Democrat William Lawrence expressed confidence early Wednesday that he could unseat U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, in a bellwether U.S. House race watched throughout the country.
As of Wednesday morning, The Associated Press has not called the race.
Lawrence spoke to supporters at a watch party in Lansing before the race had been officially called.
"We've been saying throughout this campaign that we will, and I am excited to say right now, but not too excited to say, that we very well may have," Lawrence said. "And I do believe that we will very soon."
Barrett briefly mingled with a handful of supporters around 2:30 a.m. in the hallway outside the ballroom where he held his watch party before departing without delivering remarks.
WKAR is closely monitoring the AP and will pass along official results.
Lawrence said winning the seat is only the start of the work his supporters will have to do to enact their policy goals.
“Out of this chaos, we're seeking just some stability, just some peace of mind, a New Deal for the 21st century," Lawrence said. "And we can get there. We can get there, but it's going to take a decade and more of organizing and movement building to get it done.”
While many of the battleground races were called within a few hours of polls closing, it was a late night for candidates and their supporters in Michigan's 7th Congressional District, with results still trickling in long after Democrats were projected to take control of both chambers of Congress.
Barrett maintained a lead through most of the night while Lawrence supporters held their breath waiting for results from Ingham County. After 1 a.m., Barrett’s lead had been reduced to less than one percentage point, and Lawrence took the lead for the first time after 2 a.m.
Melany Mack volunteered for Lawrence. She said after midnight that it was “aggravating" results were coming in so slowly, but added that “you never count a good man down.”
Moira Dirss also attended Lawrence’s watch party in Lansing.
She said after midnight that she remained optimistic about Lawrence’s race. But regardless of the outcome in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, she said Democratic gains across the country gave her hope for the future of the country.
“This seems like a really clear repudiation of the agenda of the Trump administration, and that's exactly what we were hoping for,” Dirss said. “And honestly, it's even more than we were hoping for.”
Lawrence’s campaign built a significant field operation, knocking more than 250,000 doors during the general election.
Both candidates campaigned on regulating data centers and development of advanced artificial intelligence models.
Lawrence said after casting his ballot in Lansing Tuesday afternoon that he was proud of his campaign’s volunteers.
“I think we've shown that there's a hunger for a different kind of politics here in mid-Michigan,” Lawrence said. “Not taking any corporate PAC money, calling for a reevaluation of our national priorities away from war towards the American people, investing in good housing and healthcare, education and jobs, standing up against the tech oligarchs that are trying to push data centers down our throats, and, you know, keeping humanity at the center of the story.”
