Democrats hoping to stave off losing the House are keying in on 14 seats that are held by Republicans but that Joe Biden would have won under newly redrawn maps. That includes western Michigan, which has lately moved from red to blue.
Scholten is trying to become the first Democratic woman elected to the House from western Michigan and isn’t counting on more favorable boundaries to get her there, noting that it’s “hard for people to believe in what they’ve never seen before, and we feel that every day.”“In a year where they’re expected to have a very difficult time in the midterms,” he said, “for them, a pickup is something that they’re salivating over.
Gibbs says that, despite Trump’s endorsement, he’s building appeal among independents and swing voters. He recalled one man approaching him in the lakefront city of Muskegon, northwest of Grand Rapids, and saying: “I voted for you. I’m a Democrat. Is that OK?” from red to blue. Booms in health, university and technology jobs are attracting scores of college-educated workers — with new residents often importing Democratic voting preferences. Grand Rapids and its suburbs have also turned more diverse, including notable increases in Hispanic voters.
Despite Democrat-friendly lines, national Republicans see the district as a “checks and balances” area where voters might have shunned Trump but want to control Washington’s spending and potential federal overreach., prompting the former president to endorse Gibbs. The Democratic House campaign committee even financed a GOP primary ad proclaiming that Gibbs was “hand-picked by Trump to run for Congress,” believing he’d be beatable in November.