Full profile
Michigan’s 9th Congressional District has a six-candidate field for the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. The candidates include two Democrats, two Republicans and two independents.
Republican Lisa Mcclain is the incumbent, meaning she currently holds the seat. The other five candidates are running as challengers. With multiple candidates and more than one party represented, the district is listed as contested.
The Democratic candidates
Wyatt Bronson Clark is running as a Democrat. Clark is one of two Democratic candidates in the six-person field. He shares the Democratic label with Steven Raymond Pooley and is challenging the district’s Republican incumbent.
Steven Raymond Pooley is running as a Democrat. Pooley is one of two Democratic candidates in the six-person field. He shares the Democratic label with Wyatt Bronson Clark and is challenging the district’s Republican incumbent.
The Republican candidates
Lisa Mcclain is running as a Republican. Mcclain is one of two Republican candidates in the six-person field and is the race’s incumbent. She is the only candidate listed as currently holding the 9th District seat.
Daltson Theodore Atwell is running as a Republican. Atwell is one of two Republican candidates in the six-person field. He shares the Republican label with Mcclain but is not listed as the incumbent.
The independent candidates
Fernando MR JR Valdez is running as an independent. Valdez is one of two independent candidates in the six-person field. Unlike the Democratic and Republican candidates, he is seeking the seat without either major-party label.
Jasen D Cartwright is running as an independent. Cartwright is one of two independent candidates in the six-person field. Like Valdez, he is seeking the seat without the Democratic or Republican label.
What makes the race contested
The central decision is who will represent Michigan’s 9th District in the U.S. House. The field gives voters candidates with Democratic, Republican and independent labels, while also placing an incumbent on the same candidate list as five challengers.
Party affiliation and incumbency are the clearest defined distinctions among the candidates at this stage. The two Democratic candidates are Clark and Pooley. The two Republican candidates are Mcclain and Atwell. Valdez and Cartwright are the two independents.
The general election is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026. Before then, voters can watch for changes to the candidate lineup and for the campaigns to identify the issues they want to emphasize. Campaign finance filings may also show how candidates are raising and spending money as the election approaches.
The presence of six candidates makes the field broader than a contest between one Democrat and one Republican. It also means voters will need to distinguish between candidates who share the same party label, as well as consider the two candidates running independently.
