Michigan Primary 2024 Voter Guide: 10th Congressional District
Learn more about the candidates running for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District in 2024.
The 2024 Michigan primary takes place on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
The state’s 10th Congressional District incumbent, Republican John James, runs unopposed on his party’s side. The Democrats will have four candidates on the ballot, including longtime Macomb County Prosecutor and judge Carl Marlinga, who lost to James in the November 2022 10th Congressional District race.
Related: 2024 WDET Voter Guide
The 10th Congressional District includes the majority of Macomb County, Rochester and Rochester Hills.
Editor’s note: WDET distributed surveys to local, county and congressional candidates in key races on the August primary ballot to gain a deeper understanding of what’s motivating them to run. Responses have been edited for clarity and length.
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Republican Candidates
Name: John James
Congressman John James did not respond to our questionnaire. You can view more information at James’ official campaign website.
Democratic Candidates
Name: Carl Marlinga
Age: 77
Current Occupation: Retired judge, now acting as a mediator and arbitrator
Education: JD, University of Michigan Law School | BA, University of Detroit
Tell us about yourself in 200 words or less.
I have served as the Macomb County Prosecuting Attorney (1985-2004), Macomb County Probate Court Judge (2013-2016) and a Macomb County Circuit Court Judge ( 2017-2022). Additionally, in private practice, I partnered with the University of Michigan Law School Innocence Clinic to identify and free people who were wrongfully convicted of crimes that they did not commit.
As the Macomb County Prosecuting Attorney, I, of course, was primarily involved in protecting the public and prosecuting crimes; but I also realized that my office offered me the opportunity to make strides in larger social issues as well. To that end, I was the first prosecutor in the county’s history to appoint African Americans as assistant prosecutors. I also increased the number of women appointed as assistant prosecutors so that the percentage of women serving in that capacity increased from 7% when I first took office to 51% when I left office. I also appointed an openly gay man to be the chief of my homicide unit.
As a judge, I created the Macomb County Mental Health Court as an alternative to incarceration for people whose mental illness was the primary factor in bringing them into the criminal justice system.
Why are you running for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District?
My essential motivation is to save democracy and preserve our constitutional form of government. The events of January 6, 2021, shook me to my core. I never thought that I would witness a president trying to hold on to office by illegal means. I want to be in Congress in January of 2025 to make sure that all electoral votes are counted and that any attempt to defeat the will of the people is stopped in its tracks.
What are the top 3 priority issues that the 10th congressional district faces and what actions would you, as its representative, take regarding each of them?
Protecting abortion rights
I support legislation and if necessary a constitutional amendment reinstating the rights guaranteed by Roe v Wade.
Reversing climate change
I will propose legislation mandating increased research, development and utilization of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and tidal power.
Fighting inflation
I support capping the price of insulin and other life saving drugs. Also, by turning away from fossil fuels and utilizing more renewable energy sources, we will be able to control inflation, since the largest single driver of inflation is the high cost of oil and gasoline.
What is your stance on gun reform in the U.S.?
We must make common sense laws about guns. There is no reason for military grade assault weapons to be available to the general public. I support red flag laws and universal background checks to keep firearms out of the hands of people whose criminal background or violent history show clearly that they should not be trusted with firearms.
What is your stance on abortion rights?
I am 100% pro-choice. My position is summed up by two signs that were carried by young women marching with me in pro-choice demonstrations in 2022. The first sign said “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” The second sign said “The most difficult decision a woman might ever have to make is not yours.”
What is your solution to fight the current inflation crisis in the U.S.?
So much of inflation is driven by the high cost of oil and gasoline. Not only do we pay more at the pump, but also every head of cabbage and every box of Cheerios costs more because they are delivered by vehicles using fossil fuels. Long range, the use of renewable energy will not only save the planet, it will also bring down inflation.
What actions/decisions by your challenger have you disagreed with and how would you do things differently?
The Republican incumbent, John James, voted to allow gas exploration and oil drilling in the Great Lakes. That vote was a mistake. The minimal amount of oil which we could extract from the Great Lakes, would not make a difference in oil prices, but it would endanger our most important resource — the waters which surround Michigan. Additionally, John James refers to abortion as genocide and would seek to restrict abortion at the federal level. I support the right of women to make their own healthcare decisions free of government interference.
Name: Emily Busch
Age: 52
Current Occupation: Congressional candidate, previously medical device sales
Education: MS, Michigan State | BA, Indiana
Tell us about yourself in 200 words or less.
I’m a mom, gun violence prevention advocate and candidate for U.S. House from Southeast Michigan, where I’ve lived for nearly three decades. I’m running for office because my 17-year-old son was forced to run for his life from a school shooter nearly three years ago, and I believe our kids and our communities deserve better than we’re getting. We’re a strong union family, and without my husband’s service in the Marines and career as a firefighter, my family would not be able to afford for me to run for office full time.
When I’m elected, I promise to be a champion for gun violence prevention, reproductive rights, and supporting and strengthening our labor unions and the right to organize and the right to good-paying, stable jobs. For me, these issues aren’t just talking points, they’re deeply personal, and I promise I will be a tireless advocate for Southeast Michigan, and fight for families everywhere as hard as I fight for my own.
Why are you running for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District?
