Our earlier post on McCann is here.
McCann’s win, called by the AP at 1:13 pm this afternoon, is a major upset in a region of Southwest Michigan that’s long been represented by Republicans. Democrats last represented the Kalamazoo area in Congress through Howard Wolpe, who left office in 1993.
The unofficial results published by the New York Times show McCann earning 50.1% of the vote to Republican Bill Huizenga’s 48.3%. MI-4 overlaps with several counties, including Kalamazoo, Ottawa, Allegan, Van Buren, Calhoun, and Berrien. The region is home to the service areas of the Gun Lake Tribe, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, and the Pokagon Band.
McCann issued the following statement:
Even though we were told over and over that this race wasn’t winnable, we built a big and broad coalition of people from every corner of this district, every political party, who believe that our government should work for the people and not the powerful. This victory belongs to the people all across Southwest Michigan, and it’s the people that I will work every day to serve – to take on the corruption and policies shortchanging our families, and work with anyone to make life better and protect the American Dream for our children.
