Michigan's 6th Congressional District election, 2024

	2026 → ← 2022
Michigan's 6th Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: April 23, 2024
	Primary: August 6, 2024; General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Voting in Michigan
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic; DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Democratic; Inside Elections: Solid Democratic; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
	Michigan's 6th Congressional District; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th; Michigan elections, 2024; U.S. Congress elections, 2024; U.S. Senate elections, 2024; U.S. House elections, 2024; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

Michigan 2024 elections

U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State executive offices • State House • Special state legislative • Supreme court • Appellate courts • Local ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Recalls • All other local • How to run for office

All U.S. House districts, including the 6th Congressional District of Michigan, held elections in 2024. The general election was November 5, 2024. The primary was August 6, 2024. The filing deadline was April 23, 2024. The outcome of this race affected the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 119th Congress. All 435 House districts were up for election.

At the time of the election, Republicans held a 220-212 majority with three vacancies.^[1] As a result of the election, Republicans retained control of the U.S. House, winning 220 seats to Democrats' 215.^[2] To read more about the 2024 U.S. House elections, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Democratic candidate won 65.9%-34.1%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 62.7%-36.0%.^[3]

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Michigan District 6

Incumbent Debbie Dingell defeated Heather Smiley, Clyde Shabazz, and Bill Krebaum in the general election for U.S. House Michigan District 6 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Debbie Dingell (D)	62.0	281,162
	Heather Smiley (R)	35.0	158,658
	Clyde Shabazz (G)	1.8	7,963
	Bill Krebaum (L)	1.2	5,523

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 453,306
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 6

Incumbent Debbie Dingell advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 6 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Debbie Dingell	100.0	101,234

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 101,234
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 6

Heather Smiley advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 6 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Heather Smiley	100.0	37,178

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 37,178
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Green convention

Green convention for U.S. House Michigan District 6

Clyde Shabazz advanced from the Green convention for U.S. House Michigan District 6 on July 27, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Clyde Shabazz (G)

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Michigan District 6

Bill Krebaum advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Michigan District 6 on July 20, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Bill Krebaum (L)

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Bill Krebaum

Party: Libertarian Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "I’m a seventy year-old barber shop owner in Ann Arbor who is concerned about the future of our country. It seems that both major parties are controlled by powerful interests that President Eisenhower referred to as the “military-industrial complex.” In his farewell address to the nation, he warned that MIC had the potential to corrupt many of our institutions, including our universities. I’m running for congress in order to give 6th District voters a chance to support a candidate who is not controlled by the agenda set by the military-industrial complex. Their agenda calls for continual war and threats of war."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

The American people must take back control of government from the special interests by electing representatives who will abide by the Constitution of the United States. Our government has become too big, too intrusive, too expensive. The present system functions to transfer wealth and power from the working and middle classes to the ruling elite.

We must dismantle the American Empire and restore the American Republic. We must heed George Washington’s admonition to avoid “entangling alliances.” We need to close the hundreds of U.S. military bases around the world and bring our troops home. Continual wars and threats of war enrich the big corporate interests and impoverish the people.

Congress must balance the federal budget. The federal debt is now around $35 TRILLION, and growing by the day. How can we, in good conscience, consign our children and grandchildren to the status of serfs perpetually indebted to big financial interests? We must send representatives to Congress who will have the gumption to make drastic and painful cuts in the budget. Foreign aid should be suspended until we have a balanced budget. This also means no more financial or military aid to Ukraine, Israel or Taiwan.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Michigan District 6 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Michigan

Election information in Michigan: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 21, 2024
Online: Oct. 21, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Nov. 4, 2024
By mail: Received by Nov. 1, 2024
Online: Nov. 1, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Received by Nov. 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Oct. 26, 2024 to Nov. 3, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (EST/CST)

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Bill Krebaum (L)

The American people must take back control of government from the special interests by electing representatives who will abide by the Constitution of the United States. Our government has become too big, too intrusive, too expensive. The present system functions to transfer wealth and power from the working and middle classes to the ruling elite.

We must dismantle the American Empire and restore the American Republic. We must heed George Washington’s admonition to avoid “entangling alliances.” We need to close the hundreds of U.S. military bases around the world and bring our troops home. Continual wars and threats of war enrich the big corporate interests and impoverish the people.

Congress must balance the federal budget. The federal debt is now around $35 TRILLION, and growing by the day. How can we, in good conscience, consign our children and grandchildren to the status of serfs perpetually indebted to big financial interests? We must send representatives to Congress who will have the gumption to make drastic and painful cuts in the budget. Foreign aid should be suspended until we have a balanced budget. This also means no more financial or military aid to Ukraine, Israel or Taiwan.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Bill Krebaum (L)

Defund the drug cartels by legalizing recreational drugs. Address problems of drug abuse and addiction through education and rehabilitation, not through criminal prosecution. Start by repealing the federal ban on cannabis.

Corruption in all levels of government is growing. We must demand truth, transparency and accountability from officials. We need to strengthen the role of independent inspectors general in rooting out corruption and waste in government.

