2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan

The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the 14 U.S. representatives from the state of Michigan, one from each of the state's 14 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate in 33 other states and various state and local elections. The deadline for candidates to file for the August 2 primary election was April 19.

Results summary
Results of the 2016 House of Representatives elections in Michigan by district:

District 1
When Republican Dan Benishek first ran to represent Michigan's 1st congressional district in the 2010 elections, he pledged to serve no more than three terms. In March 2015, he decided to run for a fourth term as the district's representative. However, he changed his mind in September and decided not to seek re-election.

On June 24, Michigan Democratic Party chairman Lon Johnson declared his run for the seat. Former Democratic nominee Jerry Cannon also announced his candidacy. Republican state senator Tom Casperson announced his run in November 2015. Casperson was challenged in the Republican primary by former state legislator Jason Allen, who announced he was running in January 2016, and retired U.S. Marine Jack Bergman, who declared in March. In January 2016, Benishek endorsed Casperson's candidacy.

In the August 2 primary, Jack Bergman won the GOP nomination and Lon Johnson won the Democratic nomination.

Nominee

 * Jack Bergman, retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general

Eliminated in primary

 * Jason Allen, former state senator and candidate for this district in 2010
 * Tom Casperson, state senator

Declined

 * Dan Benishek, incumbent U.S. Representative (endorsed Casperson)

Nominee

 * Lon Johnson, former Michigan Democratic Party chairman

Eliminated in primary

 * Jerry Cannon, retired Michigan Army National Guard Major General, former Kalkaska County Sheriff and nominee for this seat in 2014

Declined

 * Scott Dianda, state representative

Nominated

 * Diane Bostow, Gwinn resident

District 2
Republican incumbent Rep. Bill Huizenga ran for re-election. His Democratic opponent was Dennis Murphy, and his Libertarian opponent was Kentwood City Commissioner Erwin Haas.

Nominee

 * Bill Huizenga, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Dennis Murphy, engineer

District 3
Republican incumbent Rep. Justin Amash ran for re-election. His Democratic opponent was Douglas Smith.

Nominee

 * Justin Amash, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Douglas Smith

District 4
Republican incumbent Rep. John Moolenaar ran for re-election. His Libertarian opponent was Leonard Schwartz. Keith Butkovich was the candidate for the Natural Law Party, George Zimmer for the U.S. Taxpayers Party and George Salvi for the Green Party. There was no Democratic opponent on the August primary ballot, but Debra Wirth launched a successful write-in campaign to be the Democratic nominee for the November election.

Nominee

 * John Moolenaar, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Debra Friedell Wirth, attorney and nominee for this seat in 2012 (write-in)

District 5
Democratic incumbent Rep. Dan Kildee ran for re-election. His Republican opponent was Al Hardwick.

Nominee

 * Dan Kildee, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Allen Hardwick, computer repairman and nominee for this seat in 2014

Nominated

 * Steve Sluka

District 6
Incumbent Fred Upton sought re-election to his House seat. His Democratic challenger in 2014, Paul Clements, ran again.

Nominee

 * Fred Upton, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Paul Clements, political science professor and nominee for this seat in 2014

Nominated

 * Lorence Wenke, former state representative

District 7
The 7th district is located in Southern Michigan. The incumbent was Republican Tim Walberg, who had represented the district since 2011 and previously represented the district from 2007 to 2009. He was re-elected with 53% of the vote in 2014, and the district has a PVI of R+3. Walberg was challenged by Doug North. Democratic state representative Gretchen Driskell, the former mayor of Saline, announced that she would run against Walberg in 2016, as would Libertarian Ken Proctor. Walberg won the Republican nomination.

Nominee

 * Tim Walberg, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Doug North

Nominee

 * Gretchen Driskell, state representative

Declined

 * Pam Byrnes, former state representative and nominee for this seat in 2014

Nominated

 * Ken Proctor

District 8
Freshman Republican incumbent Mike Bishop ran for re-election. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Nominee

 * Mike Bishop, incumbent U.S. Representative

Democratic primary
Two candidates were originally slated to face each other in the Democratic primary. They were former actress Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie) and a former president of the Screen Actors Guild, and Linda Keefe.

Gilbert withdrew from the race in May 2016 due to health issues, and at that time Keefe did not appear to have collected enough valid petition signatures to be placed on the ballot.

