November 8, 2016 (2016-11-08) 2018 → 9 5 48.03% 46.97% | 9 5 2,243,402 2,193,980 | |
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The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the 14 U.S. Representatives from the state of Michigan, one from each of the state's 14 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate in 33 other states and various state and local elections. The deadline for candidates to file for the August 2 primary election was April 19.
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District 1
When Republican Dan Benishek first ran to represent Michigan's 1st congressional district in the 2010 elections, he pledged to serve no more than three terms. In March 2015, he decided to run for a fourth term as the district's representative. But he changed his mind in September and decided not to seek re-election.
On June 24, Michigan Democratic Party chairman Lon Johnson declared his run for the seat. Former Democratic nominee Jerry Cannon also announced his candidacy. Republican State Senator Tom Casperson announced his run in November 2015. Casperson was challenged in the Republican primary by former state legislator Jason Allen who announced he was running in January 2016 and retired U.S. Marine Jack Bergman who declared in March. In January 2016, Benishek endorsed Casperson's candidacy.
In the August 2 primary, Jack Bergman won the GOP nomination and Lon Johnson won the Democratic nomination.
Nominee
Defeated in primary
Declined
Nominee
Defeated in primary
Nominated
District 2
Republican Incumbent Rep. Bill Huizenga is running for re-election. His Democratic opponent is Dennis Murphy, and his Libertarian opponent is Kentwood City Commissioner Erwin Haas.
Declared
Declared
District 3
Republican Incumbent Rep. Justin Amash is running for re-election and his Democratic opponent is Douglas Smith.
Declared
Declared
District 4
Republican Incumbent Rep. John Moolenaar is running for re-election and his Libertarian opponent is Leonard Schwartz. Keith Butkovich is the candidate for the Natural Law Party, George Zimmer for the U.S. Taxpayers Party and George Salvi for the Green Party. There was no Democratic opponent on the August primary ballot, but Debra Wirth launched a successful write-in campaign to be the Democratic nominee for the November election.
Declared
Declared
District 5
Democratic incumbent Rep. Dan Kildee is running for re-election and his Republican opponent is Al Hardwick.
Declared
Declared
Nominated
District 6
Incumbent Fred Upton is seeking re-election to his House seat. His Democratic challenger in 2014, Paul Clements, is running again.
Declared
Declared
Nominated
District 7
The 7th district is located in Southern Michigan. The incumbent is Republican Tim Walberg, who has represented the district since 2011 and previously represented the district from 2007 to 2009. He was re-elected with 53% of the vote in 2014 and the district has a PVI of R+3. Walberg is being challenged by Doug North. Democratic State Representative Gretchen Driskell, the former Mayor of Saline, has announced that she will run against Walberg in 2016, As will Libertarian Ken Proctor. Former State Representative and 2014 nominee Pam Byrnes may also run. Walberg won the Republican nomination.
Declared
Nominated
Defeated in primary
Nominated
District 8
Freshman Republican incumbent Mike Bishop ran for re-election. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary. Jeff Wood ran as a Libertarian.
Two Democratic candidates were originally slated to face each other in the Democratic primary. They were former actress Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie) and a former president of the Screen Actors Guild, and Linda Keefe.
Gilbert withdrew from the race in May 2016 due to health issues, and at that time Keefe did not appear to have collected enough valid petition signatures to be placed on the ballot.
On July 6, 2016, Democrats introduced 29-year-old Suzanna Shkreli, an Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor to be the party's nominee. At the time of Shkreli's announcement, it was still unclear if Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson would allow Gilbert to be removed from the ballot. Johnson said that the Office of the Secretary of State would not make a ruling until after the state's August 2 primary. Gilbert's name remained on the ballot.
On August 2, Gilbert received the most votes in the Democratic primary, receiving 28,810 votes, despite previously announcing her withdrawal from the race. Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon said the day after that the party would begin the process to remove Gilbert from the November ballot and replace her with Shkreli within 48 hours. Bishop's campaign described Gilbert's attempt to be removed from the ballot as unprecedented. A Democratic campaign spokesman said they had retained legal counsel for the process.
The Michigan state elections director said that Gilbert's name could be removed from the ballot in the general election. On August 22, 2016, the state board of canvassers allowed Gilbert's name to be replaced on the November ballot with that of Shkreli.
Nominated
Failed to qualify
Withdrew
Declared
Nominated
District 9
Democratic Incumbent Rep. Sander Levin is running for re-election. His Republican challenger is Christopher Morse, and his Libertarian opponent is Matt Orlando.
Declared
Declared
Nominated
District 10
Republican incumbent Candice Miller, who has represented the 10th district since 2003, was not running for reelection. State representative Tony Forlini, State Senator Phil Pavlov, businessman Paul Mitchell, former State Senator Alan Sanborn, and retired military veteran David VanAssche are seeking the Republican nomination to succeed Miller. State Senator Jack Brandenburg considered entering into the race, but declared in January 2016 that he would not run. Paul Mitchell won the Republican nomination.
Nomined
Defeated in primary
Withdrew
Declared
Nominated
District 11
The 11th district is located northwest of Detroit. The incumbent is Republican Dave Trott, who has represented the district since 2015. He was elected in 2014, winning the general election with 55.9% of the vote. He is running for re-election. Anil Kumar is his Democratic opponent, and Jonathan Osment is his Libertarian opponent. Kerry Bentivolio, who represented the 11th District from 2013 to 2015 and lost to Trott in the 2014 Republican primary, announced on July 21, 2016, that he planned to seek the seat as an independent after losing to Osment in the Libertarian convention.
Declared
Declared
Nominated
Independent
District 12
Democratic first term congresswoman Debbie Dingell ran for re-election and is unopposed in the primary. Jeff Jones was the Republican challenger, a Taylor resident, a former independent United States Senate candidate in 2014. Also running was Tom Bagwell of Wyandotte, libertarian activist and former Ypsilanti Township Park Commissioner won the Libertarian Party Nomination for District 12 on May 14, 2016 in Lansing, Michigan.
Declared
Declared
Nominated
District 13
John Conyers, a Democrat, the incumbent representative in the 13th district, has served 26 terms in Congress and is the Dean of the United States House of Representatives. Detroit and City Clerk Janice Winfrey will run against Conyers in the Democratic Party primary election. Jeff Gorman is running on the Republican side, and Tiffany Hayden is running on the Libertarian side. Conyers won the nomination.
Nominated
Defeated in primary
Failed to qualify
Declared
Nominated
District 14
Democratic Incumbent Rep. Brenda Lawrence is seeking re-election and had two Democratic challengers, Terrance Morrison and Vanessa Moss. Lawrence won the Democratic nomination. The Republican candidate is Howard Klausner and the Libertarian candidate is Gregory Creswell.