Four candidates running in the general election for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District

Incumbent John James (R), Carl Marlinga (D), Mike Saliba (L), and Andrea Kirby (Working Class Party) are running in the general election for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District on November 5, 2024.

This election is a rematch of the 2022 general election, when James defeated Marlinga 48.8% to 48.3%. It was the third closest House race in the nation that year.

Before he was elected to Congress in 2022, James was an aviation officer in the U.S. Army, president of James Group International, and CEO of Renaissance Global Logistics, a supply-chain management and logistics company based in Detroit. James said he wants to lower inflation, secure the border, and strengthen the economy.

In a speech at the Republican National Convention James said, “America was sold on hope and now the world is on fire, our borders are wide open, and Americans are going into debt to pay for their groceries. We can once again have a land where a child’s outcome isn’t determined by their zip code, we can once again have a land where hard work truly does get you ahead, we can once again have a land where you can go from poverty to prosperity in a single generation.”

Marlinga is a former five-term Macomb County Prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Michigan 16th Circuit Court judge. Marlinga said, “We will work tirelessly to address the issues that matter most to our community — restoring a woman’s right to choose and defending reproductive freedom, protecting Lake St. Clair and the Great Lakes from oil drillers and rebuilding America so you can work one job and pay the bills.”

In an interview with the Detroit Free Press editorial board, Marlinga said he is running because he wants to protect democracy, “Jan. 6 of 2021 happened…I want to be in the House of Representatives on Jan. 6, 2025 … I don’t want Donald Trump and his forces to hijack the election. Or if the election is thrown into the House, I don’t want there to be one more Republican vote, because I need to save democracy.”

Based on second quarter 2024 reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, James raised $6.2 million and spent $3 million and Marlinga raised $627,494 and spent $529,015. To review all the campaign finance figures in full detail, click here. As of December 31, 2022, James had raised $7 million and spent $6.2, and Marlinga had raised and spent $1 million.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included Marlinga in its “Red to Blue” program. The committee did not include Marlinga in the program in 2022. The district is one of 34 congressional districts with a Republican incumbent or an open seat the committee is targeting in 2024. To read about DCCC targeting initiatives, click here. For a complete list of DCCC targeted districts, click here.

All 435 U.S. House seats are up for election in 2024. Republicans have a 220 to 211 majority with four vacancies. As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Republican candidate won 48.8%-48.3%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 49.8%-48.8%.