Deciding the 10th
Carl Marlinga walks away from the Federal Courthouse with his wife Barbara in 2006. On March 7, 2022, Marlinga, a former Macomb County judge and prosecutor, announced his campaign for a new House seat in suburban Detroit. Photo by Brandy Baker, ap/The Detroit News
Marlinga, James Square Off in Congressional Barn Burner
By Paul Natinsky
The warming temperatures are in sync with hot political races in Southeast Michigan. One such race is the newly redrawn 10th Congressional District, which hosts parts of Macomb and Oakland counties.
Michigan’s new citizen-led redistricting commission redrew all of the state’s federal and state election districts for the next 10 years. Historically, the districts were drawn by whichever party controlled the state legislature.
The new map and Michigan’s loss of one congressional seat, from 14 to 13, have created some unfamiliar matchups featuring household names. While incumbents Andy Levin and Haley Stevens square off in a Democratic primary in the redrawn 11th District, Michigan Circuit Court Judge and former Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga faces Republican star candidate John James in the neighboring 10th. Both candidates are expected to emerge from the August 2 primaries.
The 10th District is truly up for grabs. It’s a newly drawn district with no incumbent. Recent polls indicate no clear advantage, although both camps believe they hold the lead.
“With the Trump influence able to increase the Republican vote and with this being the year in which Democrats are going to be tested up and down the ballot…the wisest thing to do is to just say that this is a tossup and wait to see who does the better job in getting out their vote,” Marlinga told the Chaldean News.
Marlinga has a long history in the district, having served 20 years as prosecutor in Macomb County before his decade on the bench. James has strong statewide name recognition and is a West Point and University of Michigan graduate who served in the Iraq war.
Marlinga is 75 and didn’t take the decision to throw his hat in the ring lightly. “My fear is that if we don’t have the right people in the House of Representatives, something terrible could happen,” said Marlinga. He said the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in 2021 was the strongest motivator in his decision to run, citing concern about the use of intimidation and violence to overturn an election.
James is concerned about trust issues as well. “I am confident we have the resources and the leadership to win, but most important to me is earning the trust of 10th district voters,” said James. “I will outwork and outraise anyone who runs against me. I will note that both Haley Stevens and Andy Levin chose to run against each other rather than run against me.”
James has been seeking office since 2018, when he lost a Senate race to Debbie Stabenow. He came close to earning a seat in 2020 when he lost a close contest with incumbent Gary Peters. The opening in the 10th gave James another bite at the apple in his quest to represent Michigan in Washington.
James told the Chaldean News that his experience as the son of a man who came to Detroit from Mississippi in search of a better life helps him identify with the district’s large immigrant population who followed a similar path.
“Like Macomb’s defense industry, my life experiences straddle the intersection between business, supply chain management and national defense,” said James. “That’s the experience our state and our district needs in Washington, because bringing this vital work home isn’t only good for us, it helps to make our entire nation more secure.”
Both candidates cite increased jobs for Michigan residents as a key campaign issue.
Marlinga says his focus will be to bring manufacturing jobs back to Michigan. He thinks domestic manufacturing can help alleviate the current microchip shortage and stimulate auto production. He also emphasized making fast charging stations and heat pumps in state for use domestically and for sale abroad.
More generally, Marlinga told the Chaldean News, “Make manufacturing your goal, because if all of us are poets and doctors and lawyers and entertainers, there is a lot of money being exchanged but there is no wealth being created. Wealth only gets created when you have something that is taken out of the ground, manufactured, and turned into a product.”
When James announced his candidacy in January, he said, “Michigan’s 10th, I believe, is the home to the American dream, the birthplace of the middle class, and when you take a look at the manufacturing opportunity, repatriating manufacturing back from Mexico and China, I believe that’s best done here.
“I have repeatedly said that Michigan needs to be the place that makes stuff here and sells it to the world, not the other way around,” said James. “There is real potential for that right at our fingertips. Not only will smart, aggressive investment in manufacturing and defense make us safer here at home, it will make us more prosperous. We will be able to build products we sell to the rest of the world — creating more and more high-quality, long-lasting and good-paying careers for Michigan families.”
The candidates shake out roughly along party lines on other issues, with Marlinga placing increased federal funding for education high on his priority list. He pairs his belief in prioritizing education with a strong interest in providing scientific education, particularly teaching the scientific method. He also marries an emphasis on technology with manufacturing, supporting initiatives that reduce the cost of heating by converting heat from the earth, for example.
Marlinga said if elected he would seek an education committee assignment, but not a judiciary committee spot, perhaps surprisingly given his legal background. He said he would be active in debates on legal matters regardless of his committee assignments.
In a past campaign handout photo, Republican John James poses with his family. Photo by Jennifer Mayo / Jennifer Mayo Studios via AP
James named inflation, education, and national security as his top campaign issues.
“The liberal left is tearing us apart, and we need relevant leadership that can unify us and tackle the problems facing us right now without taking our eye off the future,” said James. “Look no further than a federal government that would rather fight culture wars than fight for us at home while families suffer with skyrocketing inflation and energy prices.
“We are ‘led’ by leftist talking heads who use today’s crises to push radical pipe dreams like the Green New Deal, rather than practical solutions, and who have walked in lockstep with a party that all but abandoned our allies in Afghanistan and Ukraine and who have left us vulnerable to the flow of illegal drugs from Mexico by neglecting our border,” he continued.
James received former President Trump’s endorsement in late March, about which he tweeted, “Excited and grateful for President Donald Trump’s endorsement! Michigan’s 10th congressional district needs to help lead our Country back to safety and prosperity.”
James lives in Farmington Hills, which is outside the 10th District. He told the Chaldean News that he is looking for a home in the 10th, but wanted to give his kids a “complete, normal school year” before his family moves.
Regardless of the 10th District election outcome, Marlinga is supportive of the new district drawing process. “You don’t want either party to draw the districts in a way that makes it impossible for the other party to ever be competitive. Republicans were doing that to us and, quite honestly, I’m sure that we have done it to the Republicans. So, it’s nice to take it out of the hands of partisans and put it into the hands of citizens who are looking for fairness…for a chance for both parties.”
Commenting on the redistricting, James said, “For the new 10th congressional district, we have a watershed moment. For the first time ever virtually all of Michigan’s aerospace and defense assets will be under one congressional district. That is a powerful bargaining position for residents here, if they have the representation with the experience to leverage it.”
Of Michigan’s new districts, the 10th might be the most competitive and unpredictable. In a rare circumstance Marlinga said the presidential election could come down to each state casting one vote for president, in which case Michigan’s 10th could decide the state’s vote.
However it shakes out, it is going to be an exciting election season.