William Lawrence, a progressive insurgent, upset the Democratic establishment Tuesday to win the tense primary to run against Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI), possibly thwarting one of the top pickup opportunities for Democrats in November.
Lawrence led with a plurality of the vote in the three-way field, 43%, when the Associated Press called the race at 11:23 p.m. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink had 29%, while former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam had 28%. 55% of the vote was tabulated when the race was called.
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The bitter battle between Brink and Maasdam to secure the nomination was turned upside down by the upstart Lawrence, whose surge in the weeks leading up to the primary was enough to clinch the nomination. As attack ads ran against both Brink and Maasdam in the closing weeks, Lawrence ended up being the beneficiary and clinched the nomination.
In the days before the primary, Maasdam’s campaign suggested that Brink was playing “spoiler” in the race to give Lawrence an opening. He said in an interview with the Washington Examiner last week that she had a “big choice to make” but stopped short of calling on her to drop out.
“This primary could have really significant implications for Democrats’ ability to flip this seat,” the Cook Political Report’s Erin Covey told the Washington Examiner. “Which you know, if you look at the list of seats that Democrats are playing in this cycle and one that they could conceivably flip on paper, this should be one of the most winnable ones.”
Lawrence, a founder of the climate activist group Sunrise Movement, will have more of an uphill battle to win Michigan’s 7th Congressional District against Barrett due to his progressive roots and ties to the Democratic Socialists of America, although he is not endorsed by the organization.
“If democratic socialism is believing that everybody deserves a good job and a good home and we should have healthcare that covers us for life, then, yeah, you can call me a democratic socialist or whatever you want,” Lawrence told a local radio outlet.
The National Republican Congressional Committee took note of Lawrence’s victory over the two centrist Democrats, claiming the Democrats’ “path to the House majority is evaporating in real time.”
“Every embarrassing defeat leaves them with a radical socialist nominee, an emptier bank account, and another must-win seat off the board,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement.
UNDER THE RADAR PRIMARY RACES YOU SHOULD BE FOLLOWING THREE MONTHS UNTIL MIDTERM ELECTIONS
Katie Smith, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement that the race will be a “referendum on Tom Barrett’s record of broken promises.”
“Barrett is a fraud who told families he’d stand up for them, then gutted their health care, voted twice to allow the forever war in Iran, and backed reckless tariffs — sticking Michigan families with the bill for higher prices everywhere from at the pump, in the doctor’s office, at the grocery store, and more,” Smith wrote. “This November, Michigan voters will reject Broken Promise Barrett for selling them out.”
This district is one of 14 Republican seats labeled a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Barrett won his race by about 4 percentage points in 2024, as President Donald Trump won by just 1 point.
