LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Michigan’s 1st congressional district covers the entire Upper Peninsula and most of northern Michigan, making it one of the largest U.S. House districts east of the Mississippi River. Republican Jack Bergman, who has held the seat since 2017, is seeking another term. Callie Barr, a Traverse City native, attorney and nonprofit advocate, is running for the Democratic nomination. Barr ran for the seat in 2024, becoming the first woman to win a major party’s nomination for the district in its history. Michigan’s primary is August 4, with early in-person voting beginning this weekend.
Q: Tell me a little about yourself: where you’re from and what made you decide to run for office.
I grew up in Traverse City and Cheboygan, graduated from Cheboygan High School. My husband also went to Cheboygan High School. 9/11 happened while we were in high school, and he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. We got married very young, 18 and 19 years old. I worked hard to get my teaching degree from Central Michigan University while we traveled all over the country. Matt came back from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress and a traumatic brain injury, and that really changed the course of our lives. We learned so much about what it means to serve something bigger than yourself, and what it means to love a country and love people in return, regardless of political affiliation, religion, or race. For us, that was so core to becoming an adult, and you can’t overemphasize what it means to go through that kind of trauma together and come out needing to serve something.
I segued into working in the nonprofit sector, helping my husband deal with his injuries, and worked for the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving, helping military families. That was my first real exposure to dealing with the federal government, not always fun. There’s a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of talking and not doing. What I found is that we didn’t have much of a voice for the enlisted class, a lot of families like mine, who grew up in poor communities, farm towns, or service country, and are left without much voice in the policies affecting their lives. I did a lot of advocacy work, then realized I needed more tools to be an effective advocate, so I went back to school and graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. I worked several years as a litigation attorney and helped build a pilot program offering free legal services to veterans.
During that whole time, we saw increasing polarization in our politics, this idea that we can’t trust each other, and it culminated for us in 2020. Jack Bergman, the incumbent in this district, leans heavily on being a lieutenant general in the Marine Corps, and he was one of the members who didn’t want to certify the election he himself was elected on. For Matt and me, that was such a betrayal. That planted the seed, and in 2024 I ran for this seat. At that point, the incumbent hadn’t had a public town hall in about eight years, and I was passionate about making sure our communities were seen.
In 2024, nationally, government was shifting to the right, on average, every county in the U.S. moved about 5 points further right, but that’s not what happened in our congressional race. We increased the raw vote count by 40,000 votes; our message was resonating even in a tough year. We were one of the only areas in Michigan that shifted politically to the left. The needs have only become more urgent today, with the cost of gas and groceries skyrocketing, the war involving Iran that Congress never approved, it begs the question, where’s “the general”? We’re seeing free speech stifled, and we’ve had our own lawmakers threatened for saying, simply, follow the law. It’s time for a change. Enough is enough. He voted to cut Medicaid and didn’t extend the ACA subsidies that help people afford insurance. Everywhere I go, people are priced out of health insurance, we’ve lost labor-and-delivery units in this district in the past year and a half, so there’s no access at all in some areas. I represent the oldest congressional district in Michigan, with a lot of seniors who need medical care, and with the Medicaid cuts, our hospitals are struggling and won’t survive if this continues. Even by 2032, Social Security will start running into shortfalls. We need representation that’s present, compassionate, and motivated to deliver for this district.
I’ve been really encouraged by the support we have, comparing 2024 to now. More people are seeing the urgency of the moment, people hurting just to afford basic necessities. My platform is about an affordable life, housing, healthcare, food, gas, groceries. These are basic needs, but when I think about the founding promises of this country, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the idea that everyone should get a shot, what does that mean today? This is a fight that truly matters as a people. I say a lot: this isn’t left and right, it’s up and down.
Q: This seat has been held by Jack Bergman for several terms. What’s your message to voters about why you’re the strongest candidate in this race?
Now we have a record to look at and ask, what has he done for us? It hasn’t been good. He lives in Louisiana, he’s absent, and we’re in a strange bind, because he doesn’t show up for us, but when he does show up, in a way you almost wish he wouldn’t, because he votes against our interests. Those healthcare cuts, cutting funding for our hospitals, supporting the war in Iran, which has driven up costs for all of us. He hasn’t been a friend to veterans, my husband is a veteran, and Bergman is pushing legislation that would let for-profit companies charge veterans to file benefits claims, which currently isn’t legal.
