GOP aims to toss freshman Reps. Schauer, Peters

Republicans appear to have chosen two veteran challengers Tuesday to take on well-funded Democratic freshmen for Michigan's 7th and 9th district congressional seats.

Former U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, easily won the opportunity to try to retake the south-central Michigan seat he once held in the 7th District, where Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, hopes to pull out another victory.

And in Michigan's 9th District, in central and eastern Oakland County, former state Rep. Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski, who ran and lost to U.S. Sen. Carl Levin in 2002, had a comfortable lead over three others in the GOP primary to challenge Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Hills.

Schauer and Peters slid into office as part of the Obama tide in 2008. But two years later, they find themselves in defense mode, with significant anti-incumbent, conservative backlash threatening to turn their seats across the aisle once again.

Democrats are expected to pump money and effort into keeping those two seats, and political experts rate the two races as the hottest in the state.

Cook Political Report has deemed Schauer's race a "toss-up," while Peters' was most recently called "likely Democratic" by the nonpartisan election forecaster.

Bill Ballenger, publisher of the nonpartisan Inside Michigan Politics newsletter, said the November matchups are still very much up in the air.

"The two Democrats have money," he said, "and their challengers have experience campaigning."

The Republican candidates have focused on the Democrat incumbents' congressional voting records, criticizing their decisions on health care reform and other issues.

The two Democrats have taken steps to establish themselves as moderates, in hopes of appealing to independents and some fringe Republicans.

Schauer has joined other members of Michigan's House delegation in speaking out about trade issues with China that hurt the state's manufacturing sector, an issue that has received wide bipartisan support from the state's legislators in D.C.

And Peters, who upset Republican Rep. Joe Knollenberg in 2008, has spotlighted his work on the White House's deficit reduction panel, a bipartisan group charged with trimming the nation's debt load.

In acknowledging his opponent's win Tuesday, Schauer made certain to distance himself from Republican policies.

"I'm looking forward to a spirited campaign of ideas about what direction we should take to get our economy back on track," Schauer said in a statement. "Voters will have a clear choice this November, between going back to the tried-and-failed Bush policies that drove our economy off a cliff, or laying the groundwork for an economic recovery."

The incumbent Democrats have the financial edge.

According to the most recent campaign finance reports, Schauer raised nearly $1.7 million this election cycle, while Walberg had just more than $244,214 in cash.

Schauer snatched the 7th District seat from the freshman Walberg in 2008, and hopes to break a streak of one-term representatives from the district that has changed hands three times since former Rep. Nick Smith, R-Addison, announced his retirement in 2004.

If Peters and Schauer keep their seats, Michigan's delegation will still have at least three new members, because Reps. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee; Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids; and Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, are retiring.

nhurst@detnews.com">nhurst@detnews.com (202) 662-8738