Elissa Slotkin narrowly beats Tom Barrett for US House seat in mid-Michigan

In what was expected to be one of the most expensive U.S. House races in the country, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, on Wednesday morning defeated state Sen. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, in a hard-fought race for a newly drawn mid-Michigan district.

As of 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, with nearly 99% of the vote tallied, Slotkin, who had trailed for most of the election night count, took a 51%-47% lead on Barrett as she battled for a third two-year term in Congress. The Associated Press called the race for the incumbent congresswoman shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Find all Michigan 2022 election results here

Around 3:30 a.m., Slotkin said she had received a call from Barrett conceding the race. The victory improves the likelihood that Democrats will hold a slim majority in the state's now 13-member delegation to the U.S. House.

"I’m so grateful to the people of mid-Michigan for their support. Tonight, voters here made clear that the politics of division are not what they want for our families or our state," Slotkin said in a post on Twitter.

For months, the two campaigns have been battling back and forth with endorsements and claims, even as tens of millions in support from outside groups poured into the race, inundating mid-Michigan voters in the Lansing-based district with TV advertising and mailers.

In an election where historical trends and high inflation were expected to give Republicans an edge in competitive U.S. House seats nationally, the race between Slotkin and Barrett in the newly drawn Michigan 7th District was considered a tossup by handicappers, making it a key race for GOP leaders hoping to regain control of the House and Democrats trying to keep their losses to a minimum.

But as results came in from across the country Tuesday night and Wednesday morning it appeared that while Republicans could still take control of the U.S. House, they hadn't fared as well as they had hoped in winning competitive districts like this one in many other states.

In Michigan's 3rd Congressional District, Republican nominee John Gibbs, who had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, lost to Democratic nominee Hillary Scholten, giving Democrats a boost. Slotkin's victory continued the trend.

Shortly before 2 a.m., Slotkin posted on Twitter that she expected that the race wouldn't be called right away but that she was hopeful. "While there’s still a lot of votes left to count, we’re feeling positive: we’ve been performing well all over the 7th District, and won the towns of Grand Ledge, DeWitt, Howell (by 13 votes!), and Brighton, all in Republican-leaning counties, and we’ve won Eaton County outright," she said.

Without question, the 7th District race was the toughest-fought among U.S. House races this election cycle as Barrett's supporters denied Slotkin's long-standing claims of independence, arguing she almost always votes with her party and its leaders. Slotkin's backers, on the other hand, blasted Barrett as out-of-step with the district and too conservative, opposing abortion in any instance where a pregnant person's life wasn't in danger and turning his back on incentives intended to help manufacturers move into or expand operations in Michigan.

As of Monday, the campaigns and their allies had poured at least $37.1 million into the race, with that total certain to increase once post-election campaign finance reports are filed.

Meanwhile, the race hasn't been just about money: Slotkin — a former intelligence and Defense Department official who worked for both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations — notably won the endorsement of Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, who has made a name for herself as her party's chief critic of former President Donald Trump and who was defeated in her primary this year by a Trump-endorsed Republican. Cheney came into the district last week to stump for Slotkin as well.

Barrett, a former Army helicopter pilot who has made a name for himself as a critic of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Lansing, responded to the slight by criticizing Cheney and Slotkin, who serve together on the House Armed Services Committee, as warmongers, and bringing in the endorsement of former Vice President Mike Pence who campaigned for him last Friday.

While the race was a fractious one that looked to be close, that is nothing new for Slotkin, whose current district, the 8th, voted for Trump in 2020 while still backing her. If anything, her new district, by adding areas around Lansing, is marginally more Democratic-leaning, though whether that helps in a year when Republicans are expected to have the edge remains to be seen.

Slotkin, though, typically runs ahead of her party. The same can also be said of Barrett, who enjoyed widespread institutional support in his run — though he never received Trump's endorsement.

Mark Alan Horvath, 62, of Howell said Tuesday he was voting for Barrett, in part because economic conditions had gotten so bad he could no longer live on his retirement income and took a part-time job washing dishes. "I voted Tom Barrett big time," he said. "I’m not happy with Slotkin at all, I haven’t been happy with her the last couple years.

"I’m not a Joe Biden guy and she’s right in his back pocket," he added. "That’s how I feel.”

But other voters said they were sticking with Slotkin, including 45-year-old Rachel Vogel, an educator from Williamston, who said she had seen some of the negative advertising against Slotkin but it didn't sway her.

Xavier Davis, a 51-year-old East Lansing resident, said he supported Slotkin because she showed what he described as "general Democratic values of just respecting people. Just simply respecting people.

"Without that, it’s hopeless,” he said.

Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler. Editor Emily Lawler contributed to this story

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Slotkin defeats Barrett for US House seat in mid-Michigan