Bergman, Lorinser face off in First Congressional District

Oct. 30—TRAVERSE CITY — In the race for the First Michigan Congressional District, both major party candidates said the economy has been at the top of voters' minds as they've toured the district.

Incumbent Republican Jack Bergman, Watersmeet, is facing a challenge from Democrat Bob Lorinser, from Marquette. Libertarian Andrew Gale and Working Class Party candidate Liz Hokala are also running.

In phone interviews, both Bergman and Lorinser said inflation has loomed heavily in their discussions with prospective constituents, in a district that is made up of the Upper Peninsula and much of the northern Lower Peninsula. Neither offered specific proposals for how to stop it, though each had specific examples of actions which they believed wouldn't help.

For Bergman, that included what he called "wasteful government spending" and the Biden administration's approach of "printing money" through economic stimulus strategies. That only adds more fuel to the fire, he said.

Lorinser, on the other hand, objected to Republicans' blaming of Democrats, rather than pointing to what he labeled the "real culprits" — like the pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, reliance on big oil, and "lack of commitment to our infrastructure." The current economic situation "hurts," but the nation will get through it, he said.

Both candidates also highlighted infrastructure, including energy security, as vital issues in their campaign. While Lorinser advocated a national energy plan to transition away from fossil fuels, Bergman criticized what he called the Democrats' "war on energy," including attempts in Michigan to shut down Line 5.

Bergman is a retired Lt. General in the United States Marine Corps and also served as a naval aviator and a commanding general of the Marine Forces Reserve. He was a commercial airline pilot for 22 years, and has served three terms in congress so far.

"We've been listening to the constituents for six years," he said. "And we know when we look at our district, what the differences are when it comes to Michigan's First District as opposed to downstate, where you have larger metropolitan areas."

Lorinser's most recent role has been as medical director for the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department and Marquette County Health Department, a post he has held from 2020. He started his medical career as a physician in the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico for the Indian Health Service before becoming a family physician in Marquette.

Beginning in 2011, he served five tours as a U.S. Ambassador, beginning in Pakistan, where he was stationed during the capture of Saddam Hussein.

"(Democrats) have to have a good candidate to run against (Bergman), and I do believe myself to be a decent candidate that can bring problem solving to the first district. "That's what a representative should do: Listen, serve, respect and problem solve to make where we live a better place."

The district has been held by Republicans for the past decade, first by Rep. Dan Benishak, elected in 2010, before Bergman took over the seat. Despite that, Lorinser said his campaign is feeling optimistic.

"When we started the race, I felt like maybe more of a sacrificial lamb," Lorinser said. "You know, a Democrat (challenging an) incumbent Republican, starting the race 26 points behind."

Since then, internal projections by the campaign, based on national trends and local canvassing, suggest Lorinser may be closing that gap, campaign manager Kevin Numerick said.

Bergman said he hasn't seen any polls to support the assertion that the race is becoming more competitive. The political polling website FiveThirtyEight still projects Bergman as "very likely" to win, with odds higher than 99 percent.

"I'll put our staff, our efforts, and our success rate against anybody," Bergman said. "But you know, when you're running for election, I expect my opponent to have to fabricate a few things just to maybe build his own stock in his own mind."

Bergman is among a cohort of Republicans running in Michigan this year who have raised questions about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. He voted against certifying some of the election results on Jan. 6, 2021, and subsequently signed on to a legal brief in support of a lawsuit challenging the electoral vote.

That lawsuit was dismissed by a judge.

Bergman pointed to Antrim County, which is in his district, as the "first irregularities to pop up nationally" during the 2020 ballot count.

Those results, which briefly showed a win for Joe Biden in an overwhelmingly Republican-aligned precinct, were determined to be the result of human error, according to past reports.

Lorinser was critical of Bergman's response to the presidential election, arguing that there has been no evidence of "meaningful fraud."

"Yes, our elections are free, and they have been fair and they should continue that way," he said.

If anything, the Republican response to the 2020 election poses the risk of making elections less fair by restricting eligible voters' access to the ballot box, he said.

Bergman declined to expound much further on his current views regarding election security in the state.

"I have spent no time thinking about that, because it is not in my purview," he said.

Those issues ought to be left to state officials, he said.

Another such issue would be abortion and reproductive rights, he said. That subject has been a major theme of this election cycle, following the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade. As a federal legislator, Bergman said that matter was not for him to decide, though he said he would be voting against State Proposal 3, which would secure abortion and reproductive rights in the state.

His reasons for doing so were that it was "confusing" and "extreme," two common objections Republicans have lobbed.

"If I can't understand something, then I'm usually going to vote no," he said.

Lorinser said he didn't believe reproductive rights should be up to the federal, state, or local government to decide. Rather, it should be left to individuals and their doctors.

"I'm a strong supporter of medical privacy and individual liberties — the freedom to make your own decision," he said.

Report for America corps member and data journalist William T. Perkins' reporting is made possible by a partnership between the Record-Eagle and Report for America, a journalism service project founded by the nonprofit Ground Truth Project. Generous community support helps fund a local share of the Record-Eagle/RFA partnership. To support RFA reporters in Traverse City, go to www.record-eagle.com/rfa.