Meet the Candidates: Hear from candidates for Washington & Lansing seats

Political hopefuls share their top priorities

By Jillian Manning | Oct. 17, 2026

Nov. 3 will be a busy day for Michigan politics, as we elect leaders to our state legislature, the governor’s office, Congress, and more. We asked candidates to answer two simple questions: what inspired them to run for their position, and what their top priorities are if they are elected. Read on for their responses.

U.S. SENATE

Abdul El-Sayed (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
Look, I have an eleven-letter first name—I never planned to run for office, nor did I think that would ever be possible for a guy like me. But after a career in public health rebuilding Detroit’s Health Department and leading Wayne County’s, I learned it’s our politics making people suffer to begin with. The Rogers-Trump agenda is an anti-worker agenda. Folks can’t afford groceries. Gas is too expensive. Folks are worried about seeing a doctor. In the richest country in the world, it shouldn’t be this hard to get by. And I want to do something about it by getting money out of politics, putting money back in pockets, and passing Medicare for All.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
I’ve got three: money out of politics, money in your pocket, and Medicare for All. Dark money is the root of our worst national crises. Corporations buy politicians like Mike Rogers to deliver for special interests instead of our interests. As senator, I will fight to end Citizens United and return government to the people. The Rogers-backed Iran War and trade war are sky-rocketing costs. As senator, I will stand up to Trump’s disastrous policies and fight for fair wages and union jobs. Lastly, in the richest country in the world, no one should be without healthcare. Medicare for All now.

Mike Rogers (R)
What inspired you to run for this position?
It’s simple: we have a state to save. Over the past quarter century, Michigan has sent two Democrats who talk the same way and vote the same way to the United States Senate. Meanwhile, our state has fallen to the bottom by almost every metric. We are 45th in the nation for education and have the highest utility rates in the Midwest. More than 200,000 manufacturing jobs have left our state. It shouldn’t be this way, and it doesn’t have to. Hardworking families deserve a champion who will get to work—and that’s exactly what I will be.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
We have to make life more affordable for Michiganders, first and foremost. That’s why I’ve released a healthcare affordability plan, as well as a plan to unlock homeownership. My housing plan includes expanding 529 savings accounts to help you save for a down payment, ensuring rent payments count towards building your credit, incentivizing new homebuilding, and cutting burdensome regulations. Michiganders also deserve schools that rank better 45th in the nation. As your U.S. Senator, I will ensure we tackle Michigan’s education crisis head-on by ensuring Title I money is used for effective, phonics-based reading remediation.

U.S. HOUSE

District 1

Callie Barr (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
I’m running for Congress because enough is enough. It’s time for change. As a military spouse and caregiver to my husband, a Marine injured in Iraq, I’m committed to honoring all those who have served and sacrificed to make the promises of America real, to ensure that we have the opportunity and the freedom to build a better future together. We owe it to each other and those before us—and to our children—to come together, move forward, and ensure America’s best days are still ahead.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
My top two priorities in Congress will be ending corruption and lowering costs. Government should work for the people—not wealthy special interests, corporations, or politicians looking out for themselves. I’ll fight for greater transparency, accountability, and stronger ethics rules so taxpayers can trust their government again. And I’ll focus on the everyday costs families face: housing, groceries, gas, healthcare, prescription drugs, childcare, and energy. I’ll protect Social Security and Medicare, strengthen rural hospitals, support good-paying jobs, and invest in infrastructure. Northern and Upper Michigan families are working hard and still falling behind. Congress should make it easier—not harder—to afford a life here.

Jack Bergman (R)
What inspired you to run for this position?
Service has been the defining theme of my life. I spent 40 years in the United States Marine Corps, retiring as a Lieutenant General, and throughout that career I learned that leadership is about putting the mission and the people you serve ahead of yourself. After retiring from the Marine Corps, I saw a Washington that too often put bureaucracy, politics, and special interests ahead of the American people. I ran for Congress because I believed northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula deserved a representative who would bring a mission-first mentality to Washington, fight for our rural communities and veterans, and defend the freedoms that generations of Americans have sacrificed to protect.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
My first priority is making northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula a place where families can afford to live, work, and raise their children. That means lowering taxes, reducing wasteful federal spending, bringing down energy costs, expanding rural healthcare and broadband, strengthening our agriculture, forestry, mining, and manufacturing industries, and ensuring our communities have the infrastructure they need to grow. Another top priority is keeping America safe and honoring the men and women who defend it. And as a 40-year Marine Corps veteran, I will continue fighting to ensure our veterans receive the healthcare, benefits, and services they earned through their service.

