Two critical deadlines have passed with little media fanfare but significant political implications.
Candidates vying to run for the U.S. Congress and Senate had until Tuesday, April 23, to officially file for their names to appear on the ballots to run in the primary elections on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. In addition, Friday, April 26, was the deadline for candidates to withdraw from their respective races officially. Winners of the primary elections will move on to the Tuesday, November 5 general election.
While there will be numerous races to watch throughout the state, several will directly impact Detroit and surrounding cities throughout Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. Once again, the 13th Congressional District will garner much attention. The district consists of portions of Detroit, Dearborn Heights (a portion), Allen Park, Ecorse, all of the Grosse Pointes, Hamtramck, Harper Woods, Highland Park, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, River Rouge, Romulus, Southgate, Taylor, Wayne, and Wyandotte.
The 13th, with a population hovering around 757,463, is 48.2 percent Black, making the Democratic district a “Majority-Minority.” Yet, when the 2022 primary and general elections were over, the results left African Americans in the 13th without Black representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Indian American Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) won The Mighty 13th, and the incumbent is seeking a second term. However, Thanedar will be opposed in the primary by a group of Democratic candidates, which includes Shakira Lynn Hawkins (attorney), Adam Hollier (former state senator), and Mary Waters (Detroit City Councilmember), all of whom are African Americans. The three Black candidates running are a far cry from the 2022 primary when eight of the nine Democratic candidates in the 13th Congressional race were African American.
On the Republican side of the ballot in the 13th, native Detroiter Martell Bivings, who is African American, will run as the only GOP candidate in the storied congressional district. Bivings unsuccessfully ran against Thanedar in the 2022 general election.
In another Congressional race of interest, Democratic U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib will seek re-election in Michigan’s 12th Congressional District. The 12th includes Dearborn, a part of Detroit, and other sectors of Wayne and Oakland counties. Fellow party member Ryan Foster, a Detroit teacher, has filed to run against Tlaib in the primary. Republican candidates running in the primary include Steven Elliott (Marine veteran), James Hooper (building tradesman from Detroit), Hassan Nehme (entrepreneur and former vice chair for the Michigan Republican Party), and Linda Sawyer (Wayne County Republican Party committee member).
As Michigan’s lone Black representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican John James, who represents the 10th Congressional District, will run in the primary without opposition from fellow GOP candidates. The 10th consists of southern Macomb County cities and Rochester Hills in Oakland County. Six Democrats are set to run in the primary: Emily Busch (businesswoman), Dr. Anil Kumar (surgeon and educator), Carl Marlinga (former Macomb County Prosecutor), Rhonda Powell (Statewide Operations Director of We the People MI), Tiffany Tilley (Co-VP, Michigan’s State Board of Education), and Diane Young (entrepreneur).
The winner will face James in the November general election.
If the 10th Congressional seat is to remain Black, James will have to win in the general election, or Powell or Tilley will need to win in the primary and general.
In Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Flint, Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland, U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) has announced he will not run for re-election. However, fellow Democrats running are Matt Collier (former Flint mayor), Pamela Pugh (President, State Board of Education), and Kristen McDonald Rivet (state senator). Pugh is an African American.
Republicans Mary Draves (former corporate executive), Anthony J. Hudson (small business owner), Paul Junge (criminal prosecutor), and Nikki Snyder (member of the State Board of Education) are running in the primary.
The U.S. Senate race will also be of great interest after Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) chose not to run for re-election in 2024. The Secretary of State’s listings for the U.S. Senate primary race include Democratic candidates Nasser Beydoun (businessman), Hill Harper (attorney, actor, Detroit resident), and Elissa Slotkin (U.S. Congresswoman). The Republican field will include Justin Amash (former U.S. Rep.), Sherry O’Donnell (physician), Sandy Pensler (businessman), and Mike Rogers (former U.S. Rep.).
Michigan has never elected an African American to represent the state as a U.S. Senator. If that history is going to change, Democratic candidate Hill Harper will have to win the primary and general elections.
According to The Office of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, posted on April 29, for a complete listing of all 2024 Michigan candidates running for various political offices and judgeships, log on to www.michigan.gov/sos/elections