Michigan Republican U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman won his party’s nomination Tuesday over two GOP primary challengers, Matthew DenOtter and Justin Michal, according to a race call by the Associated Press shortly before 10 p.m.
Bergman, a five-term congressman representing Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, was pulling 75% of the vote to Michal’s 12% and DenOtter’s 13%, according to results compiled by The Detroit News.
In the Democratic primary for the same seat, two-time candidate Callie Barr of Traverse City was the victor, finishing ahead of Kyle Blomquist and Wayne Stiles, according to the AP race call around midnight. Barr had 58% of the vote to Blomquist’s 36% and Stiles at 6%.
Bergman, a former commercial airline pilot, is an ally of President Donald Trump who succeeded Rep. Dan Benishek, a Crystal Falls Republican, in 2017. He sits on the House Armed Services Committee, the Veterans Affairs Committee and the Budget Committee.
Bergman previously operated a medical supply business and is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general who commanded the Marine Forces Reserve at his retirement in 2009.
He had a rare public clash earlier this year with Republican state legislators in the UP who called him a “liar” and suggested that he’s been absent and “disconnected” from his district.
A long-time state lawmaker, Sen. Ed McBroom, pointed to Bergman’s history of endorsing candidates who hire his chief of staff’s consulting services as a way to “help his employee’s personal business.” Bergman’s team dismissed the February dustup at the time and said he looked forward to “beating the do-nothing establishment hacks.”
DenOtter of Boyne City waged a largely self-funded campaign to the tune of $3 million, outspending Bergman through July 15 including on advertising, $1.82 million to Bergman’s $1.37 million.
DenOtter’s campaign has said he moved to northern Michigan last year with the expansion of his medical management company and decided to run for Congress again after previously losing a primary bid for Oakland County’s 11th District in 2022.
Michal, an Iraq veteran who lives outside Grayling, has run a grassroots campaign for the nomination since January 2025.
A combat veteran, Michal served in Operation Iraqi Freedom before leaving the military to work for non-governmental agencies, specializing in mediation, negotiation and conflict resolution, he said. He’s pursuing a doctorate in conflict analysis and resolution with Nova Southeastern University.
Barr is a veterans advocate who lost the 2024 general election to Bergman by 21 percentage points, 59% to 38%.
She has said Bergman ignored the needs of northern Michigan families and has run a campaign on affordability, lowering housing costs and protecting Medicaid and rural hospitals from funding cuts.
She was a high school English teacher but after her Marine husband, Matt, came home from Iraq with a traumatic brain injury, she became an advocate with Blue Star Families and the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers.
Blomquist is an Iron Mountain architect and democratic socialist who supports Medicare for All, public housing for those who need it, a national public works program, universal childcare, paid parental leave, a federal jobs guarantee and tuition-free higher education.
Stiles is an industrial designer from Traverse City who supports raising the federal minimum wage, increased investments in rural broadband and increased funding for public schools, especially in rural areas.
mburke@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Bergman wins GOP primary for northern Michigan US House seat
Reporting by Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
