A poll shows Republican congressional candidate Tom Barrett narrowly leading Democrat Curtis Hertel in Michigan’s 7th District — a seat currently held by Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is running for Senate.
The Emerson College Polling survey shows Barrett leading Hertel 47 percent to 45 percent. One percent support Libertarian candidate L. Rachel Daily, and seven percent are undecided.
“Barrett has an advantage among independent voters in the district, who back him 47 percent over Hertel’s 41 percent, though 10 percent of independents are still undecided ahead of the election,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
Slotkin gave Republicans the opportunity to pick up the House seat after announcing her bid for U.S. Senate, seeing her opportunity to advance her political career after Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) announced she would not seek reelection.
Slotkin had narrowly retained her House seat in the midterm election, receiving 51.7 percent of the vote to Barrett’s 46.3 percent.
Other recent polling has projected a close Senate race between Slotkin and her Republican rival former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), 48 percent apiece.
The Emerson College Polling survey also found an even split of support in the district for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, 49 percent to 49 percent.
“Men and women voters in the district break in opposite directions: men for Trump 58 percent to 41 percent, and women for Harris, 57 percent to 41 percent,” Kimball said.
Trump notably flipped the battleground state for the first time in over 20 years in 2016, and only lost Michigan to President Joe Biden by a few percentage points in 2020.
The survey was conducted between Oct. 24-26, 2024, with 535 likely Michigan District 7 voters. The credibility interval, similar to a margin of error, is ±4.2 percentage points.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
