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[MI-7] Democrat to Test GOP’s Hold on Walberg’s Historically GOP Michigan Seat
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Race
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem May 16, 2007 07:44pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Thursday, May 17, 2007 01:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By Marc Rehmann | 6:32 PM; May. 16, 2007 | Email This Article
Michigan’s 7th Congressional District includes the city of Jackson, which is widely credited as the place, in 1854, that ran the first electoral ticket for the newly founded Republican Party. The largely rural area making up the current 7th has stuck with that partisan tradition in most of the years since, including 2006, even though there was a bruising Republican primary in which former state Rep. Tim Walberg, a staunch conservative, unseated one-term Rep. Joe Schwarz, a GOP moderate.
The November result, though, was closer than expected, with Walberg defeating organic farmer Sharon Renier, a little-known and underfunded Democrat, by 50 percent to 46 percent. In fact, the 7th, while Republican-leaning, does not appear on paper to be exactly a Republican stronghold: President Bush took a fairly modest 54 percent there in 2004.
While Michigan 7 does not turn up on the Democrats’ short list of targeted races for 2008, party strategists are testing the waters for a more serious run than they have made in recent campaign years. And they received some encouragement when a Democrat with political experience, former state Sen. Jim Berryman, filed papers with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to begin raising money for a 2008 House campaign.
Berryman may not be alone. Renier, who also ran in 2004 and lost the general election to Schwarz, is considering another run. Also in the mix is lawyer David Nacht, who is well-known in local Democratic circles; according to FEC records, he has donated more than $10,000 to party candidates since 2000 (although $500 of that was a donation to Schwarz’ 2006 re-election campaign).
Berryman has histories with both Walberg and House politics, but not successful ones to date. |
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