FORMER REPRESENTATIVE Pam Byrnes has taken aim at the U.S. Congressional seat held by Republican Tim Walberg. Byrnes, back from two years in China working as the Executive Director at the University of Michigan Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, told a group gathered as a fundraiser for Ward 4 Ann Arbor City Council member Jack Eaton that she expects to need to raise $2.3 million dollars in her bid to flip the seat held by Walberg.
Byrnes, who represented Washtenaw County residents as the 52nd District representative in Lansing between 2004 and 2008, is taking aim at Walberg’s conservative record.
“Tim Walberg thinks homosexuality is a sin,” Byrnes told the group of Democrats gathered. Walberg’s record, while unpopular among the 7th District’s Democrats, plays better in other parts of the area represented, such as Jackson and Monroe counties.
“Tim Walberg believes Michigan can cut its way to economic recovery,” said Byrnes. “That doesn’t work. We need to create jobs, focus on the state’s infrastructure and education.”
While Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow won the Michigan 7th by 53 percent when she ran for re-election, Washington pundits, including the respected Rothenberg Political Report, are predicting that Walberg will retain his seat. The Rothenberg Report rates the Michigan 7th as heavily “Republican favored.”
While the Michigan 7th went for Democrat Senator Stabenow in her 2012 re-election bid, the district threw its support behind Republican Mitt Romney in the presidential primary. However, Romney won the Michigan 7th with the same slim margin of victory as Stabenow, three percentage points.
In an October interview with Roll Call, a newspaper that covers Capitol Hill politics, Pam Byrnes said help from Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. could help sway voters.
“I think [Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.] would relate to the people very well,” she said in an Oct. 10 interview with CQ Roll Call. “He is a very personable guy. I’ve met him before and I believe he could connect with people and help me,” Byrnes told Roll Call.
She also said that “for now, she’s confident her campaign can win on its own.”
Emily’s List, a group that helps support women candidates who are strongly pro-choice, recently threw its support behind Pam Byrnes’s candidacy.
“I really believe that being a strong woman out in this district will help me win this race,” Byrnes said.
However, it’s clear that even with help from both state and national Democratic parties, Byrnes faces a challenge to unseat Walberg who, thanks to a redrawn district, won his 2012 race against Democrat Kurt Haskell by nearly 11 points Nonetheless, Byrnes was loquacious and upbeat, particularly about Michigan’s prospects as a trade partner with China.
“People in China have money to buy the goods our state produces,” Byrnes told those present. “There are so many possibilities.”
An October 2013 poll commissioned by MoveOn.org conducted by Public Policy Polling, showed that “Walberg would lose an election held today to a generic Democratic challenger by nine percentage points, 51% to 42%, after poll respondents were told he supported the federal government shutdown.”
In an email about the poll sent to supporters Byrnes wrote, “We knew jeopardizing the well-being of our economy for political posturing wouldn’t sit well with everyday Michiganders. Now we have the polling to prove it. The poll released today shows 46% of voters disapprove of Walberg’s job performance. And even better, 60% of Independent voters would vote for the Democratic candidate over Tim Walberg….”
Of those surveyed in Walberg’s district, 50 percent expressed an unfavorable view of the Tea Party, while 35 percent had a favorable view.
Byrnes and Walberg have almost a year to sway voters. The governor’s race will play a part in this match-up, as well.
“We want Pam to pick up this seat,” Jack Eaton told supporters. “I’m calling you to help her win this race.