Michigan's 2026 primary election is August 4. In the state's 7th Congressional District, three candidates are running in the Democratic primary, and the winner will face Republican incumbent Tom Barrett this fall. As part of Michigan Public's Election 2026 coverage, All Things Considered is featuring a series of interviews with all three Democratic candidates.
Candidate Bridget Brink spoke with All Things Considered host Rebecca Hector.
Rebecca Hector: What will your top three priorities be if you are elected?
Bridget Brink: First, I'd just like to say this fight is going to be about who will stand up to Trump and who will take on a broken Washington that works for corporate special interests while leaving Mid-Michigan families behind. And the truth is, I'm the only one who has stood up to Trump and will fight like hell to take on his chaos and corruption in Congress. My three priorities are the priorities of our district. First, making healthcare more affordable and accessible. Second, lowering skyrocketing costs that are affecting everyone in our district. And third, defending our democracy.
RH: Affordable Care Act premiums have increased significantly across the country this year. Costs of other health plans are also up. And then people also feel like those plans are covering less. So what, if anything, should Congress do differently to make health care affordable?
BB: First of all, we need to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which Tom Barrett voted against at the beginning of this year. Secondly, we need to reverse the cuts that happened with the big ugly bill last year. In our district alone, this will take 25,000 people off of Medicaid. We need to take on the insurance and the drug companies. We need to do all this and also create, I believe, a public option so that there's an affordable option on the marketplace for people to buy into who don't otherwise have insurance.
RH: Sticking with the affordability issue, people are worried about being able to find high quality, high paying work to pay for things. Do you have an example of legislation that you would propose or support to help bring and keep those kinds of jobs in the 7th District?
BB: We need to find ways where we're bringing back manufacturing and green technology and contributing to the economy of the future here. And we've got this amazing manufacturing base in Michigan, and we can use it. So we should do whatever we can to support good union paying jobs. And I think the key is working with local authorities, local businesses, and also with labor unions to do everything we can to bring back manufacturing here, and particularly in Mid-Michigan.
RH: One thing that we are seeing a lot of here in Michigan is AI companies wanting to move in and set up these data centers. Should the federal government change the way it regulates AI companies and data centers?
BB: My view is that local communities should be able to decide what's in their backyards, but they have to be able to do it with full transparency. I think part of the problem are these nondisclosure agreements which generate mistrust and concern, and rightfully so. I also believe anything coming in the community needs to mitigate any environmental impacts. And I believe that should data centers be proposed, that the corporations must be held fully accountable for all increases in costs. And finally, I'll just say that the total cost of all of this should be borne solely by the corporations.
RH: What about inflation? What should Congress's top priority be to bring down inflation and improve affordability?
BB: Well, one of the key things we're seeing out of President Trump and this administration is just chaos and corruption. And Tom Barrett, as our representative, as well as all the Republicans in Congress, are enabling this. This is one of the fundamental factors that underlies the economic instability that we're all feeling. And I'll give you a couple of examples. One, the reckless tariffs. These are even more reckless on our closest partner and our biggest trading partner for Michigan: Canada. Second thing, the war in Iran. Starting wars of choice is an enormous problem for us on many levels, including cost. And what that means for us is, number one, we are risking our most precious resource. That's our sons and daughters who are serving in uniform. Number two, the cost of this war. The last figure I saw was $28 billion. And number three, it's jacking up prices on everything, including at the pump, which is what we all see every single day.
RH: Another big theme with the current administration has been deportation. How should Congress respond to the administration's mass deportation efforts?
BB: Well, the way in which this is being conducted is completely against the law and, in my view, completely un-American. The way in which ICE has operated, not as an entity to protect Americans and protect us against transnational threats, this is something that we should all be extraordinarily worried about. So I believe we need to overhaul ICE. We also need to make sure that agents are not going on the streets and picking up people without proper rule of law and due process. People and American citizens are being killed and with no investigation, with no accountability. It's just completely unacceptable. We also need to improve our court processes. And finally, of course, we need to secure our border. This is an important element of our national security.
RH: Before we wrap up, is there anything else that you would like voters to know?
BB: I believe that if we want to change Washington, we have to change the kind of people that we're sending to Washington. This is a really tough race and a tough fight, but I'm no stranger to those. I've had to stand up to Putin in a war zone. I've had to fight cancer, and I've had to stand up to Trump. And in Congress, I'm going to fight like hell for mid Michigan and for the families that are here.
Editor's note: Some quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can play the full audio of this interview near the top of this page.
