The 7th and 9th district seats were considered to be competitive. Both seats were occupied by Republicans[1] who lost to Democratic opponents.
The makeup of the Michigan congressional delegation in 2008 consisted of nine Republicans and six Democrats. As a result of the 2008 election, the delegation in 2009/2010 consists of eight Democrats and seven Republicans. The two Democratic Party gains came in the 7th and 9th districts.
Popular incumbentBart Stupak was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Conservative state RepresentativeTom Casperson, fromEscanaba, won the Republican primary election over Linda Goldthorpe and Don Hooper.[3] TheLibertarian Party nominated Daniel Grow; theU.S. Taxpayers Party nominated Joshua Warren and theGreen Party nominatedSocialist Jean Treacy.[4] The 1st District is generally socially conservative and strongly pro-union. It covers the entireUpper Peninsula and the northern part of theLower Peninsula, and is the largest congressional district east of theMississippi River.
IncumbentVern Ehlers was re-elected. The district trends Republican and is centered onGrand Rapids. Ehlers was challenged by Democrat Henry Sanchez andLibertarian Erwin Haas.
RepublicanDavid Lee Camp was reelected. He was by challenged byDemocrat Andrew Concannon,[11]Libertarian Allitta Hren, and U.S. Taxpayer Party candidate John Emerick. This large district stretches fromOwosso in the east central part of the state toTraverse City to the extreme northwest part of the Lower Peninsula.
DemocratDale Kildee ran for re-election in 2008. The Flint area congressman has served for over 30 years. His district (coveringFlint,Saginaw,Bay City and part of the western part ofThe Thumb) is strongly Democratic. Petitions were circulated for Democratic state senatorJohn Gleason to challenge Kildee, but Gleason decided not to run.[12] Kildee is challenged on byRepublican candidate by Matt Sawicki ofBay City,Libertarian candidate Leonard Schwartz andGreen Party candidate Ken Mathenia ofGrand Blanc.[13]
RepublicanFred Upton had three opponents, DemocratDon Cooney, Green Edward Pinkney and Libertarian Greg Merle. The sixth district covers the southwest corner of lower Michigan.
The seventh district covers the middle part of southern lower Michigan. Republican incumbentTim Walberg faced State Senate Minority Leader and Democratic nomineeMark Schauer, Libertarian Ken Proctor, Green Lynn Meadows and independent Sharon Reiner.
Walberg was elected in 2006 with a surprisingly thin 49.9% of the vote, despite outspending Democratic opponent Sharon Reiner 20:1. This made Walberg a top target for defeat in 2008 by theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Schauer defeated Renier in the August 5 primary,[14] after which Renier ran in the general election as awrite-in candidate with no party affiliation.[15]
County Results Schauer: 40–50% 50–60% Walberg: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%
Incumbent RepublicanMike Rogers was re-elected in 2006 with 55.3% of the vote compared to 42.9% for his Democratic opponent.East Lansing Democratic activist Bob Alexander (who lost in 2004 to Rogers) announced that he is running again.[16] Aaron Stuttman is running for theGreen Party,[17] Will Tyler White for the Libertarian Party,[18] and George Zimmer for the U.S. Taxpayers Party.[19] This district stretches from the westernDetroit suburbs to theLansing area.
County Results Rogers: 50–60% 60–70% Alexander: 50–60%
This district covers parts ofOakland County. Republican incumbentJoe Knollenberg was challenged by former Michigan Lottery commissioner and military veteran, Democratic nomineeGary Peters. Libertarian Adam Goodman, Green PartyDouglas Campbell and Independent Dr.Jack Kevorkian were also running. Knollenberg was targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee after his surprisingly narrow margin of victory in the 2006 election, receiving 51.5% of the vote compared with 46.2% for his Democratic opponent.
Republican incumbentCandice Miller was challenged by Democratic nominee Robert Denison, Libertarian Neil Kiernan Stephenson, and Green Candace Caveny. This district stretches from the northeastDetroit suburbs up to most ofThe Thumb.
Incumbent RepublicanThad McCotter was challenged by Democrat Joseph Larkin who defeated Edward Kriewall in the August 5 party primary.[20] Also running were Libertarian John Tatar and Green Erik Shelley. This district covers part ofDetroit's western suburbs.
12-term DemocratSander M. Levin was challenged by Republican Bert Copple, Libertarian John Vico, Green William J. O'Palicky and U.S. Taxpayers' Lester Townsend. This district covers part of Detroit's northern suburbs.
Incumbent DemocratCarolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick narrowly survived the August 5 party primary. She faced complications due to the legal troubles facing her son,Detroit mayorKwame Kilpatrick.[21][22] Cheeks Kilpatrick won with 39.1% of the vote over former state representative Mary Waters with 36% of the vote and state senator Martha Scott with 24.9% of the vote.[23] A televised debate between the three candidates developed into a shouting match.[24] Cheeks Kilpatrick faced Republican candidate Edward Gubics, Libertarian candidateGreg Creswell and Green Party candidate George Cosetti in the general election.[25] This district covers the east side of Detroit and its eastern andDownriver suburbs.
Powerful incumbent DemocratJohn Conyers, chairman of theHouse Judiciary Committee, had one Democratic opponent in the primary, Detroit pastor Rev.Horace Sheffield,[26] but Sheffield's campaign was short lived[27] because he withdrew his name and announced his support for Conyers.[28] Conyers faced Libertarian Rick Secula and Green Party Clyde Shabazz in the general election. This district covers the west side of Detroit and some inner western and downriver suburbs.
55-year Congressional veteran DemocratJohn Dingell is the Dean of the House[29] and chairman of theHouse Energy and Commerce Committee. He was challenged by Republican Jack Lynch, Libertarian Gregory Scott Stempfle, Green Aimee Smith and U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate James Wagner. The 15th district includesAnn Arbor,Ypsilanti,Monroe, thedownriver suburbs of Detroit and the semi-rural southeastern corner of Michigan.
District results
County results
