Democrats see an opportunity in Michigan’s vast 1st Congressional District, where Republican incumbent Rep. Jack Bergman is seeking a sixth term.
Three Democratic candidates qualified for the Aug. 4 primary. They are: Callie Barr, Kyle Blomquist and Wayne Stiles.
Blomquist is an Iron Mountain architect who casts himself as a warrior for the working class, a self-avowed Democratic Socialist who says, “too often our government empowers a wealthy few to exploit the many.”
To remedy that concern, he advocates for Medicare for all, government-provided housing for anyone who needs it, a 32-hour workweek, the return of a national public works program and a federal jobs guarantee.
Callie Barr is making her second run for this seat, having lost to Bergman in the 2024 general election. The wife of a disabled combat veteran, she has been an advocate for the rights of veterans and military families.
Beyond veteran concerns, the Traverse City residents’ priorities are protecting Michigan’s shorelines, bringing jobs and investment to the region, constructing a broadband network to enable remote employment and saving the district’s dwindling number of hospitals.
Wayne Stiles, an industrial designer from Traverse City, is the most interesting of the three Democrats in that he has resisted being dragged to the far left in the party’s primary.
“I’m a different kind of Democrat,” he says. “I’m for any policies and programs that would address a problem that I want to see fixed.”
He rightly says, “The best social program ever invented is a good-paying job.”
Stiles would create those jobs by connecting every community in the district to high-speed internet, prioritizing skilled trades training and modernizing agricultural practices. He would support limited tariffs to protect the region’s farmers.
Stiles advocates using the buying power of the federal government to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and making affordable housing part of the nation’s core infrastructure.
Mindful of the large number of Native American tribes in northern Michigan, he promises to defend tribal sovereignty.
For the Democratic side of the 1st District primary, we endorse Wayne Stiles.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Our First Congressional District Democratic choice resists pull to left
Reporting by The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
