-English explanations of Senate votes within 48 hours.

- Advocates federal investment in Great Lakes protection and wind, solar, and hydropower projects.

- Supports affordable, comprehensive healthcare for every Michigander, including Medicaid for All.

- Pledges to publish plain-English explanations of Senate votes within 48 hours.

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- A U.S. senator is an elected member of the United States Senate, one of the two chambers of Congress.
- Each state elects two senators who represent the entire state at the federal level. Michigan is represented by two U.S. senators in Congress.
- U.S. senators introduce, debate, amend, and vote on federal legislation affecting the entire country.
- U.S. senators serve six-year terms, with elections staggered so that not all Senate seats are elected at the same time. Senators may run for reelection without term limits.
- Candidates must be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least nine years, and a resident of the state they represent.
- U.S. senators receive a salary of approximately $174,000 per year.

One of two federal lawmakers representing Michigan in the U.S. Senate.