Many Michigan congressional races thin out as candidate filing deadline passes

Updated, 10:35 p.m. 4/23/24; 11:06 a.m., 4/24/24

With the window for ballot access applications coming to a close on Tuesday, the last candidates submitted their filings for the Aug. 6 primary.

Candidates for the U.S. House and Senate had until 4 p.m. Tuesday to submit documents needed to appear on the ballot. Petition signatures have not yet been verified, so there is not yet an official candidate list. And candidates have until 4 p.m. Friday to withdraw.

With U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) announcing her retirement, more than 10 candidates announced their intent to seek the Republican nomination. But on Tuesday, the field winnowed, with five submitting the nominating petitions needed to appear on the ballot: Former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake), Peter Meijer (R-Grand Rapids) and Justin Amash (I-Cascade Twp.), physician Sherry O’Donnell and businessman Sandy Pensler.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), actor Hill Harper and businessman Nasser Beydoun all filed in the Aug. 6 primary.

The race for Congress

Several candidates for Michigan’s 13 U.S. House seats also submitted their petitions close to the deadline.

With Slotkin campaigning for Senate, her seat in the competitive 7th Congressional District in mid-Michigan is open. Former state Sen. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) who lost to Slotkin in the 2022 general election is unopposed in seeking the Republican nomination with former state Sen. Curtis Hertel (D-East Lansing) similarly unchallenged in the Democratic primary. 

Michigan’s 8th Congressional District that includes Flint, Bay City and Midland, is also open, with U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) announcing that he would not seek reelection. State Sen. Kristen McDonald-Rivet (D-Bay City), State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley and former Flint Mayor Matt Collier submitted signatures to face off in the August primary. 

Republican Paul Junge, who unsuccessfully challenged Kildee in 2022, has filed, along with Mary Draves, Anthony J. Hudson, and GOP Board of Education member Nikki Snyder, who previously campaigned for the U.S. Senate before seeking the Republican nomination in the 8th District.

In the 1st Congressional District encompassing the Upper Peninsula and much of northern Michigan, Democrats Callie Barr and Bob Lorinser are seeking the Democratic nomination, while incumbent U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet) could square off in the primary against Josh Saul and J.D. Wilson, who also previously said he was running for U.S. Senate.

In the 2nd Congressional District in north-central Michigan, incumbent U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Caledonia) and Democrat Michael Lynch are unchallenged in the primary. 

In the 3rd Congressional District anchored in Grand Rapids, incumbent U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) could be challenged by Salim Al-Shatel, the son of Palestinian and Czechoslovakian refugees who told The Detroit News he was disappointed Scholten had not called for a ceasefire for the war in Gaza and has criticized Scholten for accepting donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). 

Republican Paul Hudson could be up against former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Michael Markey in the primary. 

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) could be challenged by Brendan Muir in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District in West Michigan, while Democrats Jessica Swartz and Joseph Alfonso are seeking the Democratic nomination.

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Tipton) and Democrat Libbi Urban in the 5th Congressional District in south-central Michigan are both headed into the August primary unopposed.

Similarly, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) of Michigan’s 6th Congressional District anchored by Ann Arbor will not face a challenger in the primary, nor will Republican Heather Smiley. 

In the 9th Congressional District based in Macomb County, U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Bruce Twp.) also remains unopposed in the primary as Democrat Clinton St. Mosley heads toward August without a challenger. 

While freshman U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Twp.) is unopposed in the primary for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District in Southeast Michigan, Democrats Dr. Anil Kumar, who previously ran for Congress in 2014, Emily Busch, Rhonda Powell, Tiffany Tilley and Diane Young could compete for the Democratic nomination with former Judge Carl Marlinga, who lost to James in 2022.

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) could face a challenger in the primary from Ahmed Ghanim in the 11th Congressional District based in Oakland County. Ghanim told The Detroit News he was running to unseat Stevens over her support for Israel. Republican Charles Frangie is running unopposed in the primary. 

In the 12th Congressional District encompassing Detroit and parts of Wayne and Oakland counties, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) has a challenge from Ryan Foster. Steven Elliott, who lost to Tlaib in the 2022 election has filed as a Republican, along with Linda Sawyer and James Hooper and Hassan Nehme, who both sought the Republican nomination in 2022. 

U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) faces a crowd of primary challengers in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District that includes Detroit and western Wayne County: Mohammad Rabbi Alam, Shakira Lynn Hawkins, former state Sen. Adam Hollier (D-Detroit) and former state Rep. Mary Waters (D-Detroit). Martell Bivings, who lost to Thanedar in the 2022 general election, has filed as a Republican.