Michigan's+7th+District+House+Race

October 14 - 21: Prior to this week, Republican Tim Walberg has been predicted to win the seat for the 7th District of Michigan. However, over the course of this week, Democrat Mark Schauer seems to be gaining more and more support. The Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers, the Blue Green Alliance, started sending out mailings to 40,000 households against Schauer's opponent, Walberg. The vote of independents and even some Republicans looks to be leaning towards Schauer; many view Walberg to be 'too extreme'. A poll that was taken this week shows Scahuer at 45% and Walberg at 39%. 9% are still undecided. Tim Walberg only needs 7% more to beat Schauer. There are still almost two weeks left. This election could go either way.
 * [|Article: Recap on 7th Congressional Debate]
 * [|Article: Deep political splits fuel heated race in 7th Congressional District]
 * [|Tim Walberg's response to Schauer's TV Ad]
 * [|Article: Anti-Walberg mailings hit 7th district]
 * [|Article: Independents help Schauer pull ahead]
 * [|Poll: Voters to split ticket between Snyder and Schauer]

October 22 - 28: At the beginning of the week, Schauer was still in the lead. He was seven points ahead in the polls - 50% to Walberg's 43%. Although the percentages increased from last week, the gap between the two candidates has decreased by two points. Walberg is gaining on Schauer's lead. Despite the articles and polls that show Schauer ahead, one poll released later in the week shows Walberg with a thirteen point lead. It's a little hard to believe this poll after all of the other polls found in the past two weeks show Schauer in the lead. Even with the gap between them lessening, I find it unlikely that Walberg can get so far ahead of Schauer in such a short time period. We'll just have to wait until next week to see who wins the seat!
 * [|Poll: Schauer Has Lead Over Walberg]
 * [|Article: Expensive House race could go Democrats' way]
 * [|Ad: against Tim Walberg]
 * [|Article: TV ad uses altered photo to blast U.S. Rep. Schauer]
 * [|Article: Congressional landscape presents contrasts]
 * [|Article: Walberg touts Republican group's poll that shows him ahead]

October 29 - November 2: At this point, it's a toss up. Polls the week before have shown both candidates to be in the lead! This week, Walberg is endorsed by a local newspaper, The Jackson Citizen Patriot, and Schauer writes his own article for the guest opinion section of a Hillsdale newpaper. PBS did a ten minute special on this heated race, interviewing residents of the 7th District. The news exclusive showed that many voters are not looking for the right party, just the right candidate. Many also do not appreciate any type of 'mudslinging', just an honest, sincere person who will make the most of a tough job. It seems the unlikely poll taken from last week was true in at least one respect - Tim Walberg was in the lead. When 72% of the votes are in on Election Night, Walberg has 52% to Schauer's 44%. At this point Walberg declared victory, and Schauer gave his concession speech not long after that. Tim Walberg ended up winning this election with 50% of the vote; that's 10,734 votes more than Mark Schauer. What a race!
 * [|Video: PBS Newshour's look at 7th District race]
 * [|Article: Guest Opinion by Mark Schauer]
 * [|Article: Schauer to supporters 'We understand what's at stake']
 * [|Article: Jackson Citizen Patriot endorses Walberg]
 * [|Video: Walberg projected to beat Schauer]
 * [|Video: Mark Schauer's concession speech]
 * [|Article: Republican Tim Walberg looking forward to returning to Congress]