Tom Barrett

Three Democrats are competing to retake a U.S. Congressional district in Mid-Michigan.

The trio will face off in the Aug. 4 primary election for a chance to compete against incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, for the 7th Congressional District seat.

The district is considered a “toss-up” by the Cook Political Report and includes all of Clinton, Ingham, Livingston and Shiawassee counties as well as portions of Eaton, Genesee and Oakland counties.

Barrett won the seat in 2024 over former Democratic state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., taking 50.28% of the vote to Hertel’s 46.56%.

Barrett first ran for the seat in 2022, losing to then-U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, by more than 5 percentage points in one of the most expensive U.S. House races in the country.

The Democrats facing off in August are Bridget Brink of the Lansing area, William Lawrence of the Lansing area and Matt Maasdam of the Brighton area. The winner will face Barrett in November.

Brink worked for 28 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, most recently serving as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Brink resigned as ambassador to Ukraine in April 2025 in protest over what she has described as President Donald Trump’s unfair treatment of that country.

Prior to that position, she served as the U.S. ambassador to Slovakia from 2019 until 2022.

Lawrence is a community organizer who co-founded the Sunrise Movement, which advocates for political action on climate change.

Lawrence’s campaign lists him as a founder of the Michigan Rent Is Too Damn High Coalition and the Mid-Michigan Tenant Resource Center.

Maasdam served 20 years as a U.S. Navy SEAL and co-founded two e-commerce businesses.

According to his campaign, he also served as former President Barack Obama’s military aide and carried the “nuclear football,” a briefcase containing nuclear war plans that enables the president to transmit nuclear orders to the Pentagon.

Barrett is a veteran of the U.S. Army and National Guard. He served two terms in the state House of Representatives, one in the state Senate and is looking for his second term in the U.S. House.

MLive has partnered with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Michigan Education Fund to provide the Vote411.org voter guide. Candidates for every local and statewide race were asked to outline their stances on a variety of local issues, listed below.

All responses in the voter guide were submitted directly by the candidate and have not been edited by the League of Women Voters or MLive, except for necessary cuts if a reply exceeded character limitations. Spelling and grammar were not corrected.

Publication of candidate statements and opinions is solely in the interest of public service and should NOT be considered as an endorsement. The League never supports or opposes any candidates or political parties.

Here is how the candidates in the contested Democratic primary race responded to the questionnaire.

HEALTH CARE: What specific steps will you take in Congress to address healthcare affordability, access, and quality for the people you represent?

Bridget Brink:

For me, the fight for affordable health care is personal. Last summer, I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. Without insurance, my life-saving surgery would have cost $100,000. I’m grateful to be cancer free, but my experience underscored the need for access to affordable healthcare like I had. In Congress, I’ll hold insurance and drug companies accountable, and ensure treatment is decided by physicians, not insurance companies. I will fight to reverse cuts to Medicaid, extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, make Medicare negotiate for lower prices on more drugs, and create an affordable public health insurance option.

William Lawrence:

I will co-sponsor the Medicare for All Act to ensure that every American has quality healthcare coverage for life through a single-payer system. If Medicare for All lacks majority support in a given Congress, I will support more gradual steps towards universal coverage, such as lowering the age of entry to Medicare to 55, or creating a public insurance option by allowing anybody to buy into Medicare or Medicaid. I will also work to lower healthcare costs by reducing administrative bloat and capping prescription drug prices. I will work to make long-term care covered under Medicare to reduce the cost burden for seniors and their families.

Matt Maasdam:

No one should go broke just because they get sick. We have to reverse the cuts to both Medicaid and ACA tax credits that Tom Barrett voted for, which kicked tens of thousands of people in MI-07 off of health insurance. I support universal health care coverage, and I believe the best way to get there is a true public option: a nonprofit alternative that competes with private insurance and drives costs down for everyone. I’ll take on predatory practices that Big Pharma and insurance companies use to pad their profits like surprise billing, junk hospital fees, and sky-high drug prices, and work to cap out-of-pocket costs on prescription drugs.

ECONOMY: What policy initiatives do you support for residents to earn a living wage and address the overall question of affordability across Michigan?

Matt Maasdam:

We are in a cost of living emergency. I refuse to stand by as politicians say we can’t afford housing or healthcare, but we can afford to bomb other countries and give tax breaks to billionaires.

My priorities: repeal the blanket tariffs that drive all prices up, stop reckless wars driving up gas prices, restore Medicaid / ACA cuts, and expand our energy supply by investing in renewables that come online fast and bring prices down. I’ll declare a housing emergency to cut red tape and boost domestic production of construction materials. And I’ll invest in union apprenticeships so workers can get good-paying jobs without a four-year degree.

