It’s true that Carl Marlinga doesn’t have name recognition. Despite running for a hugely competitive seat, in a district where he lives and has been a judge for 30 years, not a single one of his yard signs is visible on a day spent following campaigners in Sterling Heights, Michigan. And when you ask him why he isn’t polling as well as his opponent, John James – the Trump-backed candidate who lost two recent campaigns for US Senate and doesn’t even live in the district – Marlinga says it himself.
“It’s name recognition, that’s what my pollsters are telling me,” Marlinga replies at a packed campaign event on an inconsiderately cold October day.
