The drama in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District’s Democratic primary reached a boiling point Wednesday after former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam hinted that former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink should drop out of the race ahead of Tuesday’s primary.
Maasdam and Brink, two moderate, establishment-backed candidates, are in a bitter battle to secure the nomination, which has been turned upside down by progressive William Lawrence gaining momentum, a shift that could result in Lawrence prevailing if Brink and Maasdam split the more moderate vote of the Democratic primary voters in the district.
Maasdam, in an interview with the Washington Examiner, suggested that Brink could drop out but stopped short of fully endorsing the idea.
“There’s still a lot of undecided votes out there, and I think she’s got a big choice to make,” he said.
He added he would spend the next few days before his Aug. 4 primary consolidating votes in his favor to try to defeat Lawrence, whose steady rise in the polls has upended the primary.
“I would love to consolidate as many votes for my campaign as possible, and that’s my goal and job over the next few days, but she’s got a big choice to make, and it will be close,” Maasdam said.
The drama began Wednesday, when a Maasdam staffer posted internal polling showing Lawrence leading, Maasdam in second, and Brink in third, to social media. The staffer called Brink, who has led in multiple public polls, a “spoiler.”
“Non-Lawrence vote is greater than Lawrence vote in #MI07,” Maasdam’s campaign manager Emma Grundhauser wrote on X. “And yet Bridget Brink, seeing the same trends in polling – has decided to stay in this race and play spoiler.”
The statement created a firestorm of reaction, with Brink and Maasdam allies each racing to their candidate’s defense.
“I think he’s the strongest candidate in the general election,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who backs Maasdam and previously held the seat, told the Washington Examiner. “He’d be the first Democratic Navy SEAL ever in the U.S. Congress, and to take on a veteran himself in the general election, I think that’s really important.”
“If there were one … practical choice competing then it would be a one-to-one race, give that this is a Republican-leaning seat, I think that would be the ideal thing for all parties,” she said.
Andrew Mamo, who is affiliated with the center-left group the Bench backing Maasdam, wrote on X that the primary “is a two person race,” adding Maasdam “is the only person who can beat” Lawrence.
But Brink isn’t planning on going anywhere, despite the public pressure, a spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
“I’ve spent my whole life taking on tough fights from standing up to Putin and Trump as the first female war zone Ambassador to fighting breast cancer and that’s exactly why I’m in this race and why I’ll never stop fighting for what’s right,” Brink wrote to the Washington Examiner in a statement.
“Voters know who they can trust to stand up to Trump and take on a broken Washington full of politicians who do the bidding of corporate special interests while leaving mid-Michigan families behind,” she said.
Even Brink’s allies have called out Maasdam for any insinuation that she should drop out.
“To be clear, Matt Maasdam spent most of this race in third place, he and his allies spent months tearing down Bridget Brink because she was leading in the polls,” EMILYs List President Jessica Mackler wrote on X. “He should take some responsibility for his own actions before telling a qualified woman to drop out.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which did not back a candidate in this race, declined to comment on the developments.
Just months ago, Democrats thought they had an abundance of riches in Michigan’s 7th District with two viable candidates running for the nomination. But a deluge of outside spending in the closing weeks of the primary campaign has switched up the race.
Lawrence, a progressive activist with ties to the climate change group Sunrise Movement and the beneficiary of major outside spending, could put a top Democratic target at risk if he were to win the primary. A mysterious outside group with alleged GOP ties has spent more than $1.5 million boosting Lawrence and opposing Maasdam.
Aside from dark money spending to support Lawrence, another group, Michigan Values PAC, funded by the Bench, has spent more than $800,000 on attack ads against Brink in an effort to boost Maasdam. One of the spots highlights Brink’s tenure as Trump’s ambassador to Ukraine, a position she resigned from in 2025.
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As attack ads run against both Brink and Maasdam in the closing weeks, Lawrence could end up the beneficiary, especially as a plurality of votes could be enough to clinch the nomination to take on Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI), who flipped the seat in 2024 when Slotkin gave it up to run for Senate.
This district is one of 14 Republican seats labeled a “toss-up” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Barrett won his race by about 4 points in 2024, as President Donald Trump won by just 1 point.