Rep. Kildee fends off GOP challenger Junge in Michigan

Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee has won reelection to his seat representing Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, beating out Republican Paul Junge, a former TV news anchor and prosecutor who worked in the Trump administration.

Given the state has multiple timezones, the first polls closed at 8 p.m. EST, and the last polls closed at 9 p.m. EST.

Kildee was first elected the representative for Michigan’s 5th Congressional District pre-redistricting, succeeding his uncle Dale Kildee, who occupied the seat from 1977 to 2013.

Born and raised in Flint, he’s represented the city since 2013. The 64-year-old congressman has advocated for working families and small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, is a proponent of lowering the cost of health care premiums and prescription drugs, and serves on multiple House committees, including the Ways and Means Committee.

Abortion was a key issue in the race between Kildee and Junge. Kildee called the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade “one of the most reprehensible Supreme Court decisions in our country’s history.” Junge said decisions on regulating abortion should be handled at the state level.