Home · Politics · Nov 4 archive
Progressive Lawrence Defeats GOP Rep Barrett in Michigan
Confirmed
In Short: Progressive William Lawrence defeated Republican Tom Barrett in Michigan's 7th Congressional District.
Progressive William Lawrence defeated Republican Tom Barrett in Michigan's 7th Congressional District, according to CBS News and the Michigan Advance. Lawrence, a climate activist and former member of the Democratic Socialists of America, won with 51% of the vote, while Barrett received 47.7% of the vote.
Lawrence's victory came after a close race that saw Barrett leading through most of the evening and into the night. However, Lawrence's campaign began making gains in the early hours of the morning, securing a 2.2 percentage point lead by 2:40 a.m.
Lawrence, who co-founded the Sunrise Movement, focused his campaign on the cost of living and opposing data center development. He distanced himself from past posts, including one where he called to defund the police, saying they no longer aligned with his current beliefs.
Barrett, a 21-year Army veteran and helicopter pilot, campaigned on data center regulations. He argued that decisions about data centers should be made at the local level, rather than through a federal moratorium.
Barrett was one of the first House Republicans to break with President Trump and vote on war powers resolutions to end the war with Iran without congressional approval. He also supported President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included $83 billion in tax breaks for data centers.
Lawrence's campaign platform included leftist positions such as promising 'healthcare for all,' stabilizing 'prices and markets,' making the end of an unborn child's life through abortion a federal right, attacking ICE, and creating a 'path to citizenship' for illegal immigrants.
Lawrence acknowledged the generational divide, saying, 'Our generation says f*** you for everything... Hurry up and die so that we can get started.' He urged voters to give him grace for past statements, saying, 'Give each other the same grace we’re asking the whole district to give me in the face of whatever stupid stuff I may have said 10 or 15 years ago.'
Barrett conceded the race, departing his election night watch party at 2:39 a.m., while Lawrence's campaign shared their victory proclamation at 2:49 a.m.
What this adds
Lawrence let his DSA membership lapse before the primary to 'make clear' to voters in his district that he would represent them.
What's confirmed
- At 2:40 a.m., Lawrence was leading by 2.2 percentage points.
What's still developing
- Lawrence said he let his DSA membership lapse before the primary to "make clear" to voters in his district that he would represent them.
- “We need to put a stop to this, because right now the whole thing is out of control and alarm bells are going off,” Lawrence said at a press conference earlier this year.
- After the redistricting, Slotkin shifted from the 8th to the 7th District, where she beat Barrett in one of the most expensive House races of the 2022 midterms.
- Lawrence vocally opposed data center construction almost as soon as he began running last year.
- Lawrence, a climate activist and tenant organizer backed by the left-leaning Working Families Party, became an unlikely sensation in Michigan politics during the primaries, surging past two darlings of the Democratic establishment, one a former ambassador, the other a Navy SEAL, to win by 15 points.
- In some of them, Lawrence called the nuclear family "an isolating, violent way of organizing society" and praised campaigns to abolish the police.
- (Tom Barrett For Congress) Barrett is a 21-year Army veteran helicopter pilot, who served numerous deployments overseas, before returning to Michigan and spending nearly a decade in the state legislature.
- Barrett pushed back on the idea, saying, “I don’t support putting a government-run program for $40 trillion onto the books when we are already struggling for so much financing.” Barrett addressed concerns over license plate reader cameras, saying any use of the technology should be weighed against constitutional protections.