State of Michigan
Gretchen DriskellEAST LANSING – Michigan House of Representatives Democratic candidate Gretchen Driskell spoke at a Feb. 3 event for James Madison College Kennedy Democrats.
“She is an incredibly optimistic and hardworking candidate who is very excited to bring about progressive change in Washington, D.C.,” said Jasper Martus, president of the Kennedy Democrats.
Driskell is running in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District to turn the traditionally Republican district blue by defeating incumbent Tim Walberg.
“Tim Walberg is basically your average Republican Congressperson,” said Trevor Jones, a Driskell campaign staffer. “Walberg isn’t creating any new policy. He just kind of sits back, floats along and votes with Trump 98% of the time.”
Jones, a recent University of Michigan graduate, previously worked on Driskell’s campaign as an intern and jumped at the opportunity to work with her again.
“Gretchen is just the perfect candidate,” Jones said. “She understands the district. She’s lived here for over 30 years. She wants to do actual good. She wants to go out there, meet people, improve things, and she doesn’t care about the congresswoman title.”
Driskell emphasized the importance of building a strong community. She said one of her main goals is to meet the people where they are and then build out from what people have in common.
“The way you flip a seat is getting to understand what the needs of the district are,” said Driskell.
One way that she plans on accomplishing this is by meeting the people halfway in policy decisions. Although she believes there is a need for gun reform, she is learning through rural constituents to find a compromise, recognizing the desire to keep guns for hunting and other reasons.
“Diverse points of view, if they are positive and productive, make things a lot better,” Driskell said.
With Michigan’s new same-day registration and no-reason absentee voting rules, the campaign is hoping to bring in more votes. She believes that these new voting practices in Michigan will help her secure the seat.
Congressional races are not the only ones Driskell has participated in. She is also the former mayor of Saline, Michigan, where she was the first woman to hold the position.
“I always love to hear from empowered women and how they got where they are,” said JMC Kennedy Democrats Vice President Hadley Lloyd.
Driskell wants to change the idea that a single vote doesn’t count. She said beliefs like this that lead to the election of representatives who do not enact policies that fix essential issues in Michigan.
One demographic that Driskell believes will be very beneficial to her campaign is younger voters. She said young people are very passionate about climate change, and they will get out to register and vote to see a change in that area.
Driskell recognizes the possibility of losing this election for the third time. She says she will not change who she is as a core person to win the district and will pursue her goal of helping Michigan people if she loses.
Driskell is running against fellow Democrats Samuel Branscum and Ryan William Hall in the Democratic primary on Aug. 4. If Driskell wins, she will go up against Walberg on Nov. 3.