MI 2024 Election Preview: Key Races To Watch

MICHIGAN — There are several key races across Michigan in Tuesday's general elections.

While the hottest race on the ballot is the presidential election, there are several other races across Michigan that will help determine the future of the state and the nation.

Here are the races to watch in Michigan:

U.S. Senate

Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and former Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers are vying for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat.

The race is a toss-up and will be one of the closest watched senate races across the nation, as the winner could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.

The seat became vacant after longtime Democrat Debbie Stabenow decided not to seek re-election. She severed four six-year terms.

Slotkin, 48, and a Holly Democrat, cruised to an easy primary victory in August.

She currently serves as Michigan's U.S. Representative for the 7th District, which includes all of Ingham, Livingston, Shiawassee and Clinton counties, and areas of Eaton, Genesee and Oakland counties. She was elected in 2018.

One of her top priorities in the campaign is addressing the "over-the-top" costs of child care, education, housing, health care and prescription drugs, backing an "opportunity agenda" to address disparities in those arenas.

Before politics, Slotkin was recruited by the CIA to be a Middle East analyst, and within a year she was sent on the first of three tours in Iraq alongside the U.S. military, according to her campaign website.

Rogers, a White Lake Township Republican, also cruised to an easy primary victory in August. He has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

He has said his top policy goals include securing the U.S.-Mexico border, stopping the "economic threat" that China poses to the automotive industry, curbing violent crime and improving child literacy.

Rogers, 61, also served as a congressman for Michigan’s U.S. Representative for the 8th District from 2001 to 2015. He also worked as an FBI agent and was a Michigan State senator.

U.S. House 10

Republican U.S. Rep. John James and Democratic challenger Carl Marlinga are vying for Michigan's 10th U.S. Congressional District, which includes the Rochester Hills area and parts of Macomb County.

The race is a rematch of one of the country's closest 2022 congressional contests, which James won. This year's race is expected to be another close contest.

Some of the top issues for voters in the district include inflation and the cost of living, abortion and women’s rights, jobs and the economy and freedom and threats to our democracy, according to local polls.

Before his election to Congress in 2022, James served as president of a supply-chain management company and CEO of a logistics services company based in Detroit. He also served in the U.S. military for eight years, leading two platoons in combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In Congress, James serves as the vice chair of the U.S. House’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment and chairs Congress’ Subcommittee on Africa.

Marlinga served as the Macomb County Prosecutor for nearly four decades and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney before becoming a judge for Michigan's 16th Circuit Court. He then left the bench to run for congress in 2022, when he secured the 10th District Democratic nomination but narrowly lost to James in the general election.

U.S. House 11

Democratic U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens is seeking re-election for Michigan’s 11th Congressional District against Republican attorney Nicholas Somberg.

Stevens is favored to win the Democratic district that includes most of Oakland County, including the cities of Pontiac, Birmingham, Royal Oak, Troy, Ferndale and parts of Novi.

Stevens beat Ferndale resident Ahmed Ghanim in the Democratic primary by 74 percentage points in August. Somberg also cruised to an easy primary victory over fellow Republican Charles Frangie by 21 points.

Before being elected to Congress in 2018, Stevens served under the Obama administration as chief of staff to the U.S. Auto Rescue Task force, which was a federal initiative aimed at saving General Motors and Chrysler from bankruptcy.

In Congress, Stevens has been most of President Joe Biden's policies, including the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which allocated billions of dollars in federal funding toward the domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors.

Stevens also serves as a ranking member of the U.S. House’s Subcommittee on Research and Technology.

Somberg, on the other hand, works as a lawyer and represented one of the men convicted in a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Oakland University and a law degree from Western Michigan University’s Cooley Law School.

U.S. House 12

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is seeking re-election for Michigan's 12th U.S. Congressional District against Republican James Hooper.

Tlaib, who was first elected to Congress in 2018, is heavily favored to win the district, which includes Dearborn and part of Detroit, as well as other portions of Wayne and Oakland counties, including the cities of Southfield, Inkster, Garden City and Livonia.

Tlaib ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Hooper beat out fellow Republican Linda Sawyer by 21 percentage points.

Tlaib was the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress, and one of the first two Muslim individuals. Last year, the Republican-led U.S. House voted to censure Tlaib for controversial statements she made in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Tlaib also serves on the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which aligns politically with the Democratic Party’s left wing.

Before serving in Congress, Tlaib served in the Michigan House from 2009 to 2015.

Hooper, on the other hand, describes himself as a “blue-collar Republican” from Detroit’s east side with a background in the building trades. If elected to Congress, he says he will focus on promoting American energy independence, lowering taxes and eliminating the U.S. Department of Education.

U.S. House 13

U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar is seeking re-election for Michigan's 13th U.S. Congressional District against Republican Martell Bivings.

Thanedar is favored to win the district, which is heavily Democratic and includes most of Detroit and multiple downriver communities. The district stretches from the Grosse Pointe area downriver to Ecorse, Southgate and Romulus.

Thanedar beat out multiple other Democrats, including Detroit City Council member Mary Waters and Sharika Hawkins, in Augusts' primary while Bivings ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.

The matchup is also a rematch from 2022 when Thanedar easily beat out Bivings for the seat. The victory was the first time a district covering most of Detroit was without Black representation in Congress since 1955.

Thanedar grew up in southern India and came to the U.S. in 1979, and went on to earn a doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Akron. After becoming a U.S. citizen in 1988, he worked as a researcher and eventual entrepreneur, helping to develop pharmaceutical drugs in the process.

He is also a member of the U.S. House’s Committee on Homeland Security and is the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security.

When asked to define his campaign, Thanedar told Patch:

Healthcare access: Ensuring affordable healthcare and lowering prescription drug costs. Education: Investing in public schools and workforce training programs. Climate Change: Advocating for green energy solutions and environmental justice for our communities most affected by pollution. Criminal Justice Reform: Supporting measures to end mass incarceration and reform our criminal justice system to be more equitable.

Bivings, on the other hand, is a former business liaison with the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. Some campaign issues he has run on before include expanding federal programs like social security, Medicaid and living assistance for senior citizens, strengthening protections for the Great Lakes and building accountability into federal welfare programs.