Callie Barr

Callie Barr (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Michigan's 1st Congressional District. She declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on August 4, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Callie Barr was born in Traverse City, Michigan. Her career experience includes working as an attorney and a high school English teacher.

Elections

2026

See also: Michigan's 1st Congressional District election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on August 4, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary.

General election for U.S. House Michigan District 1

Zebulon Featherly is running in the general election for U.S. House Michigan District 1 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Zebulon Featherly (Independent)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 1

Callie Barr, Kyle Blomquist, and Wayne Stiles are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 1 on August 4, 2026.

		Candidate
		Callie Barr
		Kyle Blomquist
		Wayne Stiles

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 1

Incumbent Jack Bergman and Justin Michal are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 1 on August 4, 2026.

		Candidate
		Jack Bergman
		Justin Michal

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2024

See also: Michigan's 1st Congressional District election, 2024

Michigan's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (August 6 Democratic primary)

Michigan's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (August 6 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Michigan District 1

Incumbent Jack Bergman defeated Callie Barr, Liz Hakola, and Andrew Gale in the general election for U.S. House Michigan District 1 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jack Bergman (R)	59.2	282,264
		Callie Barr (D)	37.9	180,937
	Submit photo	Liz Hakola (Working Class Party)	1.8	8,497
		Andrew Gale (L)	1.1	5,486

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 477,184
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Bensson Samuel (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 1

Callie Barr defeated Bob Lorinser in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 1 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Callie Barr	58.5	40,787
		Bob Lorinser	41.5	28,936

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 69,723
= 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 1

Incumbent Jack Bergman defeated Joshua Saul in the Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 1 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jack Bergman	79.3	92,498
		Joshua Saul	20.7	24,155

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 116,653
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• J.D. Wilson (R)

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Michigan District 1

Andrew Gale advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Michigan District 1 on July 20, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Andrew Gale (L)

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	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.
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Working Class Party convention

Working Class Party convention for U.S. House Michigan District 1

Liz Hakola advanced from the Working Class Party convention for U.S. House Michigan District 1 on June 23, 2024.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Liz Hakola (Working Class Party)

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	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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Barr in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Callie Barr completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Barr's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Callie Barr was born and raised in Traverse City and Cheboygan, with her family roots going back five generations. Callie graduated as Valedictorian from Cheboygan High School. After September 11, Callie’s future husband and high school sweetheart, Matt, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served two tours in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan. Callie moved with her husband five times in fifteen years, raising two girls and eventually caregiving for Matt after he suffered combat injuries, including post-traumatic stress and a traumatic brain injury. In 2010, Callie received her bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Central Michigan University. As a high school English teacher, Callie taught reading, writing, and critical thinking. However, faced with her husband’s significant injuries, and frustrated by the lack of support for active military members and returning veterans, Callie became involved in non-profit work advocating for military families. Motivated by the desire to advocate for policy changes at the federal level, Callie went on to receive a law degree, graduating with honors from the University of Michigan Law School. After graduation, Callie worked as a litigation attorney while also connecting veterans to free legal services. Callie believes we deserve a representative who shows up and, instead of playing to political extremes, actually gets things done for Upper and Northern Michigan.

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?

• Callie is committed to strengthening the middle class. As a mother of two, she has experienced the reality of rising prices on housing, groceries, education, childcare and gas. Inflation, price gouging, and stagnant wages have hit Northern and Upper Michigan hard. Her top priorities include bringing good-paying jobs back home, protecting workers’ rights, and supporting agriculture and small businesses in rural Michigan.
• Callie will fiercely uphold our democracy. Callie knows firsthand the sacrifices that service members, veterans, and their families make. Callie will have their backs and honor their sacrifices by ensuring our national security and the rights of all people to live their lives with dignity and opportunity.
• Callie will fight for a future for our kids that includes quality public education and childcare, skills and job training, accessible and affordable healthcare (including protection of women’s healthcare), and conservation of our natural resources for future generations.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

See above.

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

The most important characteristic of an elected official is her absolute committement to democracy and the democratic ideals that the United States was founded on.

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.

Campaign website

Barr’s campaign website stated the following:

