Calling into Lawrence town hall, Bernie Sanders offers support for swing district candidate

As Democratic challenger William Lawrence held a weeklong blitz of voter town halls, the Lansing-area political organizer opened his final event of the day Wednesday with some encouraging words from a high-profile progressive. 

Before offering remarks of his own, Lawrence, who is seeking to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) for the 7th Congressional District seat, took a call from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), holding up the microphone to the phone so members of the audience could hear what Sanders had to say. 

The Vermont senator thanked the audience for coming out in support of Lawrence, while stressing the importance of electing candidates who will check President Donald Trump.

“What this campaign is all about is whether we will continue to have a rubber stamp House of Representatives that does everything that Trump wants them to do, or whether we have a Congress which holds him, his behavior and his policies accountable,” Sanders said, stating that Lawrence would be a fighter for working families.

Sanders called for the nation to adopt Medicare for All as a fix to its current healthcare struggles, and praised Lawrence on his support for AI regulations.

“What Will knows is, unlike Donald Trump, we have got to have strong guardrails on AI and make sure that AI works for all of us, not just a handful of billionaires,” Sanders said.

Regulation of AI and  the development of hyperscale data centers has been a hot-button issue in the Mid-Michigan district, a vital swing seat which the nonpartisan Cook Political report has labeled a “toss-up” as for which party will emerge victorious.

Lawrence and Barrett have shown some consensus on the issue of artificial intelligence, with both candidates calling for an international treaty to ensure safety in AI development.

Barrett has introduced legislation to bar AI from making the final decision on whether a medical treatment, prescription or procedure is medically necessary, and has cosponsored legislation to test and evaluate AI models to determine the likelihood of a nuclear threat and to establish safeguards to prevent minors from accessing AI chatbots without parental consent.

Barrett has also put forth a proposal to establish the U.S. Office of Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Threats within the president’s cabinet. The office would be tasked with spearheading the development of federal AI policy.

While Lawrence’s campaign has criticized Barrett for voting in support of an initial version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act which would have barred state and local governments from enforcing restrictions on AI, Barrett told reporters last week this was born from concerns about a patchwork of different regulations from state to state. He argued that the federal government should take the lead, and that states could add to that framework.

As part of his Stop Tech Overreach Plan, Lawrence has called for a pause on advanced AI development and the creation of a national AI compact, including a national jobs program to address the ways artificial intelligence could disrupt the job market.

Lawrence’s proposal also includes limits on AI use in schools and mandatory third-party safety reviews for all new AI models.

Leading up to Wednesday night and continuing through the end of the week, Lawrence is inviting voters to ask him questions during a series of town halls held throughout the district, which includes Clinton, Shiawassee, Ingham and Livingston counties, and parts of Eaton, Genesee and Oakland counties.

While Lawrence and his supporters have criticized Barrett arguing that the representative is inaccessible to his constituents, Barrett’s campaign strategist, Jason Roe, defended the representative’s record, re-upping a statement previously shared with Michigan Advance last week when Lawrence rolled out a constituent services plan. 

“The fact is, in his first term, Tom has held more than 600 in-person meetings with constituents, while his office has had more than 75,000 constituent engagements, resolved 1,140 constitution cases, and returned more than $6.5 million in constituent monies,” Roe said. “Further, he’s secured $146 million in federal funding for MSU, the Lansing airport, law enforcement and fire, roads, bridges, and infrastructure, and at-risk youth intervention programs.”

“Those are real data points with real impacts on the people who live in the 7th District,” Roe continued. “Not the rhetorical nonsense coming from Will Lawrence.”