With Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin vying for an open U.S. Senate seat this year, the race for Michigan's 7th Congressional District could be tight.
Republican Tom Barrett, a former state lawmaker from Charlotte, is facing off against his former East Lansing-based colleague in the Michigan Senate, Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr.
In 2022, the U.S. House seat became one of the country’s most expensive races, with Slotkin's campaign outraising and outspending Barrett to win the vote.
The election transparency group OpenSecrets put total spending in the district, which includes Ingham, Livingston, Clinton and Shiawassee Counties, at more than $40 million. More than half came from outside groups.
The two candidates this year have raised a total of more than $4 million combined so far. According to the Federal Election Commission, Hertel had more than $2.1 million on hand to Barrett's $958,000 as of the end of March.
Election analysts say the two seasoned politicians are in a good position to solicit more donations.
“They're both well-known people with their previous fundraising operations with people who have funded them before," said Matt Grossman, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University.
"Both of those suggests it'll be a top tier and well-funded race.”
Because the 7th Congressional District race is taking place during a presidential election year, Grossman expects it to be harder for Barrett and Hertel to distinguish themselves from their corresponding parties.
“We're at a point where you have to be pretty different from your own party's presidential candidate to distinguish the voters,” said Grossman. “Most people who vote for a Republican president are going to vote Republican for Congress and the same on the Democratic side.”
Slotkin beat Barrett with 51.7% of the vote in 2022, a margin of 20,000 ballots. President Joe Biden's win in the district in 2020 was narrower, with a less than one percent advantage over then President Donald Trump.