I’m running for Congress because on November 30, 2021, my son, Andrew, ran for his life from an active shooter at Oxford High School. We were lucky that he came home that day, but there were four families who weren’t as fortunate. I believe no parent should ever bring their child to school and wonder if they will make it home alive (or go to a parade, or a grocery store, or a church, or a bowling alley, or a splash pad; the list goes on).
For me, keeping our families safe and defending our fundamental rights is deeply personal. Beyond fighting for commonsense gun safety solutions, I will work to protect abortion rights, support and strengthen our unions, safeguard Social Security and Medicare, lower costs, and make our economy work better for Michigan families. The future of our democracy is on the ballot this November, and I’m running for Congress to make our communities safer and stronger, and to fight for families across the country as hard as I will fight for my own.
What are the top 3 priority issues that the 10th congressional district faces and what actions would you, as its representative, take regarding each of them?
Keeping our families safe and protecting our rights is critical. In Congress, I will fight for your kids just as hard as I do my own, from gun violence prevention, to protecting abortion rights, to safeguarding Social Security and Medicare.
To address gun violence, one of our most urgent and deadly threats, I will work to codify universal background checks, safe storage, red flag laws, and end gun manufacturers immunity at the federal level.
I’ve been pro-choice my entire life and will work to enshrine Roe v. Wade at the federal level. We must not allow extremists like my opponent John James to turn back the clock on women’s reproductive rights.
I also believe that Michigan families deserve access to adequate, affordable healthcare. We must protect social security and ensure that everyone has access to the services they need.
What is your stance on gun reform in the U.S.?
Guns are the number one killer of kids in the United States. Gun violence prevention is the single most important issue that compelled me to run for Congress, and it is critical we elect leaders who will work to put an end to the gun violence epidemic at the federal level. Michigan has created a sound legislative blueprint to protect our kids and families across the state to ensure that no more communities have to experience the devastating and lasting effects of gun violence.
A few pieces of legislation I plan to introduce and advocate for secure storage (Ethan’s law), requiring background checks on every firearm sale, closing the Charleston Loophole, banning assault weapons, and repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), to name a few. We’ve got a lot of work to do to protect our teachers, parents and children, and I’m ready to roll my sleeves up and get to work to move the needle on gun violence once and for all.
What is your stance on abortion rights?
The federal government has a critical role in codifying protections for reproductive healthcare, including access to IVF, birth control and abortions at the federal level. Since the fall of Roe vs. Wade, 21 states have passed restrictions or all out bans on abortion. Within one year of banning abortion in Texas, the state’s infant mortality rate increased by 13% statewide and 2% nationally. Unless we restore Roe vs. Wade at the federal level, these numbers will only continue to climb. Ensuring reproductive care remains part of our Medicaid programs, and eliminating discriminatory measures like the Hyde Amendment, are critical steps to making sure family planning and reproductive healthcare access isn’t weakened.
Additionally, blocking federal funds from supporting abortion care disproportionately impacts Black women and women of color, who are among the most marginalized members of our healthcare system as it stands. Sixty-three percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases, and it’s time we make abortion constitutionally protected right again.
What is your solution to fight the current inflation crisis in the U.S.?
Michigan families and families across the country are already struggling to make ends meet. The middle class should never be subsidizing tax breaks for the wealthy. Working families are burdened with rising costs and wages that aren’t keeping up with inflation. We need to prioritize lowering prescription drug prices, investing in the supply chain, and cracking down on oil prices by making corporations pay their fair share. No working families should be forced to choose between putting food on the table and paying for life saving medication or other necessities.
Along with lowering the cost of prescriptions, we must prioritize investments that will create well-paying jobs and make our economy more resilient to future disruptions. When corporate profit margins and inflation are both at an all time high, we need to bring jobs back home from overseas and return to the time when our free market was truly controlled by supply and demand, not by corporate greed.
What actions/decisions by your challenger have you disagreed with and how would you do things differently?
John James has failed our community in more ways than one. John James is endorsed by the NRA and has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and outside spending from the gun lobby. As a gun violence advocate, I plan to legislate commonsense gun violence prevention measures that protect our communities, not put them in harm’s way. John James has offered nothing but thoughts and prayers to families like mine, and until we vote him out, Southeast Michigan will continue to suffer the lasting and continual impact of our nation’s gun violence epidemic.
Beyond his failure to work towards any meaningful gun violence prevention solutions, arguably another key failure of his is his 100% pro-life stance; he has even equated abortion to genocide. John James isn’t the only candidate running MI-10 with a troubling record on abortion. My primary opponent, Carl Marlinga, previously sought the Right to Life endorsement and attempted to block a 12-year-old rape victim from having an abortion as
Macomb County Prosecutor. While legislators in Michigan have successfully codified abortion access, one of the most important issues that the next U.S. Congress is going to decide is whether women today will grow up with fewer reproductive rights than I had as a young person. If we’re going to defeat John James and his terrible record on protecting our fundamental freedoms, we need to elect a truly pro-choice Democrat who will remain steadfast in their commitment to defending our rights and reproductive freedoms.
Name: Tiffany Tilley
Tiffany Tilley did not respond to our questionnaire. You can view more information at Tilley’s official campaign website.
Name: Diane Young
Diane Young did not respond to our questionnaire. You can view more information at Young’s official campaign website.
