SAUGATUCK, Mich. – The decision of a Michigan congressman to enter the gubernatorial race has resulted in the opening up of one of the most competitive House seats in the nation. This has put Republicans in a position where they need to quickly find a replacement for one of their top performers in the state. Conversely, it has given Democrats a sudden chance to secure a seat in the closely divided Congress.
Following U.S. Rep. John James’ announcement of his run for governor on Monday, two Democrats have seized the opportunity to vie for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District this week.
The first to step forward was former prosecutor Christina Hines, who declared her candidacy on the same day. She received the endorsement of Carl Marlinga, another Democrat who had previously contested against James in the district’s general elections following its creation through redistricting post the 2020 U.S. Census.
Hines’ announcement was followed soon after by Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel, a former Democratic leader in the state House, who joined the race on Thursday.
“I’ve spent my entire career as both an elected official and a union-side labor lawyer and civil rights attorney, being focused on improving people’s economic well-being,” Greimel said. “Those are the issues that people care about, those are the issues that drove me to get into politics.”
Alex Hawkins, an Army veteran and reserve sheriff’s deputy in Oakland County, announced a Democratic bid earlier this year. Former Democratic Rep. Andy Levin said he was also considering a run.
Marlinga lost the seat that had been opened by redistricting to James in 2022 by less than 2,000 votes. James grew that margin to over 6 percentage points in 2024 as now-President Donald Trump carried one of the nation’s most fiercely contested swing states.
Democrats have made the district one of their top targets in 2026 as part of their effort to regain control of the House, where Republicans cling to a slim majority.
“This swing district just became even harder for Republicans to hold,” said Courtney Rice, a spokesperson for the Democrats’ congressional campaign arm, following the news of James’s gubernatorial bid.
Republicans have yet to find their candidate to replace James, a 43-year-old military veteran and the first Black Republican elected to Congress from Michigan.
“Republicans are well-positioned to hold Michigan’s 10th congressional district as we retain and grow our majority,” said Zach Bannon, a spokesperson for the Republicans’ congressional campaign arm, in a statement. “Michiganders rejected the out of touch Democrats’ radical agenda in 2024, and they’ll do it again in 2026.”
Michigan’s 10th Congressional District includes southern Macomb County and parts of Oakland County in the suburbs of Detroit. The area is known as a hub of the auto industry, which has been thrown into turmoil by Trump’s aggressive moves to impose tariffs on imports from other countries, including Canada and Mexico, which play key roles in the automotive supply chain. The tariffs have won the partial backing of the United Auto Workers union as potential job creators but have created an air of uncertainty in Michigan politics as a whole.
“I certainly think targeted tariffs against bad actors like China can make a lot of sense, but we shouldn’t be going after countries like Canada with which we have shared economic interests,” Greimel told the AP.
After serving nearly seven years in the Michigan House — where he held a leadership role within his party— Greimel was elected mayor of Pontiac. Although the city is not located in the 10th District — legal residency is not required — he emphasized his ties to the area, noting that he was “born and raised” in the district and has spent his “entire career fighting for people in Southeast Michigan as a whole.”
At her campaign launch on Monday, Hines highlighted her deep roots in Macomb County, sharing that she grew up there and is now raising a family of three children in Warren, a northeastern Detroit suburb.
“Our kids are facing some of the most incredible challenges with cell phones and social media and mental health issues. This is a really serious and trying time for children and families in our community,” Hines said at her launch. “The problem is that when I look around, I don’t see folks in Congress that are fighting for those issues.”
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
