MI-11: Democratic candidate for Congress previously said he was a Republican [View all]

A candidate seeking the Democratic nomination for an open seat in Congress in Oakland County identified as a Republican as recently as 2022, The Detroit News has learned.

Don Ufford, a former Ford Motor Co. engineer who worked in the Biden administration, is running as a Democrat for the U.S. House seat in Michigan's 11th District that's being vacated by U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democratic candidate for Senate.

But in 2022, Ufford took part in a bipartisan political leadership fellowship at Michigan State University, where he identified himself as a Republican, according to the head of the program and two fellows who served with him.

State Rep. Mai Xiong, a Warren Democrat, met Ufford when they both took part in the fellowship, and they became friends, with Ufford later showing up to knock doors when Xiong ran for office, she said.





https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/05/michigan-democratic-congressional-candidate-don-ufford-identified-as-a-republican-oakland-county/88514970007/