By Canadian Press

Democratic Michigan Rep. Hilary Scholten wins a second term to US House

Nov 6, 2024 | 2:26 AM

DETROIT (AP) — Between redistricting and incumbents forgoing reelection, four congressional seats in Michigan were key targets as the parties vied for control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Republicans sought to flip two open congressional seats in central Michigan as the GOP tries to broaden its majority. Both were redrawn in 2021, yielding Democratic victories in the midterm elections. Now this year’s races have been true tossups, some of the most competitive in the country, with millions of dollars poured into the campaigns.

Incumbents easily won Michigan’s other congressional races. They include Republicans Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar, Bill Huizenga, Tim Walberg and Lisa McClain; and Democrats Debbie Dingell, Haley Stevens, Rashida Tlaib and Shri Thanedar.

8th Congressional District

After longtime Democrat Dan Kildee announced he would not seek reelection in Michigan’s 8th District, Republicans saw the first opportunity in decades to flip the seat red. Kildee had served since 2012 when he succeeded his uncle Dale Kildee, who represented the area including the cities of Flint and Saginaw in Congress for 36 years.

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For Republicans, former news anchor and Trump administration immigration official Paul Junge is making his third bid for Congress after losing to the younger Kildee in 2022 by about 10 points.

Junge appealed to voters over economic and immigration concerns. He also attacked Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet over national security and sought to tie her to a Chinese-based battery manufacturing company looking to build in Michigan that has been a target for Republicans.

McDonald Rivet, a freshman state senator, painted Junge as a Californian outsider and cast herself as a middle class pragmatist. She focused her messaging on preserving reproductive rights and like her opponent, the economy.

7th Congressional District

In the 7th district in central Michigan, former state lawmakers Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr. and Republican Tom Barrett have sought the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin.

Slotkin, the Democratic candidate for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat, narrowly defeated Barrett in the 2022 midterms for the district that includes the state capital of Lansing and the surrounding rural areas.

Hertel, a former state senator and more recently the governor’s legislative director, was portrayed as a “regular guy” in an ad campaign where he grills, takes out the trash and prepares to mow a yard. He’s labeled Barrett an anti-abortion extremist, but in an attempt to reach GOP voters, he’s also criticized Democrats over immigration.

Barrett in turn has appealed to voters’ concerns over inflation and attacked Hertel over national security. A former state representative, senator and Army veteran, he has run ads featuring his helicopter pilot background.

3rd Congressional District

Democratic freshman U.S. Rep. Hilary Scholten has secured her second term representing Michigan in Congress.

In 2022, Scholten became the first Democrat to represent the city of Grand Rapids in the U.S. House since the 1970s after the district was redrawn.

However, the district in western Michigan is still seen as a Republican stronghold, especially in the populous Kent County. The Republicans targeted the county with multiple visits as former President Donald Trump campaigned to return to the White House.

The county went for Trump in 2016 and President Joe Biden in 2020.

10th Congressional District

Voters in Michigan’s 10th congressional district — which includes the all-important suburbs of Macomb County north of Detroit — will decide a rematch between Republican incumbent Rep. John James and Democrat Carl Marlinga.

Marlinga lost by just 1,600 votes in 2022, and the district is now seen as competitive, drawing money and attention from Democratic national groups.

Isabella Volmert, The Associated Press