McCann to serve as first Democrat 4th district representative in more than 90 years

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. -- Thanks to a difference of nearly seven thousand votes, Democrat challenger Sean McCann will be the next representative for Michigan's fourth district, part of a blue wave in the House and Senate across the country.

McCann's victory is a historic one. This will be the first time that Michigan's fourth congressional district will be represented by a Democrat in more than 90 years.

"The need to bring people's costs down, bring this war in Iran to an end, end the chaotic tariff policy, and expand healthcare for people, and that's driven by the work I had done in the Michigan legislature, and the house and the senate, because we've been working here in Michigan in partnership with Governor Whitmer, and the legislature, to do exactly those things," said McCann.

Bill Huizenga held this position since 2011, usually winning with a comfortable margin, including a 12-point victory just two years ago.

Michigan redrew its congressional maps four years ago, and since then, Democrats have started to make up ground in some races.

Huizenga's predecessor, Fred Upton, who represented Michigan's fourth and then sixth districts from 1987 to 2023, tells ABC57 President Trump's endorsement of Huizenga may not have given him the boost he was hoping for.

"When you had to the fact that trump's not very popular, gas prices, groceries, tariffs, climate change, all the different issues that are out there, and trump, in our district, was 30-35 percent popular, in terms of his favorable/unfavorable factor, and when you tie yourself to trump, you don't have a lot of excuses, so it was going to be a close election," said Upton.

In addition, Upton says a recent quote from Trump may have left some Michigan voters with a bad taste in their mouth about voting Republican in the midterms.

"He said, 'I don't give a damn about high gas prices', well, that doesn't settle really well with the average Michigander, let me tell you. For the republicans who won, this was a huge undertone, that really swamped republicans, even when they were moderate republicans, with a pretty different record than what trump asked them to do," said Upton.

Now, McCann tells ABCC57 that even though it took a little longer to get the official victory confirmation, he feels he ran his campaign well and looks forward to delivering for his constituents.

"You build a campaign like you build a championship sports team, to peak at the right time, and obviously, more voters are engaged as we get closer to the election. I'm thrilled to have the ability to represent this area, obviously, things have shifted around over the decades, and some really big shoes that I'm excited to fill," said McCann.

McCann and all other newly elected members of the US House of Representatives will be sworn in on the first day of the new Congress, which usually takes place in early January.