(The Center Square) – Candidates in one of the nation’s most competitive congressional district elections are campaigning on a variety of issues, but there are only two on which they completely agree — tax cuts and health care costs.
The race for Michigan’s 8th Congressional District is a contest between Democratic State Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet and Republican Paul Junge, with incumbent Democratic Senator Dan Kildee (D-Flint) retiring for personal reasons.
Junge is a criminal prosecutor in the domestic violence unit and practitioner who worked at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Trump administration. He has focused his message on job growth and tax cuts, strengthening border security, cracking down on crime and illegal drug flows, and lowering healthcare prices.
“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 at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, I tackled immigration and border issues, upholding the promise of America and the importance of a secure border and a safe homeland,” Junge said. “We deserve leaders who will fearlessly fight for our values. I promise to be a warrior for Michigan families.”
Junge says he supports an “all of the above” approach to energy that “encourages private sector innovation toward renewable energy sources rather than government mandates that result in higher taxes and job-killing regulations.”
He has also promised to maintain Social Security and Medicare, assurances his opponent has also made.
Junge previously ran for Congress against Kildee in 2022, losing 53.1% to 42.8%. With new maps that have shifted more conservative-leaning areas into the district, the race is rated a toss-up by the Cook Political Report and is expected to be one of the most competitive in the country.
Rivet, who is backed by both Kildee and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, has centered her campaign around job creation and tax cuts, reducing the cost of living, child care and healthcare, and promoting access to abortion.
“I'm running to make things a little easier for working families like the one I grew up in — by lowering costs, creating good-paying jobs and pushing back against extremists,” Rivett said. “In the state Senate, I have a record of doing just that. I took on special interests and fought to lower the cost of prescription drugs, and I led the effort to pass the largest tax cut for working families in Michigan history. I also helped repeal Michigan's extreme abortion ban.”
As a state senator, Rivett co-sponsored bills aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs, providing tax credits to working parents, increasing the affordability of child care, expanding absentee voting options, mandating background checks for gun purchasers, and requiring non-union members to pay agency fees.
He faced criticism for introducing a bill, now law, that prohibits schools from using teacher performance evaluations to make tenure or termination-based decisions, and praise for introducing legislation expanding retirement plan options for corrections officers.
Rivet says she supports “common sense immigration reforms,” including fixing the legal immigration process to ease a path to citizenship, and that she would work in Congress to pass federal legislation restoring Roe v. Wade-era abortion regulations.
Rivet has received endorsements from Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List and more than two dozen labor unions.
Both the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are targeting the 8th District seat, which Republicans want to win.
