John James | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S.HouseofRepresentatives from Michigan's 10th district | |
Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
Preceded by | Lisa McClain (redistricted) |
Personal details | |
Born | Southfield,Michigan,U.S. | June 8,1981
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Elizabeth James |
Children | 3 |
Education | |
Website | House website |
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Years of service | 2004–2012 |
Rank | Captain |
Unit | Aviation Branch |
Battles/wars | Iraq War |
Awards | Ranger Tab |
John Edward James (born June 8, 1981 [1] ) is an American businessman, combat veteran, and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 10th congressional district since 2023. [2] [3] A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018 and 2020. [4]
In 2022, James declared his candidacy in Michigan's redrawn 10th congressional district. He defeated Democratic nominee Carl Marlinga. James was elected to a second term in 2024.
James was born in Southfield, Michigan, in 1981 and grew up Baptist [5] in the Palmer Woods neighborhood of Detroit. He graduated from the Catholic Brother Rice High School in 1999. [6] He graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 2004, [6] [7] and served eight years in the Army, participating in multiple tours of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom as an AH-64 Apache pilot. [8] [9] Two of his West Point classmates are fellow congressmen Wesley Hunt and Pat Ryan. [10] He attended the Ranger School and became Ranger-tabbed as a captain. [11] [12]
James received a master's degree in supply chain management from Penn State University's Smeal College of Business [8] and an MBA from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. [13]
In 2012, James joined James Group International, where his father, John A. James, was the CEO. [14] James Group is a global supply chain management service company; James became its director of operations, and eventually became president of James Group International and CEO of its subsidiary, Renaissance Global Logistics. [15] [7] Renaissance Global, based in Detroit, was the recipient of a $1–2 million Paycheck Protection Program loan during the COVID-19 pandemic. [16]
James was named one of Detroit Business Journal's 30 in their 30s of 2012, and Michigan Chronicle 's 40 under 40 of 2014. [17] He served as a board member of the Michigan Council for Future Mobility, Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council and National Veteran Business Development Council. He serves on the Detroit Workforce Development Board. [18]
In September 2017, James entered the Republican primary for the 2018 United States Senate election in Michigan [19] in an attempt to unseat three-term incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow, as well as become Michigan's first African-American senator. Despite musician and Michigan native Kid Rock publicly toying with the idea of running for the seat for months, the primary came down to James and Grosse Pointe businessman and former Wayne County commissioner Sandy Pensler. [20] James was endorsed via Twitter by President Donald Trump on July 27, 2018, eleven days before the primary. [21] James won the nomination with 55% of the vote. [22]
On November 6, 2018, Stabenow defeated James, 52.3% to 45.8%. [23]
In late November 2018, Bloomberg News reported that Trump was considering nominating James to become the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, to replace Ambassador Nikki Haley, who previously announced that she was planning to leave the Trump administration by the end of 2018. James reportedly met at the White House with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. [24] He was ultimately bypassed for the position. Trump announced he would appoint Heather Nauert, the spokesperson for the United States Department of State and a former television reporter, to succeed Haley, [25] but Nauert was never nominated and announced in February 2019 that she was withdrawing from consideration. [26]
After Nauert's withdrawal, Trump again considered James for the ambassadorship, [27] but eventually nominated United States ambassador to Canada Kelly Knight Craft for the post. [28]
Because the election margin in the 2018 Senate race was smaller than expected, James became a front-runner for the Republican nomination to take on Michigan's other incumbent Democratic senator, Gary Peters, in the 2020 election. [29] [30]
As well as being recruited to take on Peters, it was reported in June 2019 that the National Republican Congressional Committee was recruiting James to challenge freshman Democratic U.S. representative Haley Stevens of Michigan's 11th congressional district. [31]
On June 6, 2019, James announced that he was seeking the Republican nomination in 2020 to take on Peters. [32] Michigan was one of two states in which an incumbent Democratic senator was seeking reelection during 2020 in a state won by Trump in 2016, the other being Alabama. [33] Although the Associated Press called the race for Peters on November 4, 2020, [4] James refused to concede, which Peters termed "pathetic." [34] James initially insisted that the election had not been administered fairly. [35] He established a joint legal fund with the Republican National Committee to challenge the results. [36] James claimed there was "ample evidence" for an investigation, but offered none. [37] He raised $2 million after the election as he sought to challenge the election results, and he unsuccessfully attempted to block certification of the results of the election, which he lost to Peters by 1.7% of the vote, which was much closer than originally projected. [38] James conceded on November 24 over social media, congratulating Peters. [39]
During his campaign, James pledged to give 5% of his campaign contributions to charity. The James fundraising committee reported about $46.12 million in total contributions for the 2020 election and has given more than $2.36 million to charities following through on his pledge. [40]
