With West Michigan roots that date back to her grandparents emigrating there, Scholten believes a woman’s choice whether to bear children is her own. Gibbs calls for “the protection of unborn humans” a top priority and would ban giving aid to any country where abortions are legal.
In MI-07, U.S. Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin is in a Tossup race against Republican Thomas Barrett. The district is rated R+2. Slotkin’s margin of victory in 2020 was 4 points, even though Trump won her district by 1 point. In the redrawn 7th, Biden would have won by a slim margin. Both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) have prioritized this election.
Slotkin is a former CIA Middle East analyst who served on the White House National Security Council, in the Department of State, and in the Department of Defense. Slotkin supports the 50-year precedent set by Roe v Wade and is in favor of common-sense gun legislation. Barrett is a state senator serving in his first term. Barrett removed all mention of abortion on his campaign website, but when the Dodd decision was announced, he “branded himself ‘100% prolife — no exceptions.” He also has co-hosted a rally with a self-described “domestic terrorist.”
U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee is also in a Tossup race. In the MI-08 election, he will face Republican Paul Junge. Kildee, serving in Congress for nine years, currently represents MI-05, but redistricting altered the boundaries of his one-safe district. It is now more Republican with the addition of Midland, where Dow Chemical was founded.
Kildee was born and raised in Flint. Before being elected to Congress, he founded the Center for Community Progress, a non-profit focused on bringing new economic development to older, industrial communities like Flint, Saginaw, Bay City and Midland. In Congress, Kildee voted for two pieces of legislation ensuring women can make their own health care decisions and freely travel throughout the country to access reproductive care. Junge is a political newcomer who touts his work in his family business ahead of his work as a district attorney and TV news anchor for the local Fox affiliate. On his campaign website, Junge vows to “serve as a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment conservative leader.”
