(The Center Square) – Candidates in the nation’s most competitive congressional district are campaigning on a variety of issues, but the only ones they can fully agree on are lower taxes and health care costs.
In Michigan's 8th Congressional District, Democrat State Senator Kristen McDonald-Rivett is running against Republican Paul Junge, and incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) is retiring for personal reasons.
Junge, a criminal prosecutor in the domestic violence division and businessman who worked for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Trump administration, has a message focused on job growth, tax cuts, increased border security, cracking down on crime and illegal drug trafficking, and lowering health care costs.
“As a job creator, I experienced the challenges of growing small businesses, serving customers and providing quality jobs. As a criminal prosecutor, I fought for crime victims and safe communities. When I worked for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, I addressed immigration and border issues, defending the American promise and the importance of safe borders and a safe homeland,” Junge said. “We deserve leaders who will fearlessly fight for our values, and I am committed to fighting for Michigan families.”
Junge said he supports a “one-size-fits-all” approach to energy that “encourages private sector innovation toward renewable energy sources, rather than government mandates that lead to higher taxes and job-killing regulations.”
He has also promised to preserve Social Security and Medicare, a guarantee echoed by his opponent.
Junge ran against Kildee for the House of Representatives in 2022 but lost, 53.1% to 42.8% of the vote. The Cook Political Report rates the race as close because new maps shifted conservative-leaning areas into the district, and it is expected to be one of the most competitive in the country.
Libet, who has been endorsed by both Kildee and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, has made job creation, lowering taxes, reducing the cost of living, child care and health care costs and increasing access to abortion the centerpiece of his campaign.
“I'm running to make things a little easier for working families like the ones I grew up with by lowering costs, creating good paying jobs and taking on extremists,” Rivett said. “As a state senator, I have a track record of doing just that. I took on special interests and fought to lower the cost of prescription drugs. I led the effort to pass the largest tax cut for working families in Michigan history. And I worked to repeal Michigan's extreme anti-abortion law.”
As a state senator, Libet co-sponsored bills aimed at lowering prescription drug costs, providing tax credits for working parents, easing the burden of child care, expanding absentee voting options, requiring background checks for gun buyers and requiring non-union gun dealers to pay agency fees.
She drew criticism for introducing a bill (now law) that would have prohibited schools from using teacher performance evaluations in tenure and firing decisions, but was praised for introducing a bill that would have expanded retirement plan options for correctional officers.
Libet supports “common-sense immigration reform,” including fixing the legal immigration process to make the path to citizenship easier, and has said she would work in Congress to pass federal legislation that would reinstate Roe v. Wade-era restrictions on abortion.
Rivet has received endorsements from Planned Parenthood, EMILY's List and more than 20 labor unions.
Both the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are targeting the 8th District seat that Republicans want to retake.
