A fifth Democrat has joined the race to flip what could be a competitive congressional district in southeast Michigan.
Eric Chung, of Sterling Heights, announced his bid for Michigan's 10th Congressional District Wednesday. He joins four other candidates already in the race to replace John James, who is running for governor in 2026.
Chung said he has lived the American dream. He’s the son of immigrants who left Vietnam. His dad was an auto worker in Macomb County. Chung said worked his way through Michigan public schools and has worked as both a teacher and an attorney after graduating from Harvard College and Yale Law School. He worked as a lawyer at the U.S. Commerce Department on the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act. Now, he’s hoping to make a change to a more political role.
“I'm running for Congress because I love our country, and I love Michigan, and I want to see it move forward, not backwards,” Chung told Michigan Public.
After working in all three branches of government, Chung said, he is focusing his campaign on lowering prices, protecting programs like Social Security, Medicaid, and public education, and creating more economic opportunities.
“I ultimately went to law school and became a lawyer because I want to make sure that the deck is not stacked against any of my students, any children, any families — everyone in this country should be able to get ahead if they work hard,” Chung said. “And we need to create an economy where everyone has that possibility to really reach the American dream like the one I experienced.”
Chung said his goals as a potential U.S. representative include promoting education reform that allows education to be individualized to students and their needs, rather than a “one-size-fits-all system.” He also hopes to see more workforce development and apprenticeships for students to prepare them for a career.
Another goal for his campaign is to keep those in power accountable to the constitution, said Chung. “I'm going to be focused on making sure that we have a government that does follow the constitution and the rule of law, that ultimately we don't have one person or one party unchecked,” he said.
Michigan’s 10th Congressional District includes portions of Macomb and Oakland counties.
