What pundits and polls throughout Michigan are increasingly predicting will be the “race of the year” began to take shape last week.
With three-term Rep. Elissa Slotkin leaving her 7th District seat to run for the seat of fellow retiring Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow, area Democrats have given their blessing to one of the Water Wonderland’s most illustrious political names — Curtis Hertel, Jr., a former state senator, the namesake-son of a former co-speaker of the state House of Representatives and the nephew of former U.S. Rep. Dennis Hertel.
An example of the Hertel name’s considerable muscle came last year when Curtis, termed out of his senate seat, was succeeded by younger brother Kevin.
The almost sure Republican nominee is former state Sen. Tom Barrett, a U.S. Army veteran (at one point the lone Iraqi War veteran in the Michigan Legislature) and narrow loser to Slotkin last year.
Aside from being a clash between career politician and career military officer, the pending Hertel vs. Barrett bout features two candidates who disagree on just about every economic and cultural issue.
“And they also hold each other in minimum high regard,” commented one Michigan conservative operative who requested anonymity, referring to how Hertel and Barrett felt about one another when they served in the state Legislature.
Bill Ballenger, editor of the much read Ballenger Report on Michigan politics, told Newsmax that "this was the site of the nation's most expensive House race in 2022, and the 7th District is now open and split about evenly between Republicans and Democrats.”
Michigan’s 7th District is considered one of the handful of truly marginal House districts anywhere. At a time when the division between the major parties in the House is the closest since 1930, and control could go either way next year, it is surely to be closely watched and reported on.
"It's a good thing for the party as a whole because it gives us something to focus on rather than fighting among ourselves," said two-time former Ingham County (Lansing) GOP Chair Tom Klunzinger, referring to the state GOP's internecine warfare that has recently made national news.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.