James v. Marlinga 2.0: The sequel may be as close as the original

Two moderate candidates in their respective parties are vigorously campaigning for the 10th District congressional seat in their second head-to-head battle for a congressional seat in a district representing Macomb and Oakland counties.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. John James, a Shelby Township Republican, faces former judge and prosecutor Carl Marlinga, a Sterling Heights Democrat, for a two-year term in the 10th District seat that includes all of Macomb County south of Hall Road, Shelby Township, Utica, part of Macomb Township, and Rochester and Rochester Hills.

Voters have begun casting ballots in a race that has drawn widespread attention and millions of dollars in TV ads and glossy campaign literature. It is one of the closest congressional contests in the nation and one of the keys to determine which party will gain a House majority. Each candidate's campaign received visits from national figures to help boost their efforts.

Marlinga hopes to turn the seat Democratic after narrowly losing the election to James two years ago while the incumbent seeks re-election after winning election in 2020 after two losses, albeit in impressive showings, in two prior races for U.S. Senate seats in Michigan.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, a Democrat, has not endorsed in the race. He said he believes voters have two quality choices.

"You have two good candidates. There's so many good things about both of the candidates," Hackel said. "You have both parties excited about their candidates."

The numbers are good for James and encouraging for Marlinga, and show the seat is up for grabs.

James has a slight, but potentially precarious, lead, according to a new poll from The Detroit News and WDIV-TV (Channel 4). The survey of 400 likely voters, conducted Oct. 14-16, found James to have a 3.8 percentage point lead over Marlinga. Among the 400 likely voters surveyed, 47.4% said they would vote for James, 43.6% said they would pick Marlinga, 2.9% said they would support another candidate, while 5.9% were undecided.

James' edge is within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. In addition, potentially in Marlinga's favor is a significant percentage of undecided voters, including 16% of Democratic-leaning respondents.

James, 43, touts his background as a business executive and military experience as a former Army helicopter pilot.

"Macomb County is the most critical county to the 2024 elections. It will decide the presidency and the House majority," James told Laura Ingraham on Fox News cable TV channel on Oct. 5.

Marlinga, 77, boasts of serving as the Macomb County prosecutor for 20 years and a county judge for 10 years. He also operated a private practice for 10 years.

Marlinga, after a recent visit from Democrat Pete Buttigieg in Sterling Heights, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, posted on Facebook, "As Pete said, Macomb is the center of the political universe. We have the chance to elect Kamala Harris to be our next President and flip the House."

Two years ago, James defeated Marlinga by a half of a percentage point, about 1,600 votes. Over 1,000 votes of James' margin came from Rochester and Rochester Hills.

In the 2020 campaign, James outspent Marlinga by a 6-1 margin. Marlinga afterward criticized the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for failing to provide any financial support.

Things are different this time. Over $20 million — more than $12 million from James' side — has been spent on the two campaigns combined.

James still holds a substantial lead in fundraising by attracting $8.3 million – nationally the 25th most by a congressional candidate – and Marlinga raising $2.6 million, as of Oct. 16, according to Federal Election Commission campaign reports. Marlinga's fundraising was the 213th most nationally of over 3,000 congressional candidates, records say.

Marlinga outraised James in the last report period, $1.6 million to $1.3 million.

James spent $6.8 million and Marlinga spent $1.7 million as of Oct. 16.

Marlinga has the lead in spending by outside entities. National and state organizations have spent over $5 million on Marlinga compared to nearly $4 million for James, according to a media report.

Marlinga's campaign was helped in a joint appearance in Sterling Heights with Democratic U.S. Senator and former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren in addition to the Buttigieg appearance, and James' campaign was boosted by a joint visit on the same day by U.S. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and U.S. Rep. James Jordan at a rally in St. Clair Shores. James also appeared Tuesday in a "tele-rally" with former President Trump.

James and Marlinga and their supportive Political Action Committees and political parties have filled voters mailboxes and televisions with ads.

The Congressional Leadership Fund has stepped up negative attacks on Marlinga from two years ago over what it claims was his representation of murders, child abusers and home invaders during his time as an private-practice criminal-defense attorney.

"These are just a few of the scumbags Carl Marlinga defended," with an arrow pointing to three mug shots of convicted criminals, says a literature piece supporting James. "Is that the kind of person you want representing your family?"

To counter that, the Marlinga campaign released a 32-second TV ad that showcases him dressed in a judicial robe in a court-like setting.

"Those who break the law should be held accountable," Marlinga says. "I made sure of that as prosecutor, taking on violent criminals and protecting victims of sexual assault."

Marlinga refers to his time as a judge and prosecutor, and includes his relatively short time as an assistant U.S. attorney before he was first elected prosecutor in 1984, in a literature piece.

"I've dedicated my life to protecting our families," he says.

He has downplayed his time as a private-practice attorney.

James and his supporters also have tried to tie Marlinga to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for president against former President Donald Trump, a Republican, by linking him to perceived Southern-border insecurity, electric-vehicle mandates and inflation.

"America used to have a border. But now Kamala Harris and the Democrats have destroyed it, allowing our country to be invaded by criminals, gangs and terrorists," a TV ad says. "And Carl Marlinga supports the Harris invasion, giving away our Medicare to illegal immigrants. ... End the Harris-Marlinga invasion before it ends us."

Marlinga says he will take a firm stance on immigration.