James won the Republican primary in the 2022 election in Michigan's 10th congressional district. [41] He defeated Democrat Carl Marlinga in the November general election. [42]
As of the 118th Congress, James is a member of the following committees. [43]
During his 2018 Senate campaign, James ran on a typical Republican platform, describing himself on his campaign website as "a pro-life, pro-second amendment, pro-business conservative." [44] He emphasized his desire to defund Planned Parenthood [44] and compared Roe v. Wade , the United States Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, to "genocide." [45] He opposes the death penalty, does not believe employers should be able to fire workers due to their sexual orientation, and opposes the legalization of recreational marijuana. [46]
James says he wants to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which he has called "a monstrosity." [47] According to The Detroit Free Press, James was careful not to take a position on the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking to immediately strike down the entire ACA as unconstitutional. [48] When pressed in a September 2020 interview, he said he was against the ACA lawsuit without a replacement plan in place, but did not criticize Republicans for pushing the lawsuit. [49]
James supported Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries. [46] He later became a Trump supporter, [46] and tweeted in 2018 that, if elected to the Senate, he would back Trump "2,000%." [50] [51] During his 2020 campaign, James accepted Trump's endorsement and campaigned alongside him. [52] [53] James has not been publicly critical of Trump or his actions. [48] During a meeting with black faith leaders, James was asked whether he disagreed with Trump on anything. James said, "Everything from cutting Great Lakes funding to 'shithole countries' to speaking ill of the dead. I mean, where do you want to start?" [54] In a leaked audio recording of a meeting with African American leaders in Michigan, James was asked why he hadn't publicly criticized Trump. He said he thought it was better to be silent in public in order to gain access to Trump. James said, "Donald Trump doesn't need less Black folks around him, he needs more," and that his goal was "achieving equity and equality for our people, not standing up on Twitter and condemning folks." [55] During the campaign, Democrats sought to tie James to Trump, while James has said his candidacy was not a referendum on Trump. [44]
During his 2020 campaign, James declined to take specific positions on a number of policy questions, including how the Social Security Trust Fund would be protected from the impact of a payroll tax cut, whether the Senate should vote to confirm a new Supreme Court justice to fill the vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg before or after the 2020 presidential election, and whether he thinks military bases named for Confederate generals should be renamed. [48] [56] [57]
James married his wife, Elizabeth, in 2012. [58] They have three sons. [59] When James was still dating Elizabeth, he had an encounter with police at a mall in a suburb of Detroit in which the officers drew their guns on him; James believes that if Elizabeth had not been beside him, he might have been killed. He has also expressed his fear of being killed whenever police pull him over for a traffic stop. [60]
James is a nondenominational Christian. [5] He lives in Shelby Charter Township, Michigan. [61]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | John James | 518,564 | 54.7 | |
Republican | Sandy Pensler | 429,885 | 45.3 | |
Republican | William White (write-in) | 57 | .01 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Debbie Stabenow (incumbent) | 2,214,478 | 52.26 | −6.54% | |
Republican | John James | 1,938,818 | 45.76 | +7.78% | |
Green | Marcia Squier | 40,204 | 0.95 | +0.35 | |
Constitution | George Huffman III | 27,251 | 0.64 | +0.08 | |
Natural Law | John Howard Wilhelm | 16,502 | 0.39 | +0.15 | |
Write-in | Total write-in | 18 | 0.00043 | −0.0014 | |
Majority | 275,660 | 6.5% | −14.32 | ||
Turnout | 4,237,231 | 100.0% | −8.9 | ||
Democratic hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gary Peters (incumbent) | 2,734,568 | 49.90% | −4.71% | |
Republican | John James | 2,642,233 | 48.22% | +6.89% | |
Constitution | Valerie Willis | 50,597 | 0.92% | −0.28% | |
Green | Marcia Squier | 39,217 | 0.72% | −0.12% | |
Natural Law | Doug Dern | 13,093 | 0.24% | N/A | |
Write-in | 12 | 0.00% | ±0.00% | ||
Total votes | 5,479,720 | 100.0% | |||
Democratic hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | John James | 159,202 | 48.80 | |
Democratic | Carl Marlinga | 157,602 | 48.31 | |
Working Class | Andrea Kirby | 5,905 | 1.81 | |
Libertarian | Mike Saliba | 3,524 | 1.08 | |
Write-in | 4 | 0.00 | ||
Total votes | 326,237 | 100.0 | ||
Republican gain from Democratic |
Deborah Ann Stabenow is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Michigan, a seat she has held since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she became the state's first female U.S. senator after winning the 2000 election.
Cornelis PietHoekstra is a Dutch-American politician who served as the United States Ambassador to the Netherlands from January 10, 2018, to January 17, 2021. President-Elect Trump announced that he will nominate him to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to Canada on November 20, 2024. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 2nd congressional district from 1993 to 2011.
The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan, United States, sometimes referred to as MIGOP.
Gary Charles Peters Sr. is an American lawyer, politician, and former military officer serving as the junior United States senator from Michigan since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Michigan's 14th congressional district, which included the eastern half of Detroit, the Grosse Pointes, Hamtramck, Southfield, and Pontiac, from 2009 to 2015.
