Tomorrow, U.S. voters will head to the polls. At stake is party control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Currently in the U.S. House, Republicans have a 235-193 majority, with seven vacant seats. There are several key races Democrats are targeting in order to flip the House, with two of those being in Michigan. Both the 8^th Congressional District and the 11^th Congressional District are key in their path to majority.

Should the Democrats flip either, the landscape will look quite different over the next two years, as President Donald Trump will have to work with Democrats in order to achieve his agenda. However, should Republicans retain control it will make pushing forward their priorities a smoother path.

In the 8^th Congressional District, Congressman Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) is running for his third term in office. This district includes part of Oakland County and all of Livingston and Ingham Counties.  His challenger is Elissa Slotkin, who worked in intelligence, including stints at the CIA, the Defense Department, and the State Department. There are two third party candidates also in the race.  While the district has a 56% Republican base, in the past two Presidential election cycles the district only narrowly voted for the Republican candidate and voted for President Obama in 2008. Spending in this race has reached record numbers and as of mid-October was already the most expensive congressional race in the history of Michigan. Both parties are fighting hard for this seat as it is key to both sides of the aisle if they want to win a majority.c

Congressman Dave Trott (R-Birmingham) announced his retirement in September 2017, leaving open the 11^th Congressional seat, which includes portions of Wayne and Oakland County.  The primary race was full of candidates on both sides of the aisle, including state legislators and a former Congressman. Winning their respective primaries were Democratic candidate Haley Stevens and Republican candidate Lena Epstein. The race also includes two third-party candidates. This is another race that has experienced high campaign spending by both parties. Ms. Stevens gained name recognition when she served as Chief of Staff on the Auto Task Force under President Barack Obama. While Lena Epstein is recognized in Michigan as the Co-Chair of the Donald Trump Michigan Presidential Campaign. The district has a 55% Republican base, but it’s not exactly strong Trump territory and that could play a role in the results.

For your personal voter information, please visit https://webapps.sos.state.mi.us/MVIC/.

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