first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978. In the Democratic primary, he defeated former U.S. Representative Richard Vander Veen. In the general election, he faced former Senate Minority Whip Robert P. Griffin, whom he defeated 52% to 48%. He won re-election five times before retiring from the Senate. Levin faced a tough reelection bid in 1984 against former astronaut Jack R. Lousma, winning by only four percent. However, he routed Congressman Bill Schuette in 1990, and was reelected in 1996 and 2002 against only nominal Republican opposition. In 2002, Levin garnered 61% of the vote against Republican Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski despite the then-high popularity of President George W. Bush and the GOP and a close gubernatorial race that year. In the 2008 election, Levin won by a comfortable margin against state representative Jack Hoogendyk. Electoral history {{Election box begin | title=United States Senate election in Michigan, 2008<ref>{{cite web|url=http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/08GEN/05000000.html |title=MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF STATE Election Results GENERAL ELECTION November 04, 2008 |author=Michigan's Secretary of State Office |publisher=miboecfr.nictusa.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619180448/http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/08GEN/05000000.html |archive-date=June 19, 2013 }}</ref>}} Personal life and death Carl Levin married Barbara Halpern in 1961, and they had three daughters and six grandchildren. Levin's family has long been active in Michigan politics. His elder brother, Sander Levin, represented Michigan's 12th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1983 to 2019. Sander's son Andy Levin was a policy analyst for the AFL–CIO, and was elected in 2018 to the United States House of Representatives, succeeding his retiring father. Carl's uncle Theodore Levin was a chief judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Carl's first cousin Charles Levin was a Michigan Supreme Court judge; another first cousin, Joseph Levin, was a candidate for the House. In March 2021, Levin disclosed that he had lung cancer. Levin died at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on July 29, 2021, at age 87. Honors and awards In 2004 he received the Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Oakland University. In 2004, he was presented the National Guard Association of the U.S. Harry S. Truman Award. In 2006, Time'' named him one of the "10 best senators". In 2007, he was awarded the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Foundation's Freedom medal. In 2011, he received Global Financial Integrity's Award for Exemplary Leadership for his "untiring efforts on behalf of financial integrity in the U.S. and abroad." In 2013, he was given the