The politics of Michigan, currently a true swing state in presidential elections, are divided. Until 2016, Michigan was considered part of the Democrats' "Blue Wall." Governors since the 1970s have alternated between the two parties, and statewide offices including attorney general, secretary of state, and senator have been held by members of both parties in varying proportions, though the state currently is represented by two Democratic U.S. Senators and Democrats hold every statewide office. The Democratic Party has the minimum majority of two seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the Michigan Legislature, though the GOP will take a 58-52 majority in the House in 2025. The state's congressional delegation is commonly split, with one party or the other typically holding a narrow majority: Democrats currently have a 7-6 majority, while there will be a 7-6 Republican majority in the upcoming 119th Congress beginning in January 2025.
Ronald N. Weiser is an American businessman and Republican Party donor and financier. Weiser founded a real estate company. He held fundraising roles for the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain. He was chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 2009–2011, 2017–2019, and 2021–2023. He was U.S. ambassador to Slovakia during Bush's first term (2001–2004), and was elected to the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan in 2016.
The 2012 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 6, 2012, alongside the 2012 United States presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Michigan's 11th congressional district election was held on November 6, 2012, for a seat in the 113th United States Congress alongside a presidential election, other elections to the United States House of Representatives and elections for class I of the United States Senate. In Michigan, all of the state's 14 congressional seats were at stake. Michigan's junior United States Senator Debbie Stabenow is running for re-election. Additionally, all 110 seats in the Michigan House of Representatives were at stake.
The 2014 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Michigan, concurrently with the election of the governor of Michigan, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Michigan took place on November 6, 2018, in order to elect the Class 1 U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan, concurrently with a gubernatorial election, as well as other elections to the U.S. House of Representatives. This was one of ten Democratic-held Senate seats up for election in a state that Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election.
The 2020 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent Michigan. It was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Paul Mitchell III was an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 10th congressional district from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party for most of his Congressional tenure, he left the party in December 2020, three weeks prior to his departure from Congress, and became an independent. In July 2019, Mitchell announced that he would not run for re-election in 2020 to spend more time with his family.
James E. Craig is an American law enforcement official who served as the chief of the Detroit Police Department from 2013 to 2021. He previously served as chief of the Cincinnati Police Department and Portland Police Department.
Elissa Blair Slotkin is an American politician who is a United States senator-elect from Michigan. She has served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 7th congressional district since 2019. The district, numbered as the 8th from 2019 to 2023, stretches from Lansing to the outer northern suburbs of Detroit. A member of the Democratic Party, Slotkin was previously a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and Department of Defense official.
The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the 14 U.S. representatives from the state of Michigan, one from each of the state's 14 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. Party primaries were held on August 4, 2020. The Michigan delegation prior to the election consisted of seven Democrats, six Republicans and one Libertarian. Unless otherwise indicated, the Cook Political Report rated the races as safe for the party of the incumbents.
The 2024 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 5, 2024, to elect a Class I member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Michigan. It was held concurrently with the 2024 United States presidential election, other elections to the U.S. Senate, elections to the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as various state and local elections. Democratic U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin narrowly defeated Republican former U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, in her bid to succeed Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow, who declined to seek a fifth term. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump carried Michigan on the same ballot, making Michigan one of only four states to split their tickets for president and Senate.
Hillary Jeanne Scholten is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 3rd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents Grand Rapids and much of the urban core of West Michigan, in a district once represented by former President Gerald Ford.
The 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Michigan. Incumbent Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer ran for re-election to a second term and faced former political commentator Tudor Dixon in the general election. Whitmer defeated Dixon by a margin of nearly 11 percentage points, a wider margin than polls indicated as well as a wider margin than Whitmer's first victory four years prior. Whitmer won independent voters by double-digit margins, which contributed to Dixon's defeat.
Peter James Meijer is an American politician and business analyst who served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 3rd congressional district from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Meijer was a candidate in the 2024 United States Senate election in Michigan to succeed Debbie Stabenow. He dropped out on April 26, 2024.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan were held on November 8, 2022, to elect representatives for the thirteen seats in Michigan. The deadline for candidates to file for the August 2 primary was April 19. The congressional makeup prior to the election was seven Democrats and seven Republicans. However, after the 2020 census, Michigan lost one congressional seat. Democrats won a majority of seats in the state for the first time since 2008. This can be partly attributed to the decrease in the number of districts, which resulted in two Republican incumbents – Bill Huizenga and Fred Upton – in the new 4th district. Redistricting also played a part in shifting partisan lean of the districts which favored the Democrats overall, including in the 3rd district, which Democrats were able to flip with a margin of victory of 13 points. That was made possible by a non-partisan citizens' commission drawing the new political boundaries instead of the Michigan legislature after a 2018 ballot proposal was approved.
Among James' top legislative priorities is creating an educational environment that gives parents and teachers more power, saying poor education outcomes are the root cause of many of the country's problems.