Junge, McDonald Rivet win nominations in race to succeed Kildee
Paul Junge will get another chance to win a seat in Congress and it may be his best opportunity yet.
About 11:35 p.m. on Tuesday, the Associated Press called the Republican primary in Michigan's 8th Congressional District for Junge, who lives in Grand Blanc and had been widely expected to forego another run until last year's surprise announcement by U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, that he wouldn't run for a seventh two-year term.
With about 87% of the vote tallied, Junge had a commanding lead, 75% to 15% for Mary Draves of Midland, a former Dow Chemical executive who had been touted earlier in the race as the Republican to beat in some GOP circles. Grand Blanc small businessman Anthony Hudson had 10% of the vote.
On the Democratic side, the AP declared state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet of Bay City the winner shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday. With about 85% of the vote tallied, McDonald Rivet, who had Kildee's endorsement, led with 53%, compared to 26% for former Flint Mayor Matt Collier. State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh of Saginaw trailed with 20%.
Come back to www.freep.com for updated vote totals.
Just before the AP called the race for Junge, he sent out a message claiming victory, saying he was set to work "to secure the border, rebuild our economy and take on the many failures in Washington D.C." Draves conceded the race around midnight.
McDonald Rivet posted on social media platform X, saying, "Our campaign has always focused on a shared, hopeful vision for the future of our #MI08 region and its hardworking families. That remains our north star as we set our sights on defeating our MAGA (Make America Great Again) extremist opponent in what is one of the most competitive House races in the nation. We have an incredible amount of work ahead of us."
Junge had moved into the district two years ago to challenge Kildee, ultimately losing the 2022 election by about 10 percentage points. In the previous election, in 2020, he lost by less than 3 percentage points to U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin in a neighboring district. Junge is a former Lansing anchorman who also worked as an assistant prosecutor in California and in Washington for the Trump administration.
Draves was initially thought by some political observers to have the edge but Junge went after her directly, arguing that she had worked to support Democrats in the past and pumping more than $1 million of his own money into the race. He recently won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, which could be help raise his profile dramatically in this district in November.
The race is considered a significant one nationally, with Democrats trying to claw back control of the U.S. House. Although Kildee had no trouble beating Junge, it is widely considered a tossup district without Kildee's name recognition.
The 8th District is comprised of the area around Saginaw Bay, stretching through Bay City to Midland, Flint and Saginaw, a collection of older, industrial areas that have trended more Republican in recent elections. Kildee, who was first elected in 2012, would have been strongly favored for reelection if he had decided to run. When Kildee won, he replaced his uncle, Dale Kildee, in a seat he had held for 36 years.
Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Junge, McDonald Rivet win nominations in race to succeed Kildee
