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OF ALL THE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS up for grabs this fall, Michigan’s 7th may be the most hotly contested. Smack in the middle of the state, the 7th went to Donald Trump by just one percentage point in 2024. Its current congressman, Republican Tom Barrett, won his seat that year despite Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, carrying the district in her Senate victory.
This go-around, Barrett is facing off against William Lawrence, the 35-year-old cofounder of the hyperprogressive Sunrise Movement. Lawrence clinched the Democratic primary on Tuesday after a conservative group secretly boosted his candidacy and two moderate Democrats split the remaining vote.
In a race that promises to be close, the presence of a third-party candidate could prove decisive. And this year, the Green Party of Michigan has fielded just such a candidate. His name is Shane Dedrick. You would be excused for having no clue who he is.
Dedrick has almost no digital footprint. What is out there, however, doesn’t give any indication that he is the type of earthy environmentalist that typically runs under the Green Party banner. It might seem that, given Lawrence’s sterling progressive credentials, Dedrick’s candidacy is redundant. But don’t be surprised if he stays in the race. Because, if anything, the online breadcrumbs suggest a real possibility that Dedrick may be a Republican plant.
Follow us down the rabbit hole. ...
