Screenshot of Nikki Snyder's U.S. Senate candidacy announcement video (Source: Nikki for U.S. Senate)

Republican member of Michigan’s State Board of Education Nikki Snyder, who said last month that students need to be trained to be unafraid of guns, announced she will be running for the U.S. Senate seat opening when 72-year-old Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) retires in 2024.

The 38-year-old Snyder has been vocal about her far-right positions on government and “liberal news media.” Most recently, Snyder voiced her displeasure at children learning about gun safety.

“Guns are safe when there are good people utilizing them and being trained with them,” Snyder said at a forum on Jan. 22 hosted by Moms for Liberty. “I think that’s one of the things you can even suggest that students need to be trained not to think they’re so scary.”

Snyder’s comments came just weeks before the Michigan State University shooting, where three college students were killed and five were injured Monday.

In addition to her seemingly loose gun control stance, Snyder was a staunch opponent of Michigan’s COVID-19 policies, which resulted in her routinely clashing with the seven Democrats on the Board of Education. Despite being a registered nurse, Snyder was heavily against masking and COVID-19 testing in schools when the pandemic was at its height.

Snyder previously ran for the U.S. House in the election for Michigan’s 8th Congressional District in 2020. However, she was disqualified from the Republican primary for not gathering enough signatures. Incumbent Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) was triumphant in that race and is one of the possible Democratic candidates for the opening Senate seat.

Stabenow is closing out her fourth term in the U.S. Senate, and the veteran senator said she was confident her seat would be filled by a liberal after the 2022 midterm elections saw the Michigan Democrats secure a trifecta at the state level.