Michigan Key House Races Decided In The Election

Michigan, a battleground state in the presidential election, has announced the winners of various primaries. Some notable results have come from the U.S. House districts, which are expected to be highly competitive in November.

One of the closely divided districts is Michigan’s Seventh Congressional District, currently represented by Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin. This district includes the state capital, Lansing, as well as the outer suburbs of Detroit. Slotkin is running for the Senate seat currently held by outgoing Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

The House race in the Seventh District features two unopposed candidates, Tom Barrett for the Republicans and Curtis Hertel for the Democrats. Both of them have previous experience as state senators.

In the Eighth District, where incumbent Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) is retiring, there were more candidates from both the Democratic and Republican sides.

In the Democratic primary, state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet emerged as the winner, defeating former mayor of Flint, Matt Collier, and Pamela Pugh, president of the Michigan Board of Education. Rivet secured 53.4 percent of the vote with 85 percent of the ballots counted.

On the Republican side, Paul Junge, a former member of the Trump administration, won the primary, surpassing Mary Draves, a retired executive from the Dow Chemical Company, and trucker Anthony Hudson. Junge secured 74.8 percent of the vote with 87 percent of the ballots counted.

In Michigan’s Third District, freshman Democrat Rep. Hillary Scholten successfully defended her seat against entrepreneur Salim Al-Shatel in the primary. Al-Shatel was one of several Arab American candidates in Michigan who challenged incumbent Democrats viewed as pro-Israel during the Israel-Hamas war.

In the Tenth District, freshman Rep. John James (R-Mich.) ran unopposed in the primary.

Among Democrats, the primary in the 11th District was more complex. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) emerged as the winner, defeating health care management professional Ahmed Ghanim, another Arab American. Ghanim aimed to challenge a pro-Israel Democrat. Stevens secured 87.1 percent of the vote with over 95 percent of the ballots tallied.

Thomas Wright, a Democrat voter, expressed his trust in the virtual nominating roll call that resulted in Vice President Kamala Harris’ elevation. Wright positively mentioned Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, although he admitted knowing little about him compared to other candidates on Harris’ shortlist, such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

On the Republican side, Vern Middleton, a voter from Kalamazoo County, believed that Walz is too liberal to resonate well in Michigan.

Another Democratic voter, Brian Rucker, expressed his liking for both Walz and Shapiro.

However, Shelby Meyer, a Republican voter, disagreed with Harris’ choice of Walz and cited his handling of the 2020 riots and protests in Minnesota as a reason for voting against Harris in November. Meyer also mentioned her military service and the law enforcement background of her late son, who was an officer with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.

Despite their differing opinions, both voters agreed that their ultimate hope lies beyond politicians.