Progressive activist William Lawrence defeated Michigan Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in one of the most competitive House races in history, NBC News reports.
The race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District is shaped by voter dissatisfaction with the economy under President Donald Trump and backlash against data centers. A co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, Lawrence’s campaign focused on opposing the development of local data centers and the controversial Flock cameras, while also pushing for tight restrictions on artificial intelligence development.
He advanced to the general election from a split primary with less than 50 percent of the vote.
Follow live coverage
[where] Perhaps the greatest threat we face is the extreme concentration of power, and that power is concentrated in these tech companies and their allies at the highest levels of government. “
Lawrence, who has been criticized for deleting social media posts during the pandemic, including writing “Fââ quarantine and nuclear family homes” during the pandemic, has distanced himself from some past positions and said he let his membership with the Democratic Socialists of America “lapse” in July.
He said he is not running as a DSA candidate because he believes “partisan and ideological labels … do far more to divide us than they do to unite people.”
Barrett, a first-time congressman and veteran who served in the state Legislature, believes Lawrence is too left for a swing district that went for Trump in 2024 and was previously represented by Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin. Barrett won the 2024 game by 3 points.
But as the Republican environment deteriorated, with voters dissatisfied with the economy and the war with Iran, Barrett began to create some space between himself and the president. He was an early Republican supporter of the War Powers Resolution, which called for limiting the president’s powers in Iran. He also introduced data center legislation that would prohibit the federal government from overriding data center locations â an effort Lawrence said does not go far enough to regulate data center development.
“I don’t agree with that,” Barrett told NBC News in a September interview. Trump had earlier said the only reason communities don’t want data centers is because they want to end up “left behind and poor.”
“I think ultimately this decision has to be made by the people who live in these communities, and I respect that,” Barrett said.
The two sparred over artificial intelligence regulations in a debate last month, with Lawrence calling for a moratorium on AI advances, pointing to whistleblowers who raised the alarm about the technology’s dangers, and Barrett talking about the need for “strong protections.” But Barrett said the pause would only strengthen U.S. adversaries.