Four Democrats, one Republican vie for Michigan's 11th congressional district
Michigan's 11th congressional district will have an open seat after Congresswoman Haley Stevens announced her bid in the U.S. Senate race.
What started as a crowded list of candidates has been reduced to one Republican, Troy Mayor Ethan Baker, running unopposed and four Democrats — state Sen. Jeremy Moss, attorney Aisha Farooqi, John Paul Torres and former engineer Don Ufford — competing for victory in the primary election.
Baker is the sole GOP candidate after three people were disqualified or withdrew from the race. The winner of the Democratic primary will face off against Baker in November.
The 11th congressional district encompasses Oakland County and includes major cities such as Auburn Hills, Ferndale, Pontiac, Royal Oak, Troy, West Bloomfield Township and Wixom.
Meanwhile, Stevens is up against former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic primary for Senate. The winner of that primary will face Republican Mike Rogers in November. The seat is being vacated by Sen. Gary Peters.
The candidates
Baker served on the Troy City Council for four years before being elected mayor in 2019. He was reelected mayor in 2023. He previously worked as a special assistant to former President Ronald Regan in California following his presidency.
Before the Michigan Legislature, Moss was elected to the Southfield City Council in 2011, becoming the youngest person elected. Afterward, he was elected to the state House in 2014, where he served as the Democratic Caucus Whip. He was then elected to the Michigan Senate in 2018.
Farooqi earned a degree from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. In May 2025, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed Farooqi to the state Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board.
Torres, a Juvenile and Probate Court administrator, is a former United States Congressional Fellow. He currently serves on the Waterford School District Board of Education.
Ufford served as the director of Global Vehicle Engineering at Ford during the development of the inaugural Ford Escape and the new Mustang and F-150 models. In 2020, he started working in the government sector, serving at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Commerce and the Made in America Office at the Office of Management and Budget.
Key issues
In his official campaign announcement, Baker said issues such as mental and physical health, cost of living, jobs, economy and infrastructure "need to be addressed now and are too important to be handled through division alone."
Moss says he is focused on issues such as protecting voting rights, improving gun safety, lowering healthcare costs, combating political corruption and supporting the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which would allow workers to unionize.
Some of Farooqi's key issues include childcare, cost of living, gun safety, civil rights and immigration.
Torres's campaign prioritizes topics such as women's issues, healthcare, ending the war in Iran and abolishing ICE.
Meanwhile, Ufford's campaign focus includes building a stronger Michigan and fighting what he calls "reckless tariffs and healthcare cuts."