President Donald Trump has told us to vote in November’s midterms as if he were on the ballot.
Voters in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District don’t even have to pretend when they consider whether to cast a ballot for first-term U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett. While Barrett has consistently voted to require Trump to follow the War Powers Act regarding Iran, he is not an independent voice. In his first term, he voted with Trump 92% of the time – actually more than the average Republican House member, according to Heritage Action, an arm of the foundation that authored Project 2025.
It is imperative that this fall’s election restore Congress’ ability to restrain the actions of a lawless chief executive. Congressional Republicans have shown that they won’t.
The Supreme Court has shown that it won’t, except in the most blatantly unconstitutional instances.
For the sake of the nation, and to establish at least one guardrail against Trump’s extreme impulses during his final two years in office, Democrats must capture control of the U.S. House. Toward that end, the Free Press endorses Democrat WILLIAM LAWRENCE for the 7th District House seat. Lawrence, a longtime community activist, who over the summer, stopped paying dues to the Democratic Socialists of America, rode anger over data center siting ‒ and a vote split between two more moderate Democrats with substantial public service records ‒ to victory in August’s primary.
A loyal vote for Trump's most damaging ideas
Lawrence’s support is significant in this polarized central Michigan district centered on more liberal Lansing and encompassing mostly rural surrounding areas. He co-founded the Sunrise Movement a decade ago to advocate for policies to fight climate change, involved in helping formulate the Green New Deal. He also formed the Mid-Michigan Tenant Resource Center in 2020 to advocate for housing affordability and tenant rights.
He's been endorsed by the UAW, Bernie Sanders and unions for electrical workers, nurses, communications workers, public employees and more. He takes no corporate or PAC money.
Because of polarization and gerrymandering, the respected Cook Political Report rates just 22 of 435 House seats – 5% – as toss-ups, including Michigan’s 7th.
When Barrett succeeded Elissa Slotkin when she ran for Senate two years ago, representation of the district shifted far to the right.
Barrett, among other pro-Trump votes, supported the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill – a transfer of trillions of dollars over the next decade from lower-income Americans’ benefits to the wealthy via tax cuts.
That vote alone, unless Congress changes some provisions, will cause 15 million Americans to lose health insurance by 2034. It worsens finances for rural health clinics and hospitals, leaving rural Michiganders with less access. As of August, the Michigan Independent reported, “23 Michigan health care providers are at-risk, announced cuts, are closing, or have closed.” Already, 5 million people – including 1.2 million children – are no longer eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (often colloquially called "food stamps"), and billions in SNAP costs will be shifted to the states next month.
These changes, supported by Barrett, hurt Michiganders.
So do tariffs, which have cost Michigan households an average of $5,600, the highest in the nation. Barrett voted twice to support Trump’s tariffs.
Congress needs skeptics, not rubber stamps
While we appreciate Barrett’s willingness to urge the president to follow the law and seek congressional approval to continue his foolish war of choice with Iran, many of his other votes have harmed Michigan.
That’s without getting into cultural issues, which find Barrett opposed to gay marriage and, in 2022, using a text campaign that told parents their child’s sex reassignment surgery had been scheduled and “if you have any issues with this operation, please view the objectives of Biden’s National Transgender Strategy.”
Tom Barrett is an intelligent military veteran, by all appearances an honorable person with quite conservative views, which is to be respected. Politics in this era can do strange things to people, no doubt, and Barrett has been sucked into the MAGA vortex.
Will Lawrence is a true believer in his causes who is riding citizen anger about a range of policies and practices harmful to ordinary Americans. He’s disgusted with the corruption in government and through the economy, decrying “25 years of impunity” from consequences for the powerful who cut corners and outright ignore the rule of law.
Congress needs some of that.
Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters, and we may publish it in print or online.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Free Press endorsement in Michigan's 7th U.S. House race | Opinion