On July 6, 2016, Democrats introduced 29-year-old Suzanna Shkreli, an Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor to be the party's nominee. At the time of Shkreli's announcement, it was still unclear if Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson would allow Gilbert to be removed from the ballot. Johnson said that the Office of the Secretary of State would not make a ruling until after the state's August 2 primary. Gilbert's name remained on the ballot.

On August 2, Gilbert received the most votes in the Democratic primary, receiving 28,810 votes, despite previously announcing her withdrawal from the race. Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon said the day after that the party would begin the process to remove Gilbert from the November ballot and replace her with Shkreli within 48 hours. Bishop's campaign described Gilbert's attempt to be removed from the ballot as unprecedented. A Democratic campaign spokesman said they had retained legal counsel for the process.

The Michigan state elections director said that Gilbert's name could be removed from the ballot in the general election. On August 22, 2016, the state board of canvassers allowed Gilbert's name to be replaced on the November ballot with that of Shkreli.

Nominee

 * Suzanna Shkreli, Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor

Failed to qualify

 * Linda Keefe, former Windsor Township Clerk (disqualified from primary ballot for lack of signatures)

Withdrawn

 * Melissa Gilbert, actress and former president of the Screen Actors Guild

Nominated

 * Jeff Wood

District 9
Democratic incumbent Rep. Sander Levin ran for re-election. His Republican challenger was Christopher Morse, and his Libertarian opponent was Matt Orlando.

Nominee

 * Sander Levin, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Christopher Morse

Nominated

 * Matthew Orlando

District 10
Republican incumbent Candice Miller, who had represented the 10th district since 2003, did not run for reelection. State representative Tony Forlini, State Senator Phil Pavlov, businessman Paul Mitchell, former state senator Alan Sanborn, and retired military veteran David VanAssche were seeking the Republican nomination to succeed Miller. State Senator Jack Brandenburg considered entering the race, but declared in January 2016 that he would not run. Paul Mitchell won the Republican nomination.

Nominee

 * Paul Mitchell, businessman

Eliminated in primary

 * Tony Forlini, state representative
 * Phil Pavlov, state senator
 * Alan Sanborn, former state senator
 * David VanAssche

Withdrew

 * Michael Flynn, Shelby Township Treasurer

Nominee

 * Frank Acavitti, Jr.

Nominated

 * Lisa Gioia

District 11
The 11th district is located northwest of Detroit. The incumbent was Republican Dave Trott, who had represented the district since 2015. He was elected in 2014, winning the general election with 55.9% of the vote. He ran for re-election. Anil Kumar was his Democratic opponent, and Jonathan Osment was his Libertarian opponent. Kerry Bentivolio, who represented the 11th District from 2013 to 2015 and lost to Trott in the 2014 Republican primary, announced on July 21, 2016, that he planned to seek the seat as an independent after losing to Osment in the Libertarian convention.

Nominee

 * Dave Trott, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Anil Kumar, physician

Nominated

 * Jonathan Osment

Independent

 * Kerry Bentivolio, former U.S. Representative

District 12
Democratic first term congresswoman Debbie Dingell ran for re-election and was unopposed in the primary. Jeff Jones was the Republican challenger, a Taylor resident, a former independent United States Senate candidate in 2014. Also running was Tom Bagwell of Wyandotte, libertarian activist and former Ypsilanti Township Park Commissioner who won the Libertarian Party nomination for District 12 on May 14, 2016, in Lansing, Michigan.

Nominee

 * Debbie Dingell, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Jeff Jones

Nominated

 * Tom Bagwell

District 13
John Conyers, a Democrat, the incumbent representative in the 13th district, had served 26 terms in Congress and was the Dean of the United States House of Representatives. Detroit and City Clerk Janice Winfrey ran against Conyers in the Democratic Party primary election. Jeff Gorman ran on the Republican side, and Tiffany Hayden ran on the Libertarian side. Conyers won the nomination.

Nominee

 * John Conyers, incumbent U.S. Representative

Defeated in primary

 * Janice Winfrey, Detroit city clerk

Failed to qualify

 * Kenneth Garner

Nominee

 * Jeff Gorman

Nominated

 * Tiffany Hayden

District 14
Democratic incumbent Rep. Brenda Lawrence sought re-election and had two Democratic challengers, Terrance Morrison and Vanessa Moss. Lawrence won the Democratic nomination. The Republican candidate was Howard Klausner and the Libertarian candidate was Gregory Creswell.

Nominee

 * Brenda Lawrence, incumbent U.S. Representative

Defeated in primary

 * Terrance Morrison
 * Vanessa Moss

Nominee

 * Howard Klausner

Nominated

 * Gregory Creswell