Will Lawrence wins, Shri Thanedar fights challenger in Michigan US House races

LANSING — Progressive Democrat William Lawrence has won Michigan’s competitive 7th Congressional District primary, setting up a showdown with incumbent US Rep. Tom Barrett in November.

The Associated Press called the race for Lawrence shortly after 11:20 p.m. He had maintained a steady lead in early vote counts over Democratic rivals Bridget Brink and Matt Maasdam.

“Tonight the people of Michigan’s 7th District sent a clear message: they are tired of Silicon Valley billionaires and DC insiders determining the future of our towns and our country,” Lawrence said in a victory statement.

“They want an unbought representative who isn’t afraid to stand up to leaders of both parties and fight for working people.”

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Elsewhere, partial vote counties showed a close race between progressive Donavan McKinney and Democratic incumbent US Rep. Shri Thanedar of Detroit in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District.

As of 11:30 p.m., McKinney was up slightly, with nearly 40% of the vote counted.

The winner of the primary is all but guaranteed victory in the heavily Democratic district. However, Detroit is often slow to report results, meaning it may take a while to determine a winner.

Thanedar is a wealthy businessman who first won election to the US House in 2023. That win marked the first time since 1995 that Detroit did not have a Black representative in Congress.

In other results:

State Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Bloomfield Township, advanced in the 11th District in suburban Detroit. He was far ahead of Aisha Farooqi, John Paul Torres and Don Ufford. The seat was vacated by Haley Stevens, who is running for US Senate.
In the nearby 10th District, Michael Bouchard advanced in the Republican primary for the seat currently held by US Rep. John James, who chose to run for governor rather than seek reelection.
State Sen. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo, topped Democrat Diop Harris II in the 4th District in west Michigan. McCann now faces US Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, who easily advanced.

Much of the voting occurred before Tuesday: More than 1.3 million absentee ballots had already been submitted by 6 p.m., according to the Michigan Secretary of State’s office, a 16% increase from the August primary four years ago.

“We expect that number to increase,” Secretary of State spokesperson Angela Benander told reporters earlier Tuesday, adding that the state is already “at about 20% turnout statewide for our active registered voters.”

Because absentee ballots take longer to count than in-person votes, full results may not be available immediately for some of the state’s most important congressional races.

Here are the latest results: