• Republican gubernatorial nominee John James is running on his record, including laws passed under President Donald Trump
• James’ supporters argue his record is evidence of ability to get things done for Michigan
• Critics have bemoaned his votes on health care spending, tariffs and the war in Iran

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LANSING — Through nearly four years in Congress, Republican John James has sponsored three laws, helped fund a military base in his district and become a reliable vote for President Donald Trump’s agenda. 

Now, as he runs for governor, James is avoiding questions about Trump’s unpopularity but touting his vote for the president’s “big, beautiful” law as evidence of his ability to deliver results. 

“I help cut taxes, secure our border, end vehicle mandates, save Selfridge and protect Medicaid for vulnerable people,” James said in a victory speech after winning the gubernatorial primary over GOP businessman Perry Johnson.

Democrats have blasted Trump’s signature tax-and-spend law because it will also curb future Medicaid spending. They contend a James administration in Lansing would “be a rubber stamp for Trump’s agenda of cutting healthcare,” among other things. 

James lost close races for US Senate twice, in 2018 and 2020, before his 2022 win in Michigan’s 10th Congressional District, which includes most of Macomb County and Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County.

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What’s true about James’ record in Congress? Here’s what you need to know as he competes to be Michigan’s next governor. 

Partisan rankings

In his first term, when Democrat Joe Biden was president, James had a relatively moderate voting record. Out of the 222 House Republicans who served in that Congress, GovTrack ranked James 30th least conservative.

“I’m an open-minded, free-thinking conservative,” James said in his 2022 campaign. “I’m not afraid to listen even if you disagree with me.”

But in 2023, his first year in office, he was not extraordinarily active in reaching across the aisle, ranking 138th out of 436 House members on the Lugar Center’s bipartisan index that year. 

Similar analyses have not yet been conducted for James’ second term, which he has served with Trump back in the White House.

Last year, James and Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids cosponsored legislation to try to lower child care costs. The measure would have allocated $250 million to test a federal tri-share child care program that’s also being piloted at the state level in Michigan.

Republican primary rival Perry Johnson attacked James for the bipartisan work with Scholten.

Trump alignment

Absent one notable blip, James has been what he calls a “proud ally” of Trump. He is no stranger to the Trump rally stage and has won the president’s endorsements in more than one contested primary.

In 2025, when Trump’s position on a bill was publicly known, James voted with the president 100% of the time, according to VoteHub, a nonpartisan and independent data organization. 

He did so along with 89% of the GOP caucus in the House and all GOP members of Michigan’s congressional delegation, according to the Votehub analysis.

Most notably, James voted for the “big, beautiful” law that extended tax cuts and will curb future Medicaid spending. Critics have also slammed James for voting against continuation of premium subsidies for health care plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

At a rally with Trump in July, James praised him as “the greatest president of my lifetime,” though less than  ffour years prior, James had harsh criticism for Trump when his political influence was seemingly waning.

“A man who would suspend the Constitution can’t be trusted,” James said in December 2022, according to WLNS-TV, declining to endorse Trump’s third presidential run at the time. 

But since Trump returned to office, James has joined other Republicans in blocking efforts intended at curtailing the president’s executive authority.

This year, James voted against multiple war powers resolutions that would’ve required Trump to seek congressional approval to continue attacking Iran.

The most recent resolution, which sought to wind down US involvement in the conflict, passed the GOP-led House with support of just four Republicans, including Rep. Tom Barrett of Michigan. The Senate did not take it up. 

While Trump bypassed Congress to impose sweeping tariffs, James has generally supported the process. Last year, he joined most Republicans in voting to surrender congressional tariff powers to Trump and in February voted against a House-approved measure to terminate emergency powers Trump had used to impose tariffs on Canada.

As tensions with Canada have dragged on, James said last week he would “work with everyone” to bring the trade dispute to a “mutually beneficial end.” He also echoed Trump’s arguments that the US must “demand fairness in these relationships.” 

Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, on Monday urged James to pass legislation repealing Trump’s current 50% tariffs on Canada. “Cutting their session short and leaving town early isn’t leadership, and it sure won’t lower any gas prices or grocery bills,” she said of House Republicans.

Bills passed

Congress has been notoriously unproductive during James’ tenure. In 2025 the US House held 362 roll call votes — the fewest in any year this century save 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

That hasn’t offered a lot of opportunities for members to pass new laws, and James has passed just three since 2023, including two he authored that were later folded into larger federal spending bills that passed.

James was the primary sponsor on a law that helped block California’s stringent automotive fuel efficiency standards, which would have required all new vehicles sold in the state to be zero-emission by 2035. James’ bill revoked rules for trucks, but he also co-sponsored a passenger car law.

