Welcome is excited to share the addition of Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet to our Win The Middle slate as one of our endorsed candidates for the 2026 election cycle. Rep. McDonald Rivet is a proven fighter deeply rooted in her community who exemplifies the type of leadership we need in Congress.
A dedicated public servant and advocate for working families, KMR (as she has become known) has consistently demonstrated the values, experience, and vision needed to represent Michiganders in Congress.
Why Kristen Can Win
Rep. McDonald Rivet wins because she focuses on the “real things” that matter most to voters. When she first ran for Congress in the 2024 cycle, she consistently focused on the kitchen table issues that were of greatest concern to the working families in her district. Things like cutting taxes, lowering costs, and keeping communities safe throughout the district were all consistent talking points from Rep. McDonald Rivet both on the campaign trail and in her ads.
KMR understands the challenges her community faces because she has shared many of them herself. Rep. McDonald Rivet and her husband raised six kids, so she talks about how much that costs (for instance, how much milk her teenage son drinks). She honestly calls out that “most politicians are full of s***.” And she talks often about her work as a public servant in Michigan to make childcare more affordable and to lower drug and housing costs. KMR not only knows the issues that matter most to voters but has consistently provided the leadership needed to address them. Before she was elected to Congress, KMR served as Executive Director of Michigan Head Start and in the Michigan State Senate, where she was a driving force in the passage of the Working Families Tax Credit, which created the largest tax cut for working families in Michigan history.
In Congress, she’s already proven she’s ready to work with anyone – regardless of Party affiliation – to deliver results for her constituents. In her first 100 days as a Member of Congress, Rep. McDonald Rivet introduced a whopping 51 bills, nearly 70% of them with bipartisan support, and most geared toward lowering costs, creating jobs, and keeping communities safe. She even passed one out of the House! She was also elected to a leadership position in the New Democrat Coalition, further reinforcing her center-left credentials.
KMR’s pragmatic approach to politics helped propel her to a big win in the 2024 election cycle. While Harris lost Michigan’s 8th congressional district by nearly 2 points, Rep. McDonald Rivet won by 6.7, becoming 1 of just 13 Democrats to represent a Trump-won district. Notably, her Split Ticket WAR score, which aims to measure candidate quality by comparing outcomes to baseline predictions, showed a D+8.6 WAR, making her the highest over-performing, winning Democrat in the country in 2024. Analysts estimate that without her candidacy, a generic Democrat likely would have lost the district.
The District
Michigan’s 8th congressional district is in what’s considered “mid-Michigan.” It is anchored by Flint in the southern part of the district, and the Tri-Cities area in the North (made up of Saginaw, Midland, and Bay City).
Voters in the 8th are independent-minded and not beholden to either party. In 2024, this district voted for Trump by a margin of 2 points, Elissa Slotkin by 1 point, and Kristen McDonald Rivet by nearly 7 points. In 2020, Biden won the district by 2 points, meaning the district swung right by 4 points between the two presidential elections.
This back and forth and split-ticket voting is reflected in Cook Political Report’s analysis of the district. Not only does it have a PVI of R+1, but Cook has also notably rated Michigan’s 8th as the median congressional district for the entire country: There are exactly 217 districts that are rated more Democratic and 217 districts that are rated as more Republican than this district, making M-08 the tipping point district for control of the House.
We know Rep. McDonald Rivet can Win the Middle because she has quite literally won the middle by winning in this district. And her seat could well be the race that decides control of the House in 2026.
Support Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet
Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet is someone Michiganders can count on to work hard for working families, strengthen communities, and deliver results. We are proud to support her in her bid for re-election.
This district is a top target by the NRCC. Already, GOP super PACs have spent nearly $1 million in ads attacking KMR, buying more television in this district than against any House Democrat in the country. Given the close nature of this district, we expect this to continue, with the Republican nominee and outside groups slated to spend tens of millions of dollars to flip this seat.
We need Rep. McDonald Rivet back in Congress in 2026 to flip the House and continue delivering results and finding solutions for the things that matter to voters in Michigan and across the country.
“I’ll never forget who I’m fighting for, or where I came from.”
- Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet
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