“	Champion for a Strong Middle Class Callie is committed to strengthening the middle class and reducing the cost of goods and services for families in Upper and Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. As a mother of two, she experienced the reality of rising prices on housing, groceries, education, and gas. Inflation, price gouging, and stagnant wages affect all Michiganders and have hit Upper and Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula hard. In Congress, Callie will work to make sure we are not left behind or ignored. Her top priorities include supporting policies that grow our economy, bring good-paying jobs back home, support agriculture and small businesses in rural Michigan, and lowering costs to strengthen our middle class. Defend Our Democracy and Honor Our Veterans Callie knows firsthand the sacrifices that service members and their families make to protect our nation and our democracy. When Callie’s husband came home from Iraq and couldn’t get the care he needed, she fought for him and other military families with the nonprofit Blue Star Families and the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving. As an attorney, Callie continued her advocacy by representing veterans in matters before the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and providing free legal services to veterans. Callie will take care of our veterans while ensuring our national security and protecting against threats at home and abroad. Callie will fiercely uphold our democracy and is dedicated to protecting the rights of all people to live their lives with dignity and opportunity. This includes standing up for the rights of people with physical, mental, and intellectual disabilities and ensuring an equitable society where everyone has the freedom to speak, vote, choose, and thrive. Support Community Safety and Responsible Gun Ownership Callie knows that we want to live in safe communities and to do this, she supports fully funding our police officers, firefighters, and other first responders. As a gun owner and a mother, Callie also believes that when it comes to firearms, common sense makes a lot of sense. Callie believes in responsible gun ownership and respecting gun owners and our right to bear arms. Like many people in Upper and Northern Michigan, Callie grew up around guns in a family of hunters and sportsmen. Today, she lives in a gun-owning home and supports the Second Amendment and the right for law-abiding citizens to own a firearm. As a mom, Callie also knows that firearm-related injuries are now the number one killer of children in America and school shootings have become a national epidemic. It’s why she supports common sense solutions that are supported by a majority of Americans and Michiganders, including background checks, safe storage, and red flag laws to prevent firearm related injuries, school shootings, and domestic violence. Callie knows we can continue to respect the rights of responsible individuals while enacting measures that make sense. Expand and Strengthen Rural Broadband Internet Callie believes that investing in affordable broadband for our rural communities is an investment in our local economies, healthcare, small businesses, education, and so much more. We leave communities behind when we don’t ensure that they have the tools they need to thrive and compete in today’s economy. In Congress, Callie will join the efforts to close the digital divide and bring high-speed broadband to every corner of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Support Public Education and Access to Childcare Callie is a proud product of Michigan public schools. Following graduation from Cheboygan High School, she received her teaching degree from Central Michigan University. Today, her two children attend Michigan public schools. Callie believes that more than anything – teachers need support. We need to fully fund our public education system and trade schools so that teachers have the support they need in order for students to get the education that will help them succeed. This means trusting and paying our teachers, smaller class sizes, safer learning environments, and quality public schools no matter what zip code you live in. This includes access to early childhood education and affordable childcare. Parents also play a vital role in any child’s well being and parental involvement is the cornerstone to any student’s success. As a member of Congress, Callie will listen to teachers, parents, and students and make decisions based on what they know is best for our local communities. Take on Special Interest, Protect Medicare, Social Security, and Access to Healthcare Callie knows that healthcare should be a right and not a privilege for the wealthy and well connected. No family should go bankrupt because of a medical emergency. Right now, the medical care and prescription drugs that families and seniors need is simply out of reach for too many. And, access to mental health and other healthcare services can be hard to come by. Callie will stand up to big pharmaceutical and insurance companies to lower the cost of healthcare and expand access in rural Michigan. Callie will also protect access to healthcare, and, specifically, women’s healthcare. In Congress, Callie will advocate for all people to make their own medical decisions, free from political interference. Protecting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security is a top priority for Callie. As a military spouse and lawyer, Callie has seen firsthand the importance of ensuring that everyone has access to quality healthcare and a way to retire. She knows that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are lifelines for millions of seniors and families across Michigan, and she is committed to protecting it from efforts to privatize or turn it into a voucher program. Protect Our Great Lakes and Natural Resources The Great Lakes contain the largest body of freshwater in the world, and we must protect it. Callie grew up swimming in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, hiking in the woods, and her family fishes and hunts. She understands the importance of responsible environmental stewardship and care for our natural resources, not only because this is a beautiful place to live, but also because our economy and public health depend on it.	”
—Callie Barr’s campaign website (2024)

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Callie Barr campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Michigan District 1	Candidacy Declared primary	$184,594	$75,889
2024	U.S. House Michigan District 1	Lost general	$1,011,923	$1,004,282
Grand total			$1,196,517	$1,080,171
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2026 Elections

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Government

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External links

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Candidate

U.S. House Michigan District 1

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Footnotes

[show]

Michigan's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Gary Peters (D)

Elissa Slotkin (D)

Representatives

District 1

Jack Bergman (R)

District 2

John Moolenaar (R)

District 3

Hillary Scholten (D)

District 4

Bill Huizenga (R)

District 5

Tim Walberg (R)

District 6

Debbie Dingell (D)

District 7

Tom Barrett (R)

District 8

Kristen Rivet (D)

District 9

Lisa McClain (R)

District 10

John James (R)

District 11

Haley Stevens (D)

District 12

Rashida Tlaib (D)

District 13

Shri Thanedar (D)

Democratic Party (8)

Republican Party (7)