Republican Congressman Tom Barrett took his reelection campaign to the sidewalk in front of the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday.
The event’s message largely focused on the differences between Barrett and his Democratic challenger William Lawrence’s approaches to public safety.
Leaders from the Police Officers Association of Michigan and Fraternal Order of Police flanked Barrett, along with some mid-Michigan prosecutors and sheriffs. Republican Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-MI 9) and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana also spoke.
Johnson said Barrett has long supported law enforcement through funding and other measures in both Congress and the Michigan Legislature.
“You have to look at the record and not the rhetoric in a campaign. And in this campaign, in Michigan’s 7th District, you have a clear contrast between two competing visions, two completely different world views,” Johnson said while talking to reporters.
Republicans have repeatedly attacked Lawrence for past social media comments. In 2020, Lawrence called for defunding the police on what was then Twitter. The Democrat has since disavowed that position.
Barrett supporters stood behind him holding large printouts of Lawrence’s 6-year-old tweets as Barrett asked them — and his constituents — a question.
“Do you want somebody with a record of service like I have in our military supporting our law enforcement and doing the right thing to keep our communities safe?” Barrett asked. “Or are you going to turn your back on our police officers, and seek to have them defunded, take away their dignity, and abolish them altogether.”
A similar question came up Tuesday, during a TV debate hosted on WKAR and WILX-Lansing.
Lawrence told reporters afterward that he's changed his mind on the topic since those now-deleted posts. He said he now believes in a public safety approach that includes funding for police, community violence intervention, and more mental health resources.
Michigan’s 7th Congressional District is considered among the most competitive races in the country.
Democrats hope to flip the seat by taking advantage of anger with Republican support of President Donald Trump’s positions, like the Iran war.
Barrett has tried to distance himself from the president by introducing legislation to wind down the operation by this summer. But it hasn’t gone anywhere in Congress.
When asked about its prospects, Johnson, who controls which bills come up for votes in the House, sidestepped the question by calling the war a success and saying it’s close to ending.
“We’re right there now, that’s where we are. I believe our international partners, a combination of NATO countries, and our Arab states and friends and allies in that region who all have a direct in interest in this will be a part of that. And so the U.S. did the heavy lifting there and everyone will have to help,” Johnson told reporters.
Johnson also did not directly answer a question about the future of legislation Barrett cosponsors to stop federal agencies from using Flock surveillance cameras.
Despite the conference taking place in front of his office, Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wrigglesworth was not there Wednesday. Barrett did not say if he had the Democratic sheriff’s blessing to be there.