There are a lot of examples of how he’s not showing up, and I think people see that more clearly now because of how real the harms are. We’re ready for change, and we saw real gains in the last election cycle. We’re building on the strength of that campaign here in 2026 to have a real movement in a political environment where it’s possible to win an R+11 seat on the Democratic ticket. The strength of this campaign shows in our fundraising, in Q2 this cycle, we raised the most any Democrat has ever raised in a Q2 quarter in this district, and I don’t take corporate PAC money. This is a grassroots movement gaining momentum, and I’m proud of the support we have from labor unions, I’m the only candidate endorsed by labor: the NEA teachers’ union, Michigan Building Trades and Northern Michigan Building Trades, the UAW, UA Local 85, IBEW, and more. We’ve also been endorsed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Senator [Elissa] Slotkin has been an advocate for what we’re doing here. I’m really excited about bringing this seat back for the people of the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan.
Q: Housing: What federal role do you see in addressing housing access and affordability in northern Michigan and the U.P.?
We have a housing crisis, and while that’s true throughout the country, the need in the 1st district is unreal. We have a lot of short-term rentals, and companies that come in and buy up houses, driving up costs and making it hard for year-round residents to afford somewhere to live. On top of that, we just have a shortage of housing. There have been efforts to tackle this at the federal level, the 21st Century Housing Act was a bipartisan effort to start addressing it, which I think is a good thing. Governor Whitmer just signed a state measure limiting how many homes a single company can own, another initiative trying to address the problem.
In general, we need more housing, and that’s going to take a collaborative effort across levels of government, local, state, federal. On zoning, we want to make sure we can build homes, in some cases smaller, more affordable homes. Tariffs are driving up the cost of building materials, things like sinks and cabinets, which makes building housing more expensive. We need to give local developers access to capital and cut red tape so they can get to work in the communities where they live, because right now smaller developers are competing against large developers with grant writers who can access funding more easily. We want to empower local developers to help tackle housing. We should be open to innovation, we’ve seen 3D-printed housing, and manufactured housing is a lot better than it used to be. We need housing, period. We’re seeing this reflected in our homeless population too, we blame drug abuse or mental illness, but often people simply can’t find a place to live. I met a woman working 30 hours a week who’s living in a women’s shelter because there’s just nowhere else for her to go.
Q: Healthcare: Given rural hospital and labor-and-delivery closures and rising costs, what’s your approach to healthcare at the federal level?
We need universal healthcare. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege, you should have it from birth to death. I believe there should be a public option people can choose, something like Medicare, paired with private insurance reform at the same time, so insurers can’t issue nonsensical claims denials or use nondisclosure agreements that hide the true cost of things. We need to drive down the cost of healthcare, going after pharmacy benefit managers, and we should be able to negotiate drug prices. It’s not just about access, it’s also about driving down costs and tackling monopolies within the healthcare system.
In the immediate term, we need to make sure Medicaid stays funded and that ACA subsidies are extended. Right now, everywhere I go, people are being priced out. In this, the oldest congressional district in Michigan, if you’re 60 years old making about $60,000 a year, we saw average insurance premiums increase 240%. On a fixed income, that’s not sustainable, people are making impossible choices about covering one spouse, or just their children. So: universal healthcare with a public option, private insurance reform, and tackling the cost of healthcare, including going after big pharma.
Q: Energy: Where do you stand on keeping natural gas plants running versus expanding renewable energy in the U.P.?
We’re in a period of energy transition, and we want to keep moving toward cleaner energy, I think we’ve taken giant steps backward under the current administration. As you move through that transition, you want to be careful to keep energy reliable and affordable, particularly in the U.P., and make sure the cost doesn’t fall on our most vulnerable residents, because energy transition does have costs. That’s where the federal government needs to help provide incentives for the transition, along with workforce development. There’s a saying, something like a proverb, don’t quote me exactly, that if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. We want to make sure we’re doing this responsibly.
Q: Data centers: What role, if any, should the federal government play in regulating data center development?
We need regulation. We need to protect our water, we have a fifth of the world’s fresh water supply, and we have to protect the Great Lakes. The federal government has a role in protecting the Great Lakes, whether it’s data centers or invasive species. With DOGE cuts, for example, we lost staff working to keep sea lampreys out of the Great Lakes, and we lost two research stations, in Ontonagon and elsewhere, that study the health of our forests, we have 80,000 acres of forest in this district.
