Paul Junge won the Republican primary for Michigan's 8th Congressional District, securing the Republican nomination. He will now leave in hopes of replacing retiring Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee.
Junge defeated Mary Draves and Anthony Hudson with 73%, when the race was declared the winner by the Associated Press.
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Rep. Dan Kildee will leave Congress at the end of the current term
Junge, who twice ran unsuccessfully for the 8th Congressional District seat, served in the Department of Homeland Security during former President Donald Trump's administration and was a research adviser to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley.
His 2024 campaign focused on fighting inflation and the border crisis, citing the opioid epidemic as the cause of “devastation to forgotten communities.”
“Stopping rising prices and improving the economy for working families is a top priority of my campaign,” Junge told the Midland Daily News. “Equally important, I will fight to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and poisonous synthetic opioids across our southern border, which are devastating forgotten communities across our state and across our country.”
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Draves, who runs an auto repair business with her husband, advocated for energy independence and border security during the campaign.
“America was energy independent when President Trump was in office, meaning we were a net exporter of energy. If we have enough energy here, we don't have to rely on foreign sources to get it and then we can innovate and grow our businesses here,” Draves told the Midland Daily News. “The first thing we need to do is stop the influx of illegal immigrants coming into this country and the flow of fentanyl across our border. A strong America is a safe and prosperous America.”
Republican Congressional candidate Mary Draves (Draves campaign)
Hudson, a Texas native and Army veteran, was making his second bid to represent the 8th Congressional District and ran a campaign focused on border security and jobs.
“I'm a regular American citizen who is upset with the direction our country is going and wants to run for office so we can make the positive change that's needed,” Hudson told the Midland Daily News. “I want to help bring people back to the state of Michigan by bringing jobs to Michigan and be on the front lines of the fight against all these Chinese companies that (Gov.) Gretchen Whitmer wants to bring into our state.”
Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at a United Auto Workers rally in Detroit, Sept. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)
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Jung will now face the winner of the Democratic primary, in which three candidates will seek to replace Kildee.
Kildee has represented Michigan's 8th Congressional District since 2012, but announced he would not run for re-election last November.
