William Lawrence, a Democrat running for U.S. Congress in Michigan’s 7th District, is assembling a cross-partisan coalition that includes skeptics of clean energy development and data center expansion. Lawrence co-founded the Sunrise Movement, a prominent climate organization, but his campaign in the Lansing area has led him to make common cause with activists who oppose solar farms, battery storage systems, and industrial development projects.
The shift emerged from conversations with figures like Marjorie Steele, an activist who runs the Economic Development Responsibility Alliance and has campaigned against large-scale renewable energy installations. Steele met with Lawrence earlier this year while lobbying for a data center ban. Though uncertain how the Sunrise Movement co-founder would receive her concerns, Steele found Lawrence receptive to her arguments about the negative consequences of clean energy development, including noise pollution and farmland destruction. His Economic Development Responsibility Alliance subsequently endorsed him.
The district has experienced significant local opposition to multiple development projects, ranging from hyperscale data centers to renewable energy installations. Prominent proposals include a $16 billion Oracle-OpenAI campus near Ann Arbor and numerous solar and battery storage projects. This backlash spans partisan lines, encompassing both conservative and progressive activists united by concerns over water usage, power consumption, noise, and environmental impacts.
Lawrence’s primary victory with 40 percent of the vote positioned him competitively against Republican incumbent Tom Barrett in the swing district. The race is one of the most expensive House contests, with both candidates drawing substantial funding. Lawrence has pursued an unconventional campaign approach, knocking on over 100,000 doors and holding numerous unscripted town halls where constituents pose direct questions about his positions and vision for representing the district.
The 36-year-old Lawrence projects an intellectual persona that contrasts with typical swing-district candidates. His political evolution includes previous positions on police abolition and migration policy that he no longer emphasizes. Party leadership, which initially opposed his primary campaign, has since endorsed him, and he has kept pace with Barrett in fundraising despite his outsider positioning within mainstream Democratic circles.
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