District 2

Ben Ambrose (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
Before I ran for Congress, I worked for the U.S. Senate on veterans’ issues. My team discovered that thousands of veterans were losing access to benefits they had earned because of simple errors in their records. We built a program to identify those errors and help restore those veterans’ benefits. We were making a real difference and helping veterans get what they had earned through their service. Then the indiscriminate DOGE cuts eliminated the work we were doing, leaving veterans who still needed help behind. I spent nearly 20 years in the Marine Corps, and I believe we have an obligation to take care of the people who served this country.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
My first priority is addressing the staggering affordability crisis. Families are working hard and still struggling to keep up with the cost of groceries, housing, utilities, gas, and everything else. Congress needs to focus on bringing those costs down and putting more money back in the pockets of working people. Ending the war in Iran immediately before more damage is done to the economy is essential. My second priority is healthcare. I will work with anyone, a Democrat or a Republican, who is serious about lowering prescription drug prices, premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Those immediate reforms are important, but my long-term goal is a Medicare for All system that guarantees every American access to affordable healthcare.

John Moolenaar (R) did not respond.

GOVERNOR

Jocelyn Benson (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
I’m running for governor to make sure government shows up when you need it, saves you time and money, then gets out of the way. Right now, there are too many broken systems in Michigan. But I know how to fix them. That’s what I did as Secretary of State, and that’s exactly what I’ll do as governor. As governor, I’ll fight to build a Michigan we all can afford by bringing down the cost of everything from healthcare, to housing, to energy—and I’ll stand up to anyone, no matter how wealthy or powerful, who gets in the way.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
My top two priorities as governor will be to lower costs and raise wages. I will get to work on day one to bring down costs—from streamlining regulations that slow down housing construction, to fighting for lower healthcare costs by increasing transparency in medical billing and cracking down on price gouging, to making childcare more accessible and affordable by bringing Rx Kids statewide and removing barriers that prevent qualified providers from opening their doors. At the same time, I will grow our economy and make Michigan the best place in the nation to start and grow a business.

John James (R) 

What inspired you to run for this position?
I'm running for governor because I love Michigan and feel called to continue my service at home. Michigan's house is on fire, and I've spent my life running toward the fire to solve problems. Our state has extraordinary potential, but we need leadership that puts people first. Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula are personal to me. My family has had a camp in the U.P. for nearly 40 years, and my wife's family has roots in Leelanau County dating back more than a century. These communities deserve a voice in Lansing, and I'll make sure they have one.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
My top two priorities are lowering costs for Michigan families and fixing our education system. Families across Michigan are struggling with rising housing, gas, and energy costs, while employers struggle to find skilled workers, and too many young people leave to find opportunity elsewhere. I'll cut taxes, eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in Lansing, and support the industries that drive Northern Michigan's economy, from tourism and agriculture to manufacturing and skilled trades. I'll also empower parents, restore accountability in our schools, and prioritize literacy and career readiness. Northern Michigan will always have a voice in Lansing with my administration.

MICHIGAN SENATE

District 32

Rebecca Amidon (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
I’m running because I believe government should make people’s lives better, and too many working families feel like no one is listening to them. I’ve worked in higher education… I’ve taught at a community college, worked in the skilled trades, volunteered in my community, and helped lead a nonprofit focused on children and outdoor education. Through all of those experiences, I kept seeing the same challenges: families struggling to find affordable childcare, people driving long distances for healthcare, employers struggling to find workers, and young people wondering whether they can afford to build a life here. I decided I didn’t want to just talk about those problems. I wanted to help solve them.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
My top two priorities are healthcare and childcare, because both determine whether families can afford to live, work, and raise their children in our communities. I’ll work to strengthen rural hospitals and clinics, recruit and retain healthcare professionals, protect access to Medicaid, and expand primary, mental health, maternal, and recovery services closer to home. I’ll work to expand childcare in underserved communities, support home-based providers, strengthen the early-childhood workforce, and expand employer participation in MI Tri-Share, which splits eligible childcare costs between the employer, employee, and state. If people can’t find a doctor or affordable childcare, they can’t build a life here and businesses can’t build the workforce they need.

Kim Cole (R)
What inspired you to run for this position?
I’ve spent 41 years in law enforcement and my entire life along the lakeshore. I’ve seen what makes our communities strong, and I’ve listened to families who are worried they won’t be able to afford to stay here. The reason I decided to run is personal: my grandchildren. I want them to grow up in a Michigan where they can get a good education, find meaningful work, afford a home, and raise families of their own. Sen. Jon Bumstead has worked hard for Muskegon and the lakeshore, and I want to continue that commitment to the people of this district.

