Who’s running against Rashida Tlaib in Michigan’s 12th Congressional District?

• U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is running for re-election in Michigan’s 12th Congressional District
• Two Republicans also running running for the seat but face an uphill battle in the reliably Democratic district
• The 12th District includes Dearborn and part of Detroit, along with other portions of Wayne and Oakland counties. 

LANSING — U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib won't face a Democratic primary challenger as she seeks to win re-election in Michigan’s 12th Congressional District. 

The district, which is anchored by Dearborn and part of Detroit, heavily favors Democrats. It also includes other portions of Wayne and Oakland counties, including the cities of Southfield, Inkster, Garden City and Livonia.

Tlaib, who first won election in 2018, has sparked controversy in Congress but coasted to re-election in 2022, handily defeating Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey in the Democratic primary before winning the general election by nearly 45 percentage points over Republican Steven Elliott, who is running again. 

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Local voters backed Democratic Joe Biden over then-President Donald Trump by nearly 50 percentage points in 2022. Four years earlier, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 45 points in the district.

A total of six major-party candidates filed petition signatures to qualify for the ballot by the April 23 deadline, including two Democrats and four Republicans.

But the field narrowed significantly in late May when the Board of State Canvassers determined two Republican candidates — Steven Elliott and Hassan Nehme — and Democrat Ryan Foster did not qualify for the ballot to due invalid nominating petitions or signatures. 

Winners of the Aug. 6 primary will square off in the Nov. 5 general election. Third parties can nominate candidates later in the year. 

Democrats

Rashida Tlaib: Prior to taking office, the three-term Congresswoman served in the Michigan House from 2009 to 2015. Tlaib earned her law degree from Western Michigan University’s Thomas Cooley Law School in 2004 and has experience working with nonprofit legal advocacy groups. The Detroit Democrat is the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress, and one of the first two Muslim individuals. She serves on the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Reform. Tlaib is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which aligns politically with the Democratic Party’s left wing. Last year, colleagues in the Republican-led U.S. House voted to censure Tlaib for controversial statements she made in response to the Israel-Hamas war. 

Republican candidates:

James Hooper: Hooper describes himself as a “blue-collar Republican” from Detroit’s east side with a background in the building trades. Another candidate who previously sought to unseat Tlaib, he finished second to Elliott in the 2022 GOP primary. If elected, areas of public polity Hooper says he’s passionate about include promoting American energy independence, lowering taxes and eliminating the U.S. Department of Education.

Linda Sawyer: A self-described “Trump supporting, gun-carrying Evangelical,” Sawyer is a registered nurse who attended Northern Michigan University. She is a committee member of the Wayne County Republican Party and was an elected delegate to the 2020 Republican National Convention. Accessible, affordable health care, securing the country’s borders and decriminalizing medical marijuana at the federal level are among Sawyer’s top priorities.