Bridget Brink:

I understand the struggle Michigan families face, because I’ve lived it. Growing up, I was raised by a single mom and to make ends meet, we lived with my grandparents. We have to make life easier and more affordable for families, starting with repealing the illegal tariffs driving up prices. We must replace Trump’s trillions of dollars in special tax breaks for the ultra rich with tax cuts for working families and small businesses. We need to end the senseless war in Iran that’s driving gas prices to record highs while costing tens of billions in taxpayer dollars.

William Lawrence:

Families’ biggest expenses are healthcare, housing, transit, and childcare. We’ve already addressed healthcare. On housing, I will push to build 10 million new or rehabilitated homes nationwide, with diverse housing types and prices to provide quality housing for every income bracket and stage of life. On transit and overall inflation, I will get the cost of gas down by stopping the war in Iran. On childcare, I will work for universal childcare and family leave, following the lead of states around the country. I support raising the minimum wage, and passing the PRO Act so workers can form unions without retaliation.

ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY: How would you approach ensuring energy reliability, consumer affordability, and environmental protection in Michigan?

William Lawrence:

Michigan’s water is our greatest natural inheritance. I will seek investments to restore wetlands and rivers, expand fishing and game lands, and clean up PFAS pollution. I support a 12-month moratorium on new AI data centers, and regulation to ensure that Michigan’s environment and energy ratepayers are not harmed by data centers. Because the fastest and cheapest path to energy security is solar power owned by residents and communities, I will work for “net metering” and community solar so we can all own our energy without depending on utility monopolies like DTE or Consumers.

Matt Maasdam:

As a Michigander, open water swimmer, and dad, clean water and clean air are personal to me. Michigan is the steward of the Great Lakes: 21% of the world’s fresh surface water. I’ll fight PFAS contamination, hold polluters accountable, and protect against invasive species. On energy: we have a real opportunity to expand supply, bring bills down, and invest in renewables all at once. Wind and solar are the cheapest and fastest to stand up, but Trump and Barrett canceled many of those projects out of spite. We should bring them back online, and I want to see the manufacturing that comes with them happen right here in Michigan.

Bridget Brink:

Like many Michiganders, my happiest childhood memories were on our incredible Great Lakes. Our beautiful outdoor spaces are a huge part of what makes Michigan so special. We must do all we can to fight climate change and preserve our environment for future generations, and with energy costs rising, we need to invest in the developing and implementing cost-effective green energy including solar, wind, and hydrogen. We must also invest in nuclear energy to lower costs, expand our energy supply, and accelerate clean energy adoption. And we must reverse Trump’s efforts to halt clean energy projects and programs that lower costs for Michiganders.

IMMIGRATION: What is your position on due process, First Amendment, and Fourth Amendment rights for all Michigan residents, including noncitizens, and what changes, if any, would you support?

Bridget Brink:

As a lifelong public servant, I’ve dedicated my life to fighting for freedom and democracy, including serving on President Obama’s National Security Council and as the first female U.S. Ambassador to serve in a war zone. I know the warning signs of an assault on democracy – and we’re seeing them right here in America with Trump’s reckless and chaotic immigration policy. Trump’s erosion of essential rights must be stopped. We must overhaul Trump’s ICE and put a stop to its lawless actions. It’s time we fix our broken immigration system combining strong security with a streamlined legalization process.

William Lawrence:

All people in the United States, citizens and noncitizens, are entitled to due process and protection under the Bill of Rights. ICE has disregarded our constitutional right to due process, and repeatedly violated the First and Fourth Amendments. ICE agents, Trump, and his cabinet must be held accountable. I support hiring more immigration judges to reduce the backlog of cases, and expanding paths to naturalization for undocumented immigrants. Immigrants who commit crimes should be held accountable with due process, just like anybody. I am a proud American who takes seriously the words written on our national symbol, the Statue of Liberty.

Matt Maasdam:

In the Navy, I swore an oath to the Constitution. That’s my guiding document. It calls for warrants before arrests, due process, and no unidentifiable masked agents raiding our communities. In the SEAL Teams, when someone broke the rules, they faced real consequences. Right now, federal agents are violating the Constitution with zero accountability. That has to change. I want to overhaul ICE to do actual criminal investigative work, not roam the streets in masks. We also have to fix the broken immigration system with legal pathways keyed to our economic needs, efficient processing, and a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients.

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