What are your top priorities if you get the job?
My priorities are lowering costs, improving education, and building safer communities. Families need more affordable housing. I’ll work to cut unnecessary barriers to building homes and look for ways to ease the property tax burden, including for seniors who want to downsize. Michigan ranks 44th in fourth-grade reading. I want to restore the accountability removed from the Read by Grade Three law, make sure struggling students get help early, and expand opportunities to learn skilled trades. After 41 years in law enforcement, I know public safety also means addressing addiction and mental health. I’ll push to make sure opioid settlement dollars are used effectively for prevention, treatment, and recovery. And I’ll work to protect our lakeshore’s water while supporting the infrastructure and jobs our communities need to grow.

District 36

Mark Yonkman (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
I am running to go to Lansing to bring the experience of my career to Lansing. I am the first Fortune 500 executive and the only corporate and securities lawyer to ever run for state legislature. I’m fifth generation on a family farm where I live today.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
1) Education & Workforce: Develop the skilled trades Michigan requires. Rethink education particularly given the risk that AI and robots pose, including looking holistically at all five forms of education, including experimenting with bringing back the one-room schoolhouse for the lower grades and teaching cooking in school. 2) Conflict/Disaster Preparedness, Energy & Agriculture. Michigan simply is not prepared for any type of serious conflict, terrorist attack, or other disaster. We now import 59 percent of our fruits—agriculture is at risk. Can we continue to farm during a time of conflict? Michigan needs to conduct a review of our supply chain issues, including streamlined access to our Canadian neighbors. We have 22 GW of base load power in Michigan (peak use is 21 GW today) but are projected to need 40 GW.

Michele Hoitenga (R)
What inspired you to run for this position?
As a military mom, former business owner, and experienced public servant at both the local and state levels, I am a well-rounded candidate prepared to serve on day one. My deep generational roots in this region—and my love for the community—drive my commitment to protecting our way of life.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
Democrats overhauled Michigan’s energy policies in 2024. Those bills stripped local control over large-scale energy projects. These massive industrial sites consume agricultural land and forests, permanently altering our land and threatening the heritage we have worked generations to preserve. My top priority is restoring local voices in decisions that affect them. Second, affordability—from property taxes to groceries and gasoline—is the concern I hear most often. While I cannot control federal policy, I can advocate for Michiganders by introducing legislation to reduce state tax burdens. We can achieve this by replacing corporate handouts with tax relief.

District 37

Kate Gallup (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
While organizing for the Money Out of Politics ballot initiative to push back on utility and healthcare rate hikes, I realized that I wanted to keep doing the work to help my community on affordability and government accountability issues. Coming from an engineering background, I have the problem-solving skills to get it done. As a third-generation teacher, I want to make sure our schools are the highest quality and fully funded. As a human being sharing the planet with an interconnected web of life, I want to make sure the air, land, and water of my region will be protected and enjoyed by countless generations into the future.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
My top priority is continuing to limit the conflict-of-interest donations politicians receive so we can make real progress on meeting the needs of everyday people, from cost of living concerns to healthcare. My second priority is putting strong guardrails on AI, surveillance infrastructure, and data centers to protect my community from government overreach and environmental harm.

John Damoose (R) did not respond.

MICHIGAN HOUSE

District 101

Christopher Crain (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
The biggest issue facing Michiganders is political failure in Lansing and Washington, D.C. Both major parties have prioritized wealthy donors and special interests over residents’ daily struggles. Michigan needs balanced, responsible solutions—not rhetoric—while families face rising costs. The latest United Way ALICE report finds that more than 40 percent of Michigan households cannot cover basic costs such as housing, childcare, food, healthcare, transportation, and technology. In the 101st District, the figure is 42 percent. These hardships reflect business-as-usual governing in both capitals. In office, I will work tirelessly to change this political culture and improve Michigan’s future.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
Housing is essential to a strong workforce and a basic human need. With about half of households burdened by housing costs, Michigan must expand affordability by restoring local rent-control authority, passing tenant protections, revitalizing existing homes, and strengthening the Michigan Saves Loan Loss Reserve Funding program for rehabilitation loans under $100,000. Michigan must improve primary education through flexible curricula, smaller student-to-instructor ratios, multi-year cohorts, and stronger classroom resources. Secondary schools should expand career, academic, dual-enrollment, and flexible graduation pathways. Postsecondary reform should lower tuition and curb predatory practices.