I also think we need to demand transparency. People don’t know a lot right now, and we need more information. I’ve seen other candidates propose rules of engagement so that when local communities are looking at proposals or plans, at the local or state level, they have a full understanding of the benefits and risks. That’s very important. Because the technology is innovating so quickly, we also need a plan for what happens if something becomes obsolete in a year or two, who’s responsible for cleanup? We have PFAS contamination sites in our district from prior industrial uses, and we need to be thoughtful not just about the start of a project but about what happens at the end of it, making sure our communities and our water are protected.
Q: Mining: What’s your stance on mining in the U.P., including the proposed project near the Porcupine Mountains?
With anything like this, you’re balancing a lot of things, I’d call it an “all of the above” approach that considers national security. We saw during COVID what happens when we don’t have access to materials. National security matters when we think about what we need for domestic industry, but so does the clean energy transition, something like copper, for instance, is used in batteries that power electric vehicles and in windmills, and that has to come from a mine. We have to be realistic about that. What that means is strong environmental protections, because this does bring jobs to areas, and we can do both: support responsible extraction and maintain protections for the people who live, work, and breathe here, at both the federal and state level.
Q: Defense: Would you support renewed investment in K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, and how would you work with U.P. Republicans on a project like this?
One thing I’ll note is that within the Republican Party in the Upper Peninsula, several lawmakers, state senator Ed McBroom and state representatives Karl Bohnak and Greg Markkanen, have pulled their endorsement of Jack Bergman, publicly, and called him a liar; that’s gotten coverage in the Detroit News, in part because they feel he isn’t representing the interests of people in the Upper Peninsula. I point that out because I don’t think there’s one clear bloc of thinking, particularly on how people view the current incumbent’s representation. I’d want to look more in-depth at specific proposals like this one, but in general, this is a seat for the people of the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan, not for Republicans or Democrats. With anything involving industry or jobs, it’s a balance: is it a benefit to people in this district, what are the long- and short-term consequences, what does it mean for our environment, and what guardrails do we have in place? If you look at some of our prior bases, we’re still doing cleanup there. We want to protect people here while also being responsible about national security, jobs, and industry.
Q: Give me your elevator pitch: what do you want Democrats, Republicans, and independents to know about you and your campaign?
I’m grateful for this conversation. One thing I want to emphasize is that we’re at a moment where we have to, at minimum, agree to continue to disagree sometimes, we can’t keep operating as if this is winner-take-all. That’s why I say this isn’t a seat for Republicans or Democrats, it’s a seat for the people of the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan. We have to put the oxygen mask on ourselves and be completely focused on respect for our Constitution, due process, and the electoral process. If we want any shot at an affordable life, it’s going to mean coming together and making sure our voice is heard. When I think about the founding of this country, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, you can’t have happiness or liberty if you don’t have the basic necessities of life, which is what we were promised at our founding, at a time when we now have some of the greatest income inequality in modern American history. When you have someone in office who has voted to cut food assistance for children, cut funding for hospitals, and give tax breaks to the wealthiest people who have ever existed, that’s not someone representing us. This campaign isn’t about me; it’s about we. It’s all hands on deck, fighting for a future for all of us. I’d ask people to join this movement. My website is calliebarrforcongress.com.
Q: Is there anything we haven’t covered that you want to make sure is included?
A couple things about this district: we’re the oldest congressional district in Michigan, and we need to take care of our seniors and elders. I worry a lot about our hospitals and access to care. We also have a very high veteran population, proportionally one of the highest in the country, and when I think about honoring service, I come back to the idea that before we’re anything else, we’re Americans first, and we can’t lose sight of that no matter what the news says, no matter the fear-mongering or hatred out there. At our core, loving a country means loving one another, and that’s the only way we move forward.
You can read more about Callie Barr on her website: callieforcongress.com
Barr is facing Democratic opponents Kyle Blomquist and Wayne Stiles in this primary. Republicans on the ballot are incumbent Congressman Jack Bergman, Justin Michal, and Matthew DenOtter.
WZMQ is working on collecting interviews with all primary candidates; the full voter guide is in progress.