A James-sponsored bill to reauthorize $41 million in funding for research and awareness regarding heritable blood disorders such as Sickle Cell was folded into a larger measure that became law, as was another bill aimed at combating human trafficking abroad.

Asked about his record in Congress, James’ campaign touted those laws.

“John James has and will continue to deliver results, (Democratic rival) Jocelyn Benson will continue to deliver incompetence,” spokesperson Alvyia Bailey said in a statement.

James has also been more absent than most members of Congress. He’s missed 5% of roll-call votes since taking office. He only missed four votes in 2023, but since announcing his run for governor in April of 2025 has missed 62 — about a tenth of all votes, according to GovTrack.

Constituent services, pork

Passing laws is not the only way to measure how members of Congress are getting things done. Another is looking at how active they were advocating for their constituents, said Corwin Smidt, a professor of political science at Michigan State University. 

In July, James’ office touted recovering about $20.7 million for constituents since he entered office in 2023, largely for residents who had trouble accessing federal benefits or tax refunds. 

James has also celebrated bringing federal funding back to his district — so-called “pork-barrel spending” that members in competitive congressional districts can attract relatively easily. 

In 2023, his first year in Congress, James touted more than $48 million secured for his district and statewide. Nearly half of that — $22.4 million for the Soo Locks — was the product of bipartisan efforts. 

James also secured a bevy of infrastructure-related funding for his district, including multimillion-dollar grants for sewer and stormwater upgrades in Warren, St. Clair Shores, the city of Macomb and Clinton Township, which has earned him allies such as Public Works Director Candice Miller.

Landing Selfridge

More than $8.6 billion in federal funding flows into the 10th Congressional District each year, according to USAspending.gov, the second-most of any district in Michigan. The Department of Defense spends more than $2 billion of that total, much of it at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base, which is linked to more than 5,000 local jobs.  

When it was announced a major program stationed at the base would be winding down, James was part of a bipartisan, all-hands-on-deck effort to replace the program and protect jobs. 

James repeatedly helped secure new funding for Selfridge, including $162 million to rebuild runways needed to bring a new mission of F-15EX and KC-46 aircraft to the Harrison Township base.

“That, I think, is his crowning jewel of what he accomplished during his time in Congress,” said Jamie Roe, a longtime Republican political consultant in Macomb County. “It’s recognized by everybody down here as a huge success.”

Still, James did not get the full $673 million he’d requested for Selfridge and had to share credit with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who repeatedly lobbied Trump for the base, and the state Legislature, which kicked in more than $150 million to aid construction. 

The base has become an election-year talking point for James’ supporters. The With Honor Action Fund super PAC recently put up a billboard in Detroit – nearly 30 miles from the base – thanking James for the Selfridge support.

A promised manufacturing push

In his runs for Congress, James has centered many of his campaign promises on a manufacturing resurgence. “We need new blood who won’t quit until we lower prices and bring back manufacturing,” he said in 2022. 

Despite efforts by both Biden and Trump, that manufacturing resurgence has not materialized. While individual members of Congress have little ability to change the economic trajectory of their districts, a number of economic indicators don’t point to overall growth for his district. 

Macomb County’s unemployment rate has increased from 4.0% in January 2023 to an estimated 6.0% in July 2026, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The number of employed people in the county has also fallen by about 15,000 from its August 2023 peak. 

Manufacturing remains Macomb’s largest sector, responsible for about 68,000 jobs in 2025, according to a report by the county government. County-specific gains or losses aren’t readily available, but manufacturing employment in Michigan as a whole has declined while James has served in Congress, from an estimated 617,500 jobs in January 2023 to 585,000 jobs in July 2026. 

Visibility complaints

James has faced some bipartisan criticism among local stakeholders who wanted him to be more visible in his congressional district. 

“He shows up to things, and he’ll speak and then leave. He doesn’t usually hang around much and talk to people,” said Mark Forton, a Republican activist who previously chaired the Macomb County GOP. 

“I don’t know if that’s a personality thing or what. … He hasn’t been out there with everybody,” added Forton, a hardline Republican who has been none too pleased with James’ imperfectly conservative record in Congress but still intends to support him this November. 

Alysa Diebolt, the chair of the Macomb County Democratic Party, noted James’ primary rival Perry Johnson earned 30% of the vote in Macomb County, only 5 percentage points under his statewide average, despite it being James’ district.

“I know a lot of Republican voters in Macomb County that were supporting Perry Johnson because, like, ‘who the hell is John James?’” Diebolt said. “He’s never here.”

But James’ supporters have largely dismissed those concerns.

“Anybody who’s in elective office is going to hear those type of criticisms,” said Roe, the GOP strategist. “Particularly when you’re serving in Washington, DC, and on congressional scheduling, you’re trying to run a statewide campaign — it does take away the amount of time that you’re able to devote.”

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