Who’s running against Haley Stevens in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District?

• U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens faces a Democratic primary challenger in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District
• Attorneys Charles Franke, Nick Somberg are competing for the Republican nomination
• The district includes much of Oakland County and has been reliably Democratic in recent elections

LANSING — Democratic U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens is facing a primary challenger in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, where two Republicans are also running for the chance to compete in the general election. 

The 11th Congressional District includes a wide swath of Oakland County, including the cities of Pontiac, Birmingham, Royal Oak, Troy, Ferndale and parts of Novi.

The district has a strong Democratic lean. Stevens, of Birmingham, won the 2022 general election by more than 22 percentage points after beating fellow 

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U.S. Rep. Andy Levin in a Democratic primary forced by redistricting. 

Local voters backed President Joe Biden over Donald Trump by roughly 20 points in 2020. Hillary Clinton carried the district by nearly 14 points in 2016.

Stevens is one of two Democrats who submitted required petition signatures  to qualify for the Aug. 6 primary ballot. Two Republicans will also compete to advance to the Nov. 5 general election. Third parties can nominate candidates at conventions later in the year. 

Democratic Candidates:

Ahmed Ghanim: A resident of Ferndale, Ghaninm is a medical worker and co-founder for Metro Detroit Political Action Network, an civil rights group focused on “combating oppression in Detroit and beyond.” He supports calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and is hoping to challenge Stevens on foreign policy grounds while swearing off “dark money,” according to information provided by his campaign.

Haley Stevens: Stevens worked in a manufacturing and research lab before first taking office in 2018. She also served under the Obama administration as chief of staff to the U.S. Auto Rescue Task force, a federal initiative aimed at saving General Motors and Chrysler from bankruptcy. In Congress, Stevens has been a reliable vote for President Joe Biden’s policy priorities. In particular, she’s touted her support for the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which allocated billions of dollars in federal funding toward the domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors. She serves as a ranking member of the U.S. House’s Subcommittee on Research and Technology. 

Republican candidates:

Charles Frangie: Frangie, who filed to run with a West Bloomfield address, did not appear to have a candidate website available as of late April. But according to his LinkedIn page, he is an attorney who was born in Lebanon and migrated to the U.S., attended the University of Mississippi and has been practicing law in Michigan since 1984.

Nicholas Somberg: Somberg holds a bachelor’s degree from Oakland University and law degree from Western Michigan University’s Cooley Law School. In his role as a criminal defense attorney, Somberg has argued a number of high profile cases including representing one of the Wolverine Watchmen charged as part of a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and a former Michigan GOP official charged with attempting to overturn Michigan’s 2020 presidential election in favor of former President Donald Trump.