GOP's Mitchell wins re-election in 10th District

Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell on Tuesday won his second term in Congress, besting Democrat Kimberly Bizon of Worth Township.

Mitchell, 61, defeated Bizon, a Sanilac County environmental activist, 60.3 percent to percent to 34.9 percent with 100 percent of the votes counted, according to the Associated Press from unofficial results.

The Dryden Township Republican was one of three Michigan GOP house members who lobbied President Donald Trump about the need for modernizing the Soo Locks during a late April drive from Selfridge Air Force Base in Harrison Township to a rally in Macomb Township.

“The Soo Locks are going to hell,” Trump told the Macomb rally. “You know that, right? And we’re going to get them fixed up.”

The president's unexpected embrace has given new momentum to a multiple-decade effort to update the aging freight passage infrastructure in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Congress has authorized the Soo Locks for funding after the Army Corps of Engineers reassessed the cost-benefit analysis for the project, but it now requires an appropriation of money.

Mitchell this year ranked among the 15 wealthiest members of Congress, according to the Wealth of Congress Index published by Roll Call. It estimates each House and Senate member’s minimum net worth based on financial disclosure reports of their liabilities and assets in 2016.

Mitchell, former owner of Ross Medical Education Center, ranked No. 15 on the wealth index with an estimated net worth of $37.7 million.

He spent over $3 million to clinch the open 10th District seat when U.S. Rep. Candice Miller retired last term.

Mitchell’s assets include a range of high-value stocks and partnership income from a private investment fund, according to Roll Call.