COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Branch County Democratic Party has officially endorsed Gretchen Driskell who is running for a third time to unseat incumbent Representative Tim Walberg in Michigan’s Seventh Congressional District.
In a statement released by the party on Thursday, the Branch County Democrats believe that “Driskell will bring about the needed change in Branch County’s representation in the U.S. Congress.”
They say the social and economic well-being of Branch County has changed little in the years that Walberg has been in Congress.
“He has been personally absent from the people he represents in Branch County and on the few occasions when we have had the opportunity to meet with him, he and his staff have so controlled the circumstances that it has been difficult if not impossible to conduct a meaningful dialogue in order to communicate the needs and desires of constituents here in Branch County.”
Driskell has served as the Mayor of Saline and as a State Representative in the 52nd District.
Walberg defeated her by nearly 50,000 votes in 2016 when he won 55 percent of the vote compared to Driskell’s 40 percent. Libertarian Ken Proctor had five percent of the vote.
While there were 39,000 less votes in the mid term election of 2018, Walberg’s margin of victory was smaller as he won by just over 22,000 votes. But his percentage held nearly steady at 54 percent. With no Liberterian on the ballot, Driskell got 46 percent of the 2018 vote.
