The Grand Parade at the Charlotte Frontier Days festival Saturday made its first turn onto Cochran Road just as the sun poked out from the clouds. It was the first moment of warmth on the unseasonably cold morning that saw a huge crowd of families eager to grab some free candy.
Firetrucks were the first to turn on the road to welcome the waving mayor, Tim Lewis. Horns, sirens and music from marching bands filled the air as the crowd cheered and kids ran in and out of the street.
Among the parade participants was Republican congressional candidate Tom Barrett, walking the streets of his traditionally conservative city of residence. He marched behind a pickup truck with a campaign logo, prominently featuring a combat helicopter as an homage to his time in the Army.
Close behind was Democratic candidate Curtis Hertel Jr., who lives in liberal East Lansing. Hertel walked alongside a banner to reelect Democratic State Rep. Angela Witwer.
It may have been a rare joint appearance for the two candidates engaged in a battle being watched nationally over who will succeed U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin to represent mid-Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. Either’s victory could decide which party controls the closely divided House of Representatives next January.
For Hertel, it was a trip to Trump country. In 2020, Donald J. Trump won in Charlotte by over 5% but won by more than 9% in 2016. The pattern was similar throughout Eaton County. Trump has endorsed Barrett, who lost to Slotkin in 2022 by 5%.
Barrett can count on Dwayne Gordon, a 65-year-old sales director of Vista Metals Corp. with an office downtown. Street-facing windows and door are covered in Trump and Barrett campaign signs.
“I don’t service people locally, so I can use my platform however I want,” he said with a chuckle.
Next door is Dena Shaw’s barbershop. “I can’t put up either side’s sign,” Shaw, 56 said, because she doesn’t want to alienate customers.
Shaw will vote for Barrett as well, even though she said, “I don’t like a couple of things he stands for.”
One was Barrett’s support of another barber, Karl Manke of Owosso, who gained national attention for defying shutdown orders in the pandemic.
“He had wall-to-wall people there, and Tom supported him — and the rest of us were shut,” Shaw said.
Her other concern is a common theme within the election and on the minds of many voters despite political ideologies: abortion.
Said Shaw, “I think that’s just every woman’s choice and their family’s business.”
Barrett has a track record of opposing the right to abortion. But he doesn’t believe abortion will be the critical factor in this election that it was when he lost to Slotkin two years ago. Then, his race shared the ballot with a successful constitutional amendment to protect abortion in Michigan.
“My opponent is not a woman. The abortion proposal is not on the ballot,” Barrett told the Washington Examiner in February.
Gordon, Shaw’s business neighbor, said that he takes those issues into account, “but my issues are more about the economy and the state of the country right now.”
In contrast to Shaw, Christine Powers, a retired dental assistant, doesn’t see Barrett’s opposition to abortion as an issue she can look past.
“I’m just going to go Democratic ticket all the way,” she said.
She was outside her home in Charlotte, sweeping up grass clippings from her immaculate yard. Abortion was her number one reason for voting Democratic, she said..
Hertel, a former state senator, fought to repeal the 1931 Michigan Abortion ban after Roe V. Wade threatened women’s access in the state.
Powers added, “I just don’t like the way Republicans are running anything these days, and I’m not a fan of Donald Trump.” Powers sees Barrett, who has appeared at several Trump events in Michigan, as an extension of Trump. The former president has endorsed Barrett.
Barrett doesn’t see abortion as an issue for his campaign. “Voters in this district are really frustrated by the cost-of-living surge they’ve seen and family budgets that have been under duress for the last several years,” he said in an interview Saturday.
Barrett’s platform largely conforms to conservative Republican ideologies and talking points. Inflation, border security, crime and “issues of national security that really speak to my background in the Army” are the backbone of his messaging.
Hertel said the people of Charlotte share concerns about “all the problems” he has been addressing in his campaign.
“We want to talk to people about lowering the cost of prescription drugs, getting the middle-class tax cut, and protecting freedoms and reproductive rights,” he said by phone in a post-parade interview. He said in Charlotte and elsewhere that he is “having conversations about working across the aisle and trying to solve problems.”
Both candidates are trying to win over the voters who will determine the outcome: independents and undecideds.
Veterinary technician Paige Eldrige of Eaton Rapids was putting away her shopping cart after a trip to Meijer in Charlotte with a baby strapped to her chest. She said she was uncertain whom she’d vote for.
The shakeup in the national election left Eldridge with a candidate she didn’t know much about, Kamala Harris. She said she has not had time to research what the new Democratic presidential candidate stands for, let alone the candidates for the down-ticket congressional race.
“In the past, I’ve voted Democrat, but I haven’t put that much thought into it this year,” she stated.
Several independent voters indicated some form of needing to “review all of the options” before making a choice. For Eldridge, like the others, “Women’s rights — with all of the abortion bans — are a pretty big point for me to pay attention to.”
Though her commitment to this specific cause means she’d likely vote for Hertel, his message has apparently not yet reached her. Several people indicated they were just “staying away from the election” due to the divisiveness of politics, finding it easier to ignore than engage with.
“It’s something I need to look into,” Eldridge said, cradling the baby’s neck.
— J. Gordon Curtis
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