In a press release on Wednesday, January 3, state Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet announced her campaign for Congress in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District. Currently representing the Great Lakes Bay Region in the Michigan State Senate (SD-35), McDonald Rivet is a lifelong Michigander and mother of six.
Announcing her candidacy, Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet issued the following statement: “As I hear from countless members of our communities about the real struggles they face, I am tired of politicians in DC prioritizing their ambitions over delivering real solutions. I grew up in a working class household with a dad that showered at the end of the work day, not the beginning, to make ends meet. Because he worked hard, we had a good life. That’s why I have spent my life fighting to uplift kids and working families like mine by making child care more affordable, improving education, and delivering meaningful tax relief to working parents. Now, I am eager to continue the mission by picking up on Representative Kildee’s legacy in Congress and working with both parties to pass sensible solutions to lower costs, protecting our hard earned freedoms, and delivering jobs and opportunity to hard working Michiganders. I am ready to take our message and coalition across the 8th District and to victory this November.”
In 2022, McDonald Rivet was elected to the Michigan State Senate, where she is the first Democrat in over a decade and the first woman ever to represent the Great Lakes Bay Region in the Michigan Senate.
At least two other Democrats have announced their run the primary contest: Michigan State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh of Saginaw and Dan Moilanen, former chair of the Genesee County Democratic Party. Republicans Paul Junge, a Grand Blanc resident and former surgeon Martin Blank have also announced runs for the seat.
