Rashida Tlaib faces James Hooper in Michigan 12th Congressional District election

• U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is facing Democratic primary challengers in Michigan’s 12th Congressional District
• Two Republicans are also running for the seat but face an uphill battle in the reliably Democratic district
• The 12th District includes Dearborn and part of Detroit, along with other portions of Wayne and Oakland counties. 

LANSING — U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib enters the general election a heavy favorite over Republican challenger James Hooper in Michigan’s heavily Democratic 12th Congressional District. 

The district, which is anchored by Dearborn and part of Detroit, also includes other portions of Wayne and Oakland counties, including the cities of Southfield, Inkster, Garden City and Livonia.

Tlaib, who first won election in 2018, has sparked controversy in Congress but coasted to re-election in 2022, handily defeating Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey in the Democratic primary before winning the general election by nearly 45 percentage points.

Related:

• Michigan election 2024: Key dates and deadlines
• Who’s running for U.S. Senate in Michigan
• More 2024 Michigan election coverage

Voters in the district backed Democratic Joe Biden over then-President Donald Trump by nearly 50 percentage points in 2022. Four years earlier, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 45 points in the district.

Tlaib ran unopposed in Democratic primary, while Hooper bested fellow Republican Linda Sawyer by 21 percentage points to advance to the Nov. 5 general election. 

Here is a closer look at each of the candidates:

Democrat - Rashida Tlaib: Prior to taking office, the three-term Congresswoman served in the Michigan House from 2009 to 2015. Tlaib earned her law degree from Western Michigan University’s Thomas Cooley Law School in 2004 and has experience working with nonprofit legal advocacy groups. The Detroit Democrat is the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress, and one of the first two Muslim individuals. She serves on the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Reform. Tlaib is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which aligns politically with the Democratic Party’s left wing. Last year, colleagues in the Republican-led U.S. House voted to censure Tlaib for controversial statements she made in response to the Israel-Hamas war. 

Republican - James Hooper: Hooper describes himself as a “blue-collar Republican” from Detroit’s east side with a background in the building trades. Another candidate who previously sought to unseat Tlaib, he finished second to Elliott in the 2022 GOP primary. If elected, areas of public policy Hooper says he’s passionate about include promoting American energy independence, lowering taxes and eliminating the U.S. Department of Education.

Working Class - Gary Walkowicz: Walkowicz was nominated at convention by the Working Class Party of Michigan. Among other things, the Working Class party argues that financial profits by big companies were "stolen" from workers and should be returned. Walkowicz also ran for the post in 2022 but finished a distant third with less than 3% of the vote. 

Green - Brenda Sanders: Sanders, of Detroit, is a former 36th District Court judge who was ordered off the bench in 2015. She was nominated at convention by the Green Party of Michigan. As a candidate for congress, Sanders has said one of her top priorities is "attention to be focused on our environmental issues."