LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan voters will decide Tuesday which Republican and Democratic candidates will compete for the state’s coveted U.S. Senate seat in November, as well as several of the nation’s most hotly contested U.S. House elections.
Many Democrats have rallied around U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin in the Senate race, while Republicans are rallying behind former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, who was endorsed by Donald Trump earlier this year. Both candidates are vying for a seat vacated by the retirement of longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, but they must first defeat outsiders on Tuesday.
Slotkin is running against actor Hill Harper, while Republicans must choose between Rogers, former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash and physician Sherry O’Donnell. Although businessman Sandy Pensler dropped out and endorsed Rogers at a rally with Trump on July 20, his name will still appear on the ballot due to his behind schedule withdrawal.
With Democrats holding a razor-thin majority in the Senate and Republicans in the House, contested elections like Michigan’s attract a lot of attention. The state’s status as a key swing state in presidential elections raises the stakes for these seats even more, with party control at stake from the first ballot down to the state legislature.
The open Senate seat in Michigan is one of a handful of statewide races that will decide control of the upper chamber in November. With a congressional primary later, candidates have a low transition period to move from competing against their own party members to appealing to a broader base of voters for the Nov. 5 general election. That may explain why Slotkin and Rogers have been running their campaigns with the general election in mind.
National groups on both sides have already set aside millions for post-primary ads. Both Slotkin and Rogers, who were considered clear favorites in their primaries for months, have skipped debates and forgone major campaign events.
The primaries on Tuesday for several seats in the US House of Representatives could influence the balance of power in the lower house, but the biggest battles in the fall election campaign will also be fought there.
Slotkin’s entry into the Senate race has vacated her seat in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, historically one of the most competitive districts in the country. Both party candidates are unopposed in their primaries there, setting the stage for a November clash between Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr. and Republican Tom Barrett.
The race in the 8th Congressional District is also wide open following the resignation of U.S. Representative Dan Kildee. The Democratic congressman has nominated state Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet as his successor, but State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh and Matt Collier, the former mayor of Flint, are also vying for the party’s nomination.
On the Republican side, former television host Paul Junge is running again for the post after losing to Kildee by more than 10 percentage points last year. Joining him in the race are Mary Draves, a former chemical production manager at Dow Inc., and Anthony Hudson.
Meanwhile, several incumbents in contested districts are waiting to see who they will face in November.
U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten, who will be the first Democrat in decades to represent Grand Rapids in 2022, is awaiting the results of the Republican primary between lawyer Paul Hudson and businessman Michael Markey Jr. in the western Michigan district.
National Democrats also hope to capture a district north of Detroit currently held by recent Republican Rep. John James. Carl Marlinga, a longtime Macomb County prosecutor who lost to James by 1,600 votes in 2022, is running against Emily Busch, Tiffany Tilley and Diane Young in the Democratic primary.
In a heavily Democratic district around downtown Detroit, U.S. Representative Shri Thanedar faces a challenge from Detroit City Council member Mary Waters, who is backed by Mayor Mike Duggan. Thanedar has raised significantly more money than her and is considered the favorite for the Democratic nomination. That would likely leave Detroit – a city that is nearly 80% black – without black representation in Congress for the second year in a row.
Primaries are being held across the state on Tuesday. Control of the House of Representatives is at stake in November, with all 110 seats up for election. Democrats took control of both chambers and the governorship for the first time in four decades in 2022 and will seek to defend those majorities.
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Associated Press writer Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.
