Democrat Sean McCann, a state Senator, announces campaign for Michigan's 4th District
McCann has been in the state Senate since 2018, and previously was elected as a state representative from 2011 to 2015. In a release announcing his campaign, he said special interest groups (without specifying which ones) and billionaires currently receive more attention in Washington, where Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House, than working class families.
'Families in southwest Michigan know what hard work looks like. But right now, that work isn't paying off like it should, thanks to politicians in Washington who have left us behind to give tax breaks to special interests and billionaires,' McCann said in a statement. 'Our families deserve a representative who works as hard as they do and who focuses on what matters to them, and that's why I'm running for Congress.'
His campaign listed protecting Medicaid, reducing costs, not raising the national deficit, boosting small business growth and giving women autonomy over their health care decisions as McCann's other policy priorities.
As a lawmaker, McCann chairs the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment in Lansing. He was also the committee's chair in 2023 when it advanced legislation setting one of the most ambitious clean energy standards in the U.S. for Michigan, establishing a goal of using 100% clean energy sources for power generation by 2040.
Thanks to Michigan's term limit laws, McCann cannot seek another four-year term in the state Senate. Before being elected to the Legislature, McCann was a Kalamazoo County commissioner and graduated from Western Michigan University, according to his campaign.
McCann is not the first Democrat to enter the race for the district — Jessica Schwartz, a Kalamazoo attorney who ran for the seat in 2024 and lost to Huizenga in the general election that year by 12 percentage points, is seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat again. Diop Harris, a Battle Creek Democrat who previously worked in the U.S. Senate, according to his LinkedIn, has also filed to run for the seat.
The 4th District, which covers southwest Michigan, includes all of Allegan and Van Buren counties along with portions of Berrien, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, and Ottawa counties. The cities of Holland, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor and Kalamazoo all fall in the 4th District.
It's a part of Michigan that has been represented by Republicans in Congress for decades. Huizenga has held the seat since 2022. Before district boundaries were redrawn, much of southwest Michigan was represented by longtime former U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, who was first elected to Congress in 1987. Huizenga has been in Congress since 2011, when he first took office representing Michigan's old 2nd Congressional District, which covered much of west Michigan north of Holland.
Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan political analysis website, currently views the 4th District as "likely Republican," meaning the GOP is expected to carry the district again in next year's election. But with Huizenga eying a potential run for U.S. Senate next year, it's not clear Republicans will have the incumbency advantage in the 4th, if Huizenga ends up seeking Michigan's open Senate seat. Democrats are targeting the seat as a potential pickup opportunity, and if Huizenga were to run for Senate the 4th District could be a competitive race.
Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Democrat Sean McCann announces congressional run in Michigan
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