Reps Mike Bishop, left, and Dave Trott
You may get a hint just how forceful the Democratic pushback will be in 2018 by following two congressional races in Oakland County.
Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Rochester is running for re-election in the 8th District and Rep. Dave Trott, R-Birmingham of the 11th is stepping down. Todd Spangler of the Detroit Free Press reports:
Michigan's 8th and 11th districts, reliably Republican, for the most part, for more than a decade, are not typically considered fertile ground for Democratic challenges. But because of several factors — strong candidates and fund-raising and a suburban electorate that may be looking for change — these districts could be bellwethers of Democratic chances this year to take back the U.S. House of Representatives.
“They’re barometers,” said Michigan political analyst Bill Ballenger of The Ballenger Report. “If Bishop and the Republican nominee in the 11th find themselves in a nail-biter, then it’s going to turn out that way across the country. You’re going to see a big blue wave.”
To take back the U.S. House — which Democrats last controlled before the 2010 Republican wave election during then-President Barack Obama’s first term — Democrats must flip 24 seats currently or most recently held by Republicans.
