MICHIGAN—With weeks left until Election Day and control of the US House potentially hanging on a handful of seats, US Sen. Bernie Sanders has a message for voters in Greater Lansing:
This one’s on you.
In an email sent Tuesday morning, the Vermont independent—and two-time presidential candidate—cast the race in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District as a choice between more of the same in Washington and someone willing to take on the country’s wealthiest people.
“In this unprecedented and dangerous moment in American history, status quo politics is not good enough,” Sanders wrote. “At a time when the very rich are getting much richer while working families are struggling, we need members of Congress who have the courage to stand up to the greed of the billionaire class and fight for working families.”
“Will will do just that,” he added.
Sanders endorsed Lawrence before the primary election, when the East Lansing organizer beat two better-funded opponents backed by party leaders. Tuesday’s letter served as a more direct plea as Lawrence heads into the general election against Republican US Rep. Tom Barrett.
Much of the letter reads like a checklist of the priorities Sanders and Lawrence share.
Sanders pointed to Lawrence’s support for Medicare for All and his calls for billionaires to “pay their fair share of taxes.” He also highlighted Lawrence’s refusal to accept corporate PAC or AIPAC money. Sanders tied that stance to what he called “a corrupt campaign finance system which allows the very rich and their super PACs to buy and sell politicians.”
He also singled out an issue that Lawrence has focused on all year: data centers.
“Will also understands that artificial intelligence and robotics must benefit ALL Americans, not just the handful of billionaires who own the major AI companies,” Sanders wrote, noting that Lawrence has “stood with communities across the district to organize against data centers.”
Last week, Lawrence unveiled what he calls the Stop Tech Overreach Plan, or “STOP.” It calls for a federal moratorium on new data center construction and advanced AI development, paired with a New Deal-style jobs program funded by a tax on AI profits and tech billionaire wealth.
But the two don’t line up on everything. Sanders has proposed moving equity in the largest AI companies into public hands. Lawrence said last week he’s open to the idea but worries it could eventually become “a backdoor to a bailout of irresponsible investment decisions.”
In his letter, Sanders also took aim at military spending. He wrote that the country “should not be spending huge amounts of money to fund pointless wars” while people struggle to pay for basic needs. Lawrence has called for ending US involvement in the war in Iran.
It’s also an issue where Barrett has broken with his party: He was one of several Republicans in Congress to vote against the Trump administration’s authorization of military operations.
On most other issues, though, Barrett has voted with his party—including his vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which featured $83 billion in tax breaks for data center developers.
The Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up. Barrett won the seat by about 17,000 votes in 2024, two years after losing to Elissa Slotkin by about 20,000 votes. Republicans currently hold the US House by just a handful of seats—which makes the district one of the few that could decide which party controls the chamber next year. Sanders made that point, too. He called it “one of the closest in the country in an election where control of Congress is at stake.”
“Sisters and brothers, the outcome of this race is up to you,” Sanders wrote in this week’s letter. “Let’s do everything possible in the next six weeks to elect Will Lawrence to Congress.”
Election Day is Nov. 3. Local clerks begin sending out absentee ballots this week.
READ MORE: How many AI data centers are planned in Michigan? We counted.
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