Jaxon Deur (R)
What inspired you to run for this position?
I was inspired to run because I believe our communities deserve strong, practical representation focused on creating opportunities for the next generation. I’ve seen firsthand the challenges facing rural Michigan, from limited economic opportunities to workforce shortages and rising costs. I want to bring a fresh perspective to Lansing, grounded in my experience in agriculture, business, and our local communities. My goal is to help make Michigan a place where people can build careers, start businesses, raise families, and choose to stay.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
My top two priorities are local control and affordability. Communities should have the ability to make decisions about their own future rather than having one-size-fits-all policies imposed from Lansing. At the same time, Michigan families are facing rising costs, and government needs to live within its means. I will work to reduce unnecessary taxes and spending, eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, and support policies that make it easier for families, farmers, and businesses to afford to live and grow in Michigan.

District 102

Angel Coon (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
I’ve spent my life finding ways to serve, from my time in the military to building a small business, raising three children, and bringing community together. These experiences have shown me first hand how government decisions affect everyday lives, and how often people feel disconnected from those making them. I believe representation begins with listening, protecting people’s rights, and being accountable for the decisions we make. I’m not running for a title. I’m running to do the work. I’m not here just to flip a district. I’m here to stand for the people who call it home.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
My priorities are protecting people’s rights and building healthier, more economically secure communities. First, I’ll work to protect individual freedoms, strengthen government transparency, and ensure public institutions remain accountable to the people they serve. Second, I’ll focus on strengthening the foundation families need to thrive. That includes expanding healthcare access, particularly in rural communities; protecting family homesteads; improving public education; and supporting small businesses, agriculture, and infrastructure innovation. My philosophy is simple: Don’t limit the ceiling. Raise the floor. We should create conditions where people can pursue their ambitions and communities can thrive.

Curt VanderWall (R) did not respond.

District 103

Betsy Coffia (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
I ran for office because I felt like the politicians in charge weren’t addressing our pressing issues, like healthcare costs, housing costs, environmental protections, and mental healthcare access. When I first ran, I knew that corporate money played a big role in politics and keeping these issues unsolved, but I understand now that to fix our broken systems, we need to get corporate money out of our government. When politicians care more about what insurance lobbyists want instead of their own constituents, our government is no longer by and for the people. I’m running to change that.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
First, transparency and anti-corruption reform, so corporate interests stop controlling Lansing. I'm sponsoring the End Run Citizens United bills to prevent corporations from donating to politicians, the B.R.I.T.E. Act for lobbyist disclosure, and FOIA reforms subjecting the governor and legislature to the same public records law as other state employees. Second, my priority is to address the affordability crisis, including housing and healthcare. Two bills I’ll prioritize are protections for mobile home renters and MiCare (HB 4407), which would create a universal, publicly-funded healthcare plan providing high-quality coverage to every Michigander.

Edwin Dean (R) did not respond.

District 104

Mitchell Distin (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
Bad politics and dishonest politicians. I don’t think our systems are working for anybody other than the uber-rich .001 percent, and frankly, I’m pissed off about it. That anger—over how things are versus how they should be—is what ultimately pushed me to run for higher office. I’m a scientist, not a politician. Everything I do revolves around truth, honesty, evidence, and doing what’s ethically right. But after spending the past year leading statewide efforts against data centers, I’ve witnessed Lansing corruption firsthand—while fighting members of my own party, nonetheless. Eventually, I realized I had to do something about it.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
1) Money out of politics. The bare minimum we should ask of our politicians is that they do their job and work for us, not billionaires or corporations. That means ending Big Money’s influence in Lansing and returning political power to where it belongs: the people. 2) Revitalizing local communities. I’m the only political candidate in the USA running on Localism as our core political and economic philosophy. Humans are a communal species. The science says that we can solve 90 percent of our issues—from climate change to mass shootings to mental illness—by rebuilding the communal foundations that have sustained our species for the past 300,000 years.

John Roth (R) did not respond.

District 105

Rachel L. Teeter (D)
What inspired you to run for this position?
I’m a single mom. I’ve stood at the daycare counter unable to pay that week because life is unpredictable. I carried the shame of that moment and told myself that at least people in power would make it better for the next generation. Boy, was I wrong. So when an unexpected call came in April, and I learned our representative was set to run unopposed, I saw my chance to serve our community in ways that matter. I said yes. We deserve a representative who knows what it’s like.

What are your top two priorities if you get the job?
First, the cost of the basics: food, housing, and jobs that pay enough to cover them. Too many families are one surprise away from crisis. We need housing people can afford, food help that reaches families who need it, and skilled trades and job training for good local careers.
Second, healthcare. After 10 years in healthcare administration at Munson, I saw firsthand how rural hospitals and clinics struggle when their funding keeps getting cut. People are buried in sky-high premiums and deductibles that make folks skip care. We are getting sicker. It must change.

Ken Borton (R) did not respond.

District 106: No District 106 candidates responded.

District 107: No District 107 candidates responded.