Key House Races Decided in Michigan

Rep. John James (R-Mich.) speaks at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Winners have been declared in various primaries across Michigan, a battleground state in the presidential election.

Some noteworthy results come from U.S. House districts that are expected to be competitive in November.

Michigan’s Seventh Congressional District, currently represented by Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, falls into that category. The closely divided district includes the state’s capital, Lansing, along with territory extending as far east as the outer suburbs of Detroit.

Slotkin is running for the Senate seat occupied by outgoing Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

The House race features two unopposed candidates, Republican hopeful Tom Barrett and Democrat hopeful Curtis Hertel. Both men previously served as state senators.

The Eighth District saw more candidates on both the Democrat and Republican sides. Incumbent Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) is retiring.

In the Democratic Party’s primary, state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet won a race that pitted her against a former mayor of Flint, Matt Collier, as well as Pamela Pugh, president of the Michigan Board of Education. Rivet had 53.4 percent of the vote with 85 percent counted.

Paul Junge, a Trump administration alumnus who lost the 2022 general election to Kildee, won the Aug. 6 Republican primary. He overtook Mary Draves, a retired executive for the Dow Chemical Company, and trucker Anthony Hudson.

Junge had 74.8 percent of the vote with 87 percent counted. Draves had 15.1 percent while Hudson had 10.1 percent.

In Michigan’s Third District, freshman Democrat Rep. Hillary Scholten fended off a primary challenge from entrepreneur Salim Al-Shatel, one of multiple Arab American candidates in Michigan who ran against incumbent Democrats perceived as pro-Israel against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war. The Associated Press called the race shortly before 10 p.m.

On the GOP side, another entrepreneur, Michael Markey, lost to Paul Hudson, a lawyer who touted his “common sense conservative messaging.”

North of Detroit, in the 10th District, freshman Rep. John James (R-Mich.) ran unopposed in his primary.

The story among Democrats was more complicated.

The four-person contest included Carl Marlinga, who lost to James in the 2022 general election, as well as financial planner Diane Young, gun safety activist Emily Busch, and Tiffany Tilley, a member of the Michigan Board of Education.

With 71 percent of the total counted, Marlinga won with 48.2 percent, followed by Young, Tilley, and Busch.

In the less competitive 11th District, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) was declared the victor of her party’s primary at 8:12 p.m., less than a quarter of an hour after polls closed.

(L–R) Lawmakers in a new House select committee on China Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), committee Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), and Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) gather for a tabletop war game exercise in the House Ways and Means Committee room in Washington on April 19, 2023. Ellen Knickmeyer/AP Photo

She bested health care management professional Ahmed Ghanim, another Arab American who attempted to primary a pro-Israel Democrat.

With over 95 percent of the vote tallied, Stevens had 87.1 percent to 12.9 percent for Ghanim.

In the district’s Republican primary, Nick Somberg, a lawyer, defeated another lawyer, Charles Frangie. The Associated Press called that race by 8:29 p.m.

Michiganders Reflect on 2024, Walz Pick

Earlier in the day, Michiganders weighed in on the 2024 presidential race outside polling places.

Thomas Wright, who voted in the Democrat primary in Vicksburg, told The Epoch Times that he trusted that Vice President Kamala Harris’ elevation through a virtual nominating roll call had been “done by the books.”

Voters are invited to cast their ballots at the Vicksburg United Methodist Church in Vicksburg, Mich., on Aug. 6, 2024. Nathan Worcester/The Epoch Times

“I think a lot of Democratic voters are OK with this,” he said.

Wright had positive things to say about Harris’ new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, while noting that he still knew little about the man who bypassed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and others on Harris’ reported shortlist.

“I’ve heard he’s a good communicator,” Wright said.

Outside the Parks & Recreation Department building in nearby Portage, Republican voter Vern Middleton saw it differently. He thinks the Minnesotan is too liberal to play well in Michigan.

“Of course, Kalamazoo County’s pretty liberal too,” he said of the county where he was voting.

Shelby Meyer votes in Vicksburg, Mich. on Aug. 6, 2024. Nathan Worcester/The Epoch Times

In Vicksburg, Democrat Brian Rucker told The Epoch Times he liked both Walz and Shapiro.

Shelby Meyer, who voted on the Republican ballot in the Aug. 6 primary, told The Epoch Times that Harris’ pick of Walz cemented her intention to vote against Harris in November.

She, too, cited his handling of the 2020 riots and protests in Minnesota.

In explaining her objections to Walz, Meyer noted her own military service and the background of her late son, who was a law enforcement officer with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. He died of leukemia at the age of 32.

“I’m a person of faith, and my hope is not in politicians,” she said, holding up the golden cross around her neck.