Stabenow Defeats James: 2018 Michigan General Election

MICHIGAN — Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow has won her fourth term after beating Republican businessman John James, poll results show.

With 93 percent of precincts reporting, she secured a 6-point lead over James, with just over 2 million votes, compared to his 46 percent or 1.8 million votes.

Stabenow, of Lansing, defeated her previous two Republican challengers by double digits. A recent Free Press poll showed James, a U.S. Army veteran from Farmington Hills who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, was a stronger challenger.

Stabenow kept her message positive in TV ads leading up to the election.

Stabenow is 68 years old and served in the U.S. House and the state Legislature before going to Washington. She was born in Gladwin and raised in Clare, where her family ran the local Oldsmobile dealership and her mom was a nurse, according to her campaign website.

She has used her career to advocate for farmers, has spearheaded a bipartisan review of Michigan’s military installations to help identify new opportunities to create Michigan defense jobs, and has helped make movement for the children and families impacted by Flint’s lead crisis.

James, of Farmington Hills, flew helicopters in the Iraq War before returning to Michigan to help run his family’s automotive logistics company in Detroit. He casts himself as a mender of Washington’s partisan divide and as someone who could broaden Republicans’ appeal to minorities and millennials.

Though Trump won the state two years ago and the 37-year-old James has excited the base, Senate Republicans and outside groups did not prioritize the Michigan race this cycle and focused on other states seen as key to determining control of the Senate. James did raise more money than Stabenow in the final months of the campaign.

Also on the ballot for U.S. Senate were George Huffman III of the U.S. Taxpayers Party, Marcia Squier of the Green Party and John Howard Wilhelm of the Natural Law Party.

Michigan Republicans have held a Senate seat just once in 40 years, according to the Associated Press.

Image via Shutterstock

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