Michigan — 7th District

Lansing — The heat continues to rise in mid-Michigan's closely watched Democratic primary for the 7th Congressional District as early voters started heading to the polls Saturday and ad spending by outside political action committees continued to increase.

The primary, which is expected to be another test of progressive momentum in the Democratic Party, is entering the final stretch of campaigning with the start of early voting Saturday.

From his campaign office in Lansing, candidate Will Lawrence chatted with new canvassers about to depart to knock on doors, while other volunteers readied brochures for the progressive Lansing Democrat as well as his supporter in the U.S. Senate primary, Abdul El-Sayed.

Lawrence estimated his grassroots followers had knocked about 55,000 doors since the start of his campaign.

"We're in the end game so the lies are out, the smears are out," Lawrence said Saturday. "But a face-to-face conversation cuts through that better than anything because people know they can't believe what they see on TV or online because of AI and misinformation. If they're trying to tear us down, the most effective thing we can do is continue spreading our message of positivity and community and change."

Lawrence's opponents in the primary race, former U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink and former U.S. Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam, said they also have been deploying canvassers around the district.

"...we are getting to every corner of our district meeting voters where they are, on their porches, in living rooms, and on the phones," Brink said in a statement.

Maasdam — who nabbed the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat who formerly represented the area as a U.S. representative — also has been fending off ads from an unlikely source in the primary: A political action committee formed last week that may be connected to Republicans.

The ads run by Michigan Sunrise PAC have the same media buyer as a separate PAC that "meddled" in the 17th Congressional District in New York, according to CNN.

The ads attack Maasdam as a "dark money backed Florida Republican" and tout Lawrence's progressive endorsements and his ability to "take on" President Donald Trump.

"They're scared to face a Navy SEAL in the fall," Maasdam said of the ads, linking them to Republicans. "The voters of Michigan's 7th aren't fooled by your lies."

Maasdam's campaign added that the ad spend confirmed the 7th Congressional District primary had "consolidated into a two-candidate contest" between him and Lawrence.

Brink and Lawrence also have faced a barrage of attack ads by outside groups. Michigan Values PAC, a group that uses the same media buyer as pro-Maasdam VoteVets, accused Brink of being Trump's hand-picked ambassador. And Lawrence has been attacked by Democratic-linked groups, including ones from the Crush MAGA PAC accusing him of investing in Big Oil, Wall Street and data centers with his $11,000 retirement account.

Lawrence, when asked about the Republican-linked ads, said they were "stupid" and emphasized the need for all candidates to meet voters face-to-face, in order to cut through misleading ads.

"They're going to play their games but we're just going to stay focused on delivering our message to voters," Lawrence said.

At one of Lansing's two early voting locations Saturday, roughly 50 people had voted by about 2:30 p.m. Early voting runs from Saturday through Sunday, Aug. 2. The primary is Aug. 4.

On Saturday, Jessica Naddari, a recent transplant from Grand Rapids to Lansing, stopped by one of the Lansing early voting sites to drop off her absentee ballot. Naddari didn't disclose whom she was supporting, but noted the primary season has been a heated one.

She double-checked Saturday morning to make sure her candidates were still running and hadn't dropped out.

"I just had to align my vote to the things that matter to me," Naddari said. "What matters to me is love of people, protection of people and access for people...we all are people, at the end of the day, and there are certain basic necessities that we all need."