Gary Spagnuolo usually votes for Republicans, but this year he plans to support Elissa Slotkin, the Democrat seeking a third term in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District.
Steven O’Shaugnessey is moving in the opposite direction. Even though he is a Republican, he voted for Slotkin two years ago. But this year, he cast an absentee ballot for GOP challenger Tom Barrett, 41, an Army veteran and state senator who faces Slotkin in a redrawn district.
Voters who are shifting away from past voting patterns, like Spagnuolo and O’Shaugnessey, could tip the results in the tight congressional race and three others that are competitive in Michigan — the open 3rd, where Democrat Hillary Scholten and Republican John Gibbs are vying; the 8th, where Democratic incumbent Dan Kildee is challenged by Republican Paul Junge; and the open 10th, where Republican John James faces Democrat Carl Marlinga.