"I will be a voice in Congress to secure the border," with "common sense immigration laws" and favors hiring some 8,000 immigration judges, a dramatic increase to the existing 600, to hear cases and speed the process of determining aslyum claims, he said, adding the cost would be offset in welfare cost savings.

"I'll secure the border and enforce the rule of law. That's not tough, that's fair," he says in the TV ad.

James, who ran an automotive-supply company, has hammered Marlinga for his comment two years ago in which he referred to the auto industry as a "dying industry."

Marlinga, in talking about his support for efforts to build electric-vehicle chargers and use of other renewable energies, referred to James' "old way of thinking, which is his way — let's try to save all of the jobs that we have now, let's hold tight and try to stick with a dying industry as long as we can."

Literature for James says, "If environmental extremists like Kamala Harris and Carl Marlinga get elected, they would kill our auto industry with mandates and banning gas-powered cars.

"John James will always stand up for Michigan workers and never back down to the extremists who want to ban gas-powered cars and cripple our economy."

Marlinga, who is endorsed by the UAW, said to "let the market decide" which vehicles should be made but that large vehicle and fleet vehicles should move to electrification. He also supports continued use of diesel.

"I am dedicated to diversification," he said. "People can always drive gas-powered vehicles, but let's have larger vehicles powered by electronics."

He said a wider selection of choices will reduce oil and gas prices.

James has been criticized for opposing an amendment to a bill that would ban oil drilling and exploration in the Great Lakes.

"You can't drill your way out of an oil crisis," Marlinga said.

James has staunchly opposed EV mandates including sponsoring a resolution passed in September by the GOP-controlled House that would halt a new Biden administration rule on automobile emissions that Republicans say would force Americans to buy unaffordable electric vehicles they don't want.

"I will not let our auto industry and 77,580 manufacturing jobs in my district die, despite the fact that we're seeing these jobs start to leave because of Biden-Harris de facto EV mandates," James posted on Facebook.

Even before EV sales began to slide early this year, James said in 2023: "If you want a battery car, get a battery car. But forcing people into one thing or another and then penalizing our job creators on a short or nearly impossible timeline is a recipe for disaster."

James in September promoted Macomb resident Brian Pannebecker, who has organized a group called Auto Workers for Trump, on Fox.

James recently went after Marlinga for his age. A video of Marlinga posted on his Facebook page mocks him with a 1970s scene in the background posted on Facebook his foe has been "running for elected office for 54 years."

Democrats are "propping up a has-been opponent" to try to take the seat from Republicans, he said in the Fox interview.

Marlinga hasn't been immune from criticizing James, noting he at one time called Trump unfit for office but who endorsed him for this election.

Marlinga said the greatest distinction between he and James is their abortion stances. Marlinga is pro-choice. James opposes abortion access even in cases of rape and incest, although he supports exceptions to protect the life of the mother. James one time compared abortion to genocide.

In a TV ad for Marlinga, a supporter also notes James would "punish doctors who provide abortion care."

"We would be insane to send John James back to Washington," the ad says.

Marlinga posted on Facebook: "My opponent, John James, stands with far-right Republicans who want to take away those rights, even in cases of rape and incest. We cannot allow these dangerous policies to take hold in Michigan. In Congress, I will work tirelessly to protect access to safe, legal abortion and ensure that every woman, regardless of zip code, has control over her own healthcare decisions.

"Protecting reproductive freedoms and safeguarding our democracy is at stake."

He is endorsed by Planned Parenthood Action Fund PAC, MI List, Fems for Dems, NOW MI, Progressive Women's Alliance of West Michigan PAC and Reproductive Freedom for All.

Marlinga denounced James for an ethics complaint filed against him in September by the watchdog group, End Citizens United, for his failure to properly disclose 145 stock trades and file a financial disclosure on time.

Marlinga tied it to him around the same time James pulled out of a debate planned for Oct. 25 in St. Clair Shores.

"John James is clearly running scared," Marlinga said. "First, he hides from voters by keeping them in the dark about his personal finances and now, he's dodging a debate where he would have to answer for it. The people of Michigan deserve a representative who shows up, is honest and transparent, not someone who ducks and hides when things aren't going his way."

James of Shelby Township said previously he was unaware of the trades because they took place under a financial trust "that functions as a blind trust," according to his office.

James spokesman Noah Sadlier said said the congressman did not not wish to debate Marlinga again after the pair shared a stage two years ago.

"We debated last cycle. We beat him last cycle," Sadlier said. "He (James) is not focused on previous losses for Marlinga. John wants to bring his message straight to the voters."

James gained some national attention for an enthusiatic six-minute speech at the Republican National Convention in July in Milwaukee.

He criticized President Biden and his administration for causing inflation, allowing undocumented immigrants to pour across the border and the Russian-Ukrainian War.

James, who was among several Black politicians who spoke that night at the event, also talked about talked about how his father, James A., grew up in the segregated South and founded a trucking company in Michigan. While his parents encountered racism, he said, "It did not define the nation they love." James A. James was inducted into the Automobile Hall of Fame in September.

James made a quip at the convention, "If you don't vote for Donald Trump, you ain't Black," a reference to a remark by Biden in 2020 during the prior presidential campaign.

"If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't Black," Biden, who later apologized, said.

Marlinga is endorsed by the Black Economic Alliance, saying, "BEA has done important work to break down barriers to economic advancement, and I look forward to collaborating with them on solutions that benefit Black communities and all Americans."

Early voting will continue through Sunday at community sites and resume 7 a.m. Tuesday at the precincts. Polls close at 8 p.m.