Michigan's 7th District is anchored in Lansing, the state capital. NBC News reports that President Donald Trump carried it by just 1 percentage point in 2024, and that super PACs and other outside groups have reserved more ad spending there than in all but one other House race in the country. Fox News reports the district is consistently described as one of the closest swing districts in the country.
Democrat Elissa Slotkin held the seat for three terms, Roll Call reports. Fox News reports that Slotkin defeated Republican Tom Barrett in 2022 by five points, and that in October of that year the race was tied for the most expensive congressional race, at an estimated $27 million in spending according to AdImpact. When Slotkin ran for the Senate in 2024, the Associated Press projected Barrett the winner of the open seat over Democratic former state Sen. Curtis Hertel, Fox News reports.
Fox News describes Barrett as a former Army helicopter pilot who served eight years in the state legislature. CNN reports he served 22 years in the Army and deployed to Iraq and Guantánamo Bay. CBS News reports Barrett has voted four times for war powers resolutions to limit the Iran war and introduced a resolution in May to limit and wind down the conflict. CNN reports that four days after his third such vote, Barrett appeared with Trump at a rally in the district and welcomed the president's endorsement.
William Lawrence is a co-founder of the progressive Sunrise Movement, NBC News reports. Roll Call reports he won the Democratic nomination on Aug. 4 with 44 percent, as two more moderate rivals, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and retired Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam, split the remaining vote. NBC News reports he campaigned as an aggressive critic of data centers. CNN reports that Lawrence, 36, deleted hundreds of old social media posts, and that he told CNN he let his membership in the Democratic Socialists of America lapse in July. Roll Call reports the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added him to its Red to Blue program in September.
CNBC reports that Barrett had about $2.9 million on hand compared with roughly $383,000 for Lawrence, citing Federal Election Commission data compiled by OpenSecrets from the most recent reports available as of Sept. 18. NBC News reports that a super PAC spent more than $1 million in the final weeks of the primary to boost Lawrence and oppose Maasdam, and Roll Call reports that Rolling Sea Action Fund, a group focused on Black voters, had spent $1 million opposing Lawrence's campaign as of late July.
Lawrence gave CNN a statement in response to its reporting on social media posts he had deleted.
“Like many millennials, I've done my fair share of thinking out loud on the internet. I've been clear that I disagree today with some things I posted in the past. I don't support defunding the police or open borders.”
Lawrence gave Fox News Digital a statement after it reported on his 2013 arrest at a pipeline protest.
“I don't support defunding the police. I follow the lead of first responders and gun violence prevention advocates I have met with here in the district, who support increased funding for youth programs, mental health resources, and community violence intervention, working in collaboration with law enforcement.”
Lawrence spoke in an interview with NPR on the day of the Democratic primary.
“I believe that the status quo is an electability risk at a time when people are hungry for change”
Lawrence spoke with Fox News Digital at a campaign event in South Lansing before the Democratic primary.
“What I see is that there is an urgent need to have a federal moratorium on new AI data centers so that we can have a national conversation about, if we're going to be generating this hyper-intelligent AI, what's the best way to do it and how do we ensure that it benefits everybody rather than just a few billionaires in Silicon Valley?”
Lawrence spoke with Fox News Digital at a campaign event in South Lansing before the Democratic primary.
“There's a lot of money in politics, there's no doubt about it. And I think it does a disservice to the democratic process”
Barrett was asked in a Fox News interview about his opponent letting his Democratic Socialists of America membership lapse.
“I think being a socialist should disqualify him for people's consideration in my district.”
Barrett was asked in a Fox News interview about affordability and costs.
“Give every American a tax-exempt health savings account and expand the things that they can use it for, for healthy groceries, gym memberships, fitness equipment.”
Barrett was interviewed on CNN's "Inside Politics" about the trade dispute with Canada.
“I want to see us get to a point where we can have mutually beneficial trade arrangements with Canada. I'm still hopeful that we can get there, but that has been my advocacy both publicly and behind the scenes”
Barrett was asked on NBC's "Meet the Press NOW" after the Aug. 4 primary to grade Trump's economic performance.
“I wouldn't say that we have made serious improvement to our economy. We took over in a very, very challenging time, but look, I'm not going to pretend that the work is done.”
Barrett spoke to CNN about his votes on resolutions to limit the president's war powers in Iran.
“That weighs heavily on me. And those effects of war weigh heavily on me. I've got a lot of friends who didn't come home. I got a lot of friends who struggled after they came home”
Platforms are on the candidates' own sites, linked above.