Wayne, Marquette, and Calhoun counties are expected to be decided by razor-thin margins on Election Day

Several Republican candidates who ran for office in 2024, including those in Michigan’s 27th, 44th, and 109th House Districts, beat their opponents by razor-thin margins, tipping control of the state House—and it could happen again on Nov. 3.

With Election Day quickly approaching, here’s what voters need to know about the candidates running for re-election and their challengers.

27th District: Rep. Rylee Linting vs Jaime Churches

Michigan’s 27th House District includes Wayne County, the township of Grosse Ile, and cities like Gibraltar, Trenton, and Wyandotte, as well as a portion of Southgate. It’s home to around 89,000 people and is often considered to be one of the most reliably competitive House district races in the state.

It’s currently represented by 24-year-old Republican Rep. Rylee Linting, who made history by becoming the youngest member of the Michigan Legislature after being elected in 2024 by a margin of roughly 2,300 votes.

While she has had some noteworthy bipartisan wins—including the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which helped keep telehealth access and in-state licensure for thousands of physicians—Linting has made some decisions in office that have raised eyebrows. This includes sponsoring legislation that would bar people in the country without legal status from receiving social welfare grants and participating in other taxpayer-funded programs, like Medicaid and SNAP. Linting also co-sponsored a law that would repeal Michigan’s clean energy regulations and keep the state dependent on fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, 38-year-old Democrat Jaime Churches, who represented the 27th District from 2023 to 2024 after winning the seat by another razor-thin 660 votes, is ready to take back her seat. During her term, the former public school teacher helped secure millions of dollars to repair and restore several infrastructure projects in her district, including $5 million for lead line replacements in Wyandotte and Gibraltar. She also worked alongside lawmakers to repeal the pension tax on seniors, expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, and repeal the state’s 1930 abortion ban.

On the campaign trail, Churches has received endorsements from the Michigan Education Association, Michigan AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood, and several other organizations.

44th District: Rep. Steve Frisbie vs Jim Haadsma

Democrat candidate Jim Haadsma is challenging Republican Rep. Steve Frisbie in a rematch over Michigan’s 44th House District, which covers most of Calhoun County between cities like Battle Creek and Albion.

While holding this seat for six years before Frisbie took it over in 2024—by a margin of only 79 votes—Haadsma was one of several Michigan lawmakers who expanded reproductive rights protections under the 2023 “Reproductive Health Act” and extended the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include LGBTQ+ Michiganders.

Haadsma’s campaign has been supported by Michigan labor unions and has received donations from DTE Energy, as well as endorsements from Planned Parenthood and the League of Conservation Voters.

On the other side of the aisle, during his first term in office, Frisbie co-sponsored a bipartisan road funding package directing fuel tax revenue to local roads, authored legislation to block local natural gas bans, and helped secure funding for police body cameras. He also serves on the House Finance Committee and is a founding member of the House Law Enforcement Caucus.

Frisbie’s campaign donors include DTE Energy, Consumers Energy, and the DeVos family. He has also received the endorsement of Right to Life of Michigan, an organization that supports abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest. Frisbie received a similar endorsement from the organization during his 2024 campaign.

109th District: Rep. Karl Bohnak vs Anna Aho Rink

Heading north, Michigan’s 109th House District includes Alger, Baraga, and Marquette counties and portions of the middle of the Upper Peninsula and is home to roughly 91,000 people. The district is currently represented by Republican Karl Bohnak, who won his seat in 2024 after defeating incumbent Democrat Jenn Hill by a mere three points.

Bohnak is the first Republican to represent Marquette County in the state House since the 1950s. The 73-year-old is also among the oldest members of the Michigan House, and serves as the vice chair of the Committee on Economic Competitiveness and sits on several other committees, including health policy.

While in office, Bohnak authored a bipartisan bill to expand telehealth access in rural areas by allowing licensed counselors to practice across state lines. However, his stance regarding reproductive freedom is another story. When asked during a public event whether he supported reproductive freedom after the closure of the UP’s only Planned Parenthood clinic, Bohnak said that he would not support a clinic that provides abortion care, and that he doesn’t support a “woman’s autonomy over her own body.”

Meanwhile, his opponent, Democrat Anna Aho Rink, spent 17 years working as a physician assistant at the Planned Parenthood Marquette Health Center until the facility closed in April 2025, after the Trump administration froze $35 million in federal Title X funding—leaving residents of the Upper Peninsula without an abortion provider and forcing patients to drive hours to the next nearest Planned Parenthood clinic in Traverse City.

Rink’s campaign is centered around healthcare access, public school funding, union jobs, housing affordability, and environmental protection.

To check your voter registration, see your ballot, or find your polling location, go to gandernewsroom.com/voter-registration.