Congress must take back its constitutional responsibility for the U.S monetary system from the Federal Reserve System, which is a central bank owned and operated by private interests, not for the benefit of the American people.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Bill Krebaum (L)

I would recommend “The Road to Serfdom,” by Friedrich von Hayek and “Economics in One Lesson,” by Henry Hazlitt.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Bill Krebaum (L)

The courage to speak candidly and honestly even when expressing controversial views. In America, the people are supposed to be sovereign, and they cannot make intelligent decisions if they are being lied to and misled.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Bill Krebaum (L)

To act for the benefit of society as a whole, not just for the benefit of the rich and powerful.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Bill Krebaum (L)

I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, 1962 when I was nine years old. I remember how the grownups were worried about a possible nuclear war. Fortunately, President Kennedy had the courage to stand up to the warmongers in the government and found the way to a peaceful resolution. As the present-day warmongers push us toward the brink of World War III, we need to push back and demand peace. So-called enemies like Russia, China and Iran do not threaten the interests of the American people, but only the the international financial and political empire of our privileged ruling elite.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Bill Krebaum (L)

I was a busboy in a local restaurant while in high school. I learned about customer service and attention to detail.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Bill Krebaum (L)

Term limits might be helpful, but wouldn’t necessarily be a cure-all.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

Bill Krebaum (L)

This where the real power of the House lies. The house should vote on budget items individually, not on monstrous omnibus bills.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Bill Krebaum (L)

We need complete transparency and real accountability. We should have a “commission of truth and reconciliation,” similar to that set up in South Africa after the fall the apartheid government. The main goal should be to reveal the truth, so that healing of the body politic can take place, rather than merely assigning blame and pursuing retribution

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Debbie Dingell	Democratic Party	$1,600,750	$1,655,632	$342,923	As of December 31, 2024
Heather Smiley	Republican Party	$3,436	$3,350	$86	As of December 31, 2024
Clyde Shabazz	Green Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Bill Krebaum	Libertarian Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. * Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[4]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Race ratings: Michigan's 6th Congressional District election, 2024
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2024	October 29, 2024	October 22, 2024	October 15, 2024
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Michigan in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Michigan, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Michigan	U.S. House	Democratic or Republican	1,000-2,000	N/A	4/23/2024	Source
Michigan	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	3,000-6,000	N/A	7/18/2024	Source

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

District map

Competitiveness
Presidential elections

State party control

Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Michigan.

Michigan U.S. Senate competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	1	1	1	6	2	1	1	100.0%	0	N/A
2020	1	1	0	2	2	0	0	0.0%	0	N/A
2018	1	1	0	3	2	0	1	50.0%	0	N/A
2014	1	1	1	2	2	0	0	0.0%	0	N/A

U.S. House

Michigan U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	13	13	2	43	26	6	6	46.2%	5	45.5%
2022	13	13	2	53	26	4	9	50.0%	7	58.3%
2020	14	14	1	55	28	7	8	53.6%	4	33.3%
2018	14	14	2	51	28	9	1	35.7%	1	9.1%
2016	14	14	2	38	28	3	3	21.4%	3	25.0%
2014	14	14	4	48	28	5	8	46.4%	6	60.0%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Michigan in 2024. Information below was calculated on June 5, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Forty-three candidates ran for Michigan’s 13 U.S. House districts, including 23 Democrats and 20 Republicans. That’s an average of 3.3 candidates per district.

The 43 candidates who ran in Michigan in 2024 was the fewest number of candidates since 2016, when 38 candidates ran.

The 7th and 8th Congressional Districts were open in 2024. Between 2014 and 2022, an average of 2.2 districts were open per year.

Incumbent Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-07) did not run for re-election because she ran for the U.S. Senate. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-08) retired from public office.

Six candidates—three Democrats and three Republicans—ran for the open 8th Congressional District, the most candidates who ran for a seat in Michigan in 2024.

Twelve primaries—six Democratic and six Republican—were contested in 2024. Between 2014 and 2022, an average of 11.4 primaries were contested per year.

Five incumbents—three Democrats and two Republicans—were in contested primaries in 2024. Between 2014 and 2022, an average of 4.2 incumbents ran in contested primaries.

Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all 13 districts, meaning no seats were guaranteed to either party.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+11. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 11 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Michigan's 6th the 125th most Democratic district nationally.^[8]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Michigan's 6th based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
62.7%	36.0%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.^[9] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
63.4	34.9	R+28.5

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Michigan, 2020

Michigan presidential election results (1900-2020)

13 Democratic wins
17 Republican wins
1 other win

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	R	R	R	P^[10]	R	R	R	R	D	D	R	D	R	R	R	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	D

See also: Party control of Michigan state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Michigan's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Michigan
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	6	8
Republican	0	7	7
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	13	15

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Michigan's top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Michigan, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Gretchen Whitmer
Lieutenant Governor	Garlin Gilchrist II
Secretary of State	Jocelyn Benson
Attorney General	Dana Nessel

State legislature

Michigan State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	20
	Republican Party	18
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		38

Michigan House of Representatives

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	54
	Republican Party	54
	Other	0
	Vacancies	2
Total		110

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Michigan Party Control: 1992-2024
Two years of Democratic trifectas • Fourteen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D
House	D	S	S	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2018.