In visit to a vital battleground district, Johnson said he’s “bullish” on Republicans’ 2026 chances

Barrett is seeking reelection to Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, a swing district and key target for Democrats looking to build their ranks in the U.S. House. He faces William Lawrence, a Lansing-area housing advocate and founder of the Sunrise Movement, which advocates for climate justice.

Johnson told reporters he was “very bullish” on the outcome of the election, though he acknowledged Republicans would need to “defy history” as only two Presidents in the last 90 years had gained representation in the House and Senate during a mid-term election.

He touted Republicans’ accomplishments in Congress, including tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and efforts to cut back on regulations. He also said Republicans “have much stronger candidates.”

“The Democrat Party is almost in a stage of open civil war right now, the Marxist radical insurgent left is taking over the party, and I’m sad to say this is not our father’s Democratic Party,” Johnson said. “They are leaving the people behind. And so hardworking Americans of every stride, of every background, need to understand this is a high-stakes election.”

He contrasted Barrett, who he portrayed as the “common-sense” candidate, with Lawrence, a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America, who he accused of working to abolish the presidency and Senate to establish “one unicameral body of the House to run everything,” referencing a policy platform developed by the DSA’s Workers Deserve More platform.

“Tom Barrett and his DC allies Mike Johnson and Donald Trump cut healthcare for Michiganders, raised our gas and grocery bills, and gave tax breaks to data center developers while working families pay more,” Lawrence said in a statement. “They can lie about me all they want, but I’ll put my policies up against theirs any day – Medicare for All, stopping AI data centers, ending the senseless wars, and taking on the corporations and billionaires driving up costs for Michiganders.”

Johnson rejects Data Center Moratorium

Beginning in the primary and heading into the general election, Lawrence has made data centers a key issue for his campaign, calling for a 12-month federal moratorium on data centers in order to develop policies to protect natural resources and neighboring properties. 

When asked whether he would support the federal government taking over control of local zoning with regard to data centers, Johnson said it’s important that community concerns are taken into account, but said that a broad moratorium against data centers is “kind of a dangerous prospect right now.”

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“We’re in a race with China on that AI race, and if they’re able to leapfrog us in that race, it’s a very dangerous thing for everybody around the country,” Johnson told reporters, saying that corporations need to work with state and local officials to make sure they’re developing data centers in a responsible way. 

Barrett says it should be up to communities and their officials to determine whether they do or do not want a data center, with Barrett campaign strategist Jason Roe telling Michigan Advance “Tom wants to maintain their authority to do that and not turn it over to politicians in D.C.”

Lawrence’s camp has criticized Barrett’s data center stance, arguing it doesn’t reflect the reality that some communities don’t have the resources to fight back against data center developers. 

“Don’t buy this nonsense about local control as an alternative to a data center moratorium. Local control amounts to the right to get bulldozed, intimidated, bullied, and beaten by these trillion-dollar corporations,” Lawrence said in a video shared to social media. “In order to have real local control, we need to have a moratorium now.”