Lansing — Former U.S. Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam’s campaign for the 7th Congressional District Democratic primary is calling one of his competitors, former U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink, a “spoiler” in the three-way primary race whose continued presence on the ticket could help progressive Democrat Will Lawrence win.
On Thursday, Maasdam told The Detroit News that Brink had a “tough decision to make in front of her” when asked whether he thought Brink should drop out of the race.
“It would be tough to be third in the race and know that you are taking votes from other people,” Maasdam said of Brink, referring to some recent polling in the race that suggests Lawrence has surged into the lead.
“I think there’s … more votes against Will Lawrence than there is for him in this district,” Maasdam said. “That’s a choice for her to make and, you know, I think that choice is a big one because it affects the direction of this race and potentially a House (seat).”
Brink’s campaign said she’s not going anywhere.
She and her supporters have fired back at Maasdam, arguing internal polling showed Maasdam lagging prior to his July 15 endorsement by U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Holly Democrat who formerly represented the district.
“Matt Maasdam has spent his entire campaign being dishonest to voters, from lying about me and smearing my record of serving our country, hiding the truth about his Republican past, and his campaign being propped up by more than $5 million in dark money super PAC ads from the data center industry,” Brink said.
It’s not clear what effect, if any, Brink’s departure would have at this point in the race. Absentee ballots have been in distribution for five weeks, early voting started Saturday and the primary is just five days away.
Maasdam of Genoa Township and Brink of Lansing are considered two of the more establishment candidates in the race, while Lawrence of Lansing has been riding a building wave of progressive popularity in Michigan’s Democratic primary races. But political observers have remained dubious about Lawrence’s chances in November to flip the purple district currently represented by U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte.
The closely watched race has been eyed as one of Democrats’ best chances at flipping a Republican district. But the primary is showing some similarities to the bitter Democratic U.S. Senate primary battle unfolding between Wayne County health official Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens.
In a call with supporters and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders Wednesday, Lawrence said the “insiders are absolutely terrified” he will win because they don’t want an “unbought, independent-minded representative.”
“There’s been all kinds of nonsense flying around,” Lawrence said in the call. “Matt Maasdam’s team is encouraging Bridget Brink to drop out. Bridget’s allies are saying that that’s frankly insulting, which it is.
“And we’re just doing what we’ve done all along, which is to continue to take it to the voters,” he said.
There have been several million dollars in outside spending on the race, including ad spending attacking Brink for having served under President Donald Trump (she eventually resigned in protest of his treatment of Ukraine) and ads attacking Lawrence for a series of podcast and social media remarks he made about Democratic leaders, including Black Democrats.
In recent weeks, a Republican-linked group has begun running ads attacking Maasdam and boosting Lawrence in an apparent attempt to set up a general election challenge between Lawrence and Barrett.
The most recent campaign finance reports showed Maasdam trailed in fundraising for the second quarter of the year, behind both Brink and Lawrence.
Maasdam’s comments Wednesday and Thursday about Brink’s continued presence in the race appear to have further stoked that outrage over ad spending.
EMILYs List, which endorsed Brink, argued Maasdam was in part to blame for the continued divide between the candidates.
“To be clear, Matt Maasdam spent most of this race in third place; he and his allies spent months tearing down Bridget Brink because she was leading in the polls,” said Jessica Mackler, president for EMILYs List. “He should take some responsibility for his own actions before telling a qualified woman to drop out.”
State Sen. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, said he’s been “offended” by individuals suggesting Brink should step down to give Maasdam a path to victory.
“The idea that the highly qualified female candidate that has raised the most amount of money and had led in polling should step down for the guy in third place is beyond me,” Singh wrote on social media.
State Rep. Jennifer Conlin, an Ann Arbor Democrat whose district includes part of Livingston County, maintained Brink is the only candidate able to make inroads in the traditionally red-to-purple county in the general election.
“As somebody who represents Livingston County, women have performed the best there,” Conlin said. “And experience should matter. And she has incredible experience, 28 years of public service, which is beyond the experience of either candidate.”
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Democrat for mid-Michigan House seat labels opponent ‘spoiler’ in race
Reporting by Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
