On Wednesday, GOP Rep. Paul Mitchell announced that he would not seek a third term in Congress representing Michigan’s 10th Congressional District, a safely red seat that includes northern Macomb County and the “Thumb” region in the eastern part of the state. Mitchell declared that he was leaving after such a short tenure because he felt frustrated to be in a Congress where “rhetoric overwhelms policy, and politics consumes much of the oxygen in this city.”
Mitchell, who had served as CEO of Ross Education before he began his political career, had spent millions of his own money on two campaigns to reach the institution that he so quickly soured on. In 2014, Mitchell ran for the open 4th District in the center of the state and poured $3.56 million of his own money into his bid, but he lost to now-Rep. John Moolenaar 52-36. Mitchell got another shot two years later when GOP Rep. Candice Miller retired from the 10th District, a seat that does not border the 4th. Mitchell threw down another $3.56 million (perhaps that’s his lucky number), and this time he won his primary 38-28.
However, it sounds like Mitchell may be rethinking those two considerable investments. The congressman told Politico on Wednesday, “You look at the rhetoric and vitriol, it overwhelms policy, politics becomes the norm,” adding, “Everything’s about politics. Everything’s about an election. And at some point of time, that’s not why I came here.” Mitchell also took issue with how little time he got to spend with his family, saying that he’d advise anyone interested in running to succeed him, “This becomes your life, your entire life, whether you want it to or not. It will consume every waking minute you've got if you let it.”
The GOP should have no trouble holding this seat without Mitchell. Donald Trump carried the 10th District 64-32, which was his best showing in any of Michigan’s 14 congressional districts. The seat was also reliably red turf during last year’s midterm elections: According to Bloomberg’s Greg Giroux, it was again Team Red’s best district in both the gubernatorial and the Senate races.
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