Republican Tom Barrett flips competitive Michigan congressional seat red
Former state Sen. Tom Barrett flipped Michigan's competitive 7th Congressional District from blue to red, besting Democrat Curtis Hertel in Tuesday's election.
With an estimated 99% of the vote in, Barret received 50% of the vote while Hertel trailed with 47%, according to unofficial results compiled by The Associated Press, which called the race just after 4 a.m. Wednesday.
The race for the seat in the 7th District, which is anchored by Lansing but covers suburban and rural areas stretching out from the state capital, was considered one of the most competitive congressional contests in Michigan and across the country headed into the election season. It was left open when Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, of Holly, decided to run for the state's open U.S. Senate seat.
Four years ago, the vote in the district's confines broke by about 1 percentage point for then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden over then-President Donald Trump on Biden's path to winning Michigan and the White House. Four years before that, Trump won there by about 4 points over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as he won the state. So in a close presidential election this year between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris — and Slotkin, who was known for often doing better in elections than those at the top of the ticket from her party — the seat was widely considered a tossup.
It also featured a contest between two former state legislators who previously served together.
Barrett, of Charlotte, is a former Army helicopter pilot who served a term in the state Senate and established himself as a conservative foil for Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, arguing that she was exceeding her authority in ordering shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and fighting against what he considered handouts to favored corporations as wasteful. He ran against Slotkin two years ago in what was then a newly formed U.S. House district, losing 52%-46%.
Hertel, meanwhile, has worked to portray himself as a force for bipartisanship and compromise in a divided Washington, noting he has helped broker deals to cut the state's retirement tax and other taxes on middle-class families and has been a longtime supporter of organized labor. He has also tried to sow doubts about Barrett's promise that he would do nothing in Congress to restrict abortion rights in a way that runs counter to the state constitutional protections after earlier being a staunch abortion opponent.
Both parties saw the race as one that could determine which holds majority control in the U.S. House next year. As of this weekend, it was one of the top 10 most expensive races in the country, with the website Open Secrets, which tracks political spending, showing outside groups had poured more than $27 million into the race, about $14.7 million of which has been spent toward electing Barrett.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan 7th District: Republican Tom Barrett wins competitive seat
