Tenth-district congressional candidate Christina Hines predicts she will have raised the most money of the five hopefuls seeking the Democratic nomination when campaign finance reports are released in July.

Hines, 35, a former assistant prosecutor, said Friday her connections from when she ran for Macomb County prosecutor last year and was easily defeated by Republican incumbent Peter Lucido are producing tangible results, along with her hard work and qualifications.

“A lot of the seeds that we planted in the prosecutor’s race, like those relationships I was able to build with people,” Hines said. “I think people trust me, and I think that when those reports come out I’ll have the most support, especially from” Macomb County.

“I have no billionaire friends. I didn’t before and I don’t now. But I think the report will show I have the most community support.”

But she faces challenges to that title.

Three of her Democratic opponents have indicated they have raised over $700,0000 combined for the primary, which is slated for August 2026.

Attorney Eric Chung said he raised $310,000 within the first day of his announcement early last week and Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel indicated he raised $200,000 within his first day of announcing early last month. Army veteran and bomb technician Alex Hawkins, the only one to raise money and file a campaign finance report, raised $205,000 at the end of the first quarter, according to the Federal Election Commission. Fifth candidate Brian Jaye, an attorney and business owner, filed with the FEC but had not raised any funds as of March 31, according to the records.

Chung’s campaign boasted of its haul: “This far exceeds the 24 hour record for any challenger candidate in the district’s history and surpasses the entire first quarter total for any Democratic candidate in recent history.”

Enthusiasm abounds early in the race.

“We’re excited by the broad support Mayor Greimel has brought in and we’re confident our momentum will continue to a strong fundraising number when we report in July,” Greimel’s campaign manager Jackson Smith said,

In all, five Dems have filed to run as the Democratic Party is targeting the 10th District as a potential flip seat to regain from Republicans after U.S. Rep. John James announced he is running for governor in 2026.

No Republicans have announced, and Hines said she is confident a Democrat can take the seat, noting Carl Marlinga lost by only 1,600 votes in 2020 despite being outspent by a 5-to-1 margin. In 2022, Democrats Gov. Gretchen, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson attracted more votes in the district than their GOP foes.

The 10th District covers Macomb County south of Hall Road (M-59), Shelby Township, Utica, part of Macomb Township, all in Macomb County, and Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County.

Hines, who grew up and lives in Warren, touts the fact she is one of two 10th-District candidates from Macomb County. Chung, an attorney, resides in Sterling Heights.

“I think there is overwhelming support in Macomb right now to get a Macomb County person in this seat,” Hines said. “It’s a different level of understanding when you grow up in Macomb and you live here and are raising your family here, it’s different when you’re fighting for those people instead of folks you don’t know.”

In addition to moving to the county recently, Chung, 32, says he grew up in Macomb and Oakland counties, and his father worked in auto plants in Warren, Sterling Heights and Shelby Township. His parents emigrated from Vietnam, and his father lost his job during the 2008 Great Recession.

“Eric saw firsthand the opportunities and challenges faced by Michigan families, and what it means to strive for the American Dream,” his campaign says.

Two of the three remaining candidates have Macomb connections or backgrounds.

Hawkins, 30, of Rochester, grew up in Waterford but his family has strong roots in Macomb, according to his campaign. Both of his parents were raised in Eastpointe, and his grandmother taught in Roseville schools for over 30 years.

“His heart, and his roots, have always been in Macomb County,” Hawkins’ campaign said in a statement. “Every holiday, every family gathering, every important moment was spent here, surrounded by his aunts, cousins, grandparents, and the deep union ties that have shaped his family for generations.”

His mother was a union steward for the International Association of Machinists for over 25 years, and grandmother was a steward in the Michigan Education Association; his father was a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union.

Jaye lives in Rochester, is a managing partner of his own law firm and owns Toy Closet LLC. He grew up in Warren and Sterling Heights, graduating from Sterling Heights High School.

Jaye posted on his campaign Facebook page Saturday that he has never voted for a Republican, and his 27-year voting record is 99% in line with the Democratic National Committee.

“You will never find a stronger Dem in America,” he wrote. “I am one of the most loyal and dedicated Democrats in America.

He says he served as the regional vice chair in the rural caucus for the Michigan Democratic Party from February 2024 to last March.

Jaye ran against Republican U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain last year for the Ninth District, which is composed of most of northern Macomb County and parts or all of Oakland, Lapeer, Huron, Tuscola and Sanilac counties, that she easily won.

While he lacks Macomb County connections and currently lives outside of the district, Greimel, 50, said he was raised in the district in Rochester Hills and understands the lives of the district’s residents. He said he plans to move into the district — possibly in Macomb County — long before the election once his mayoral term expires at the end of this year.

He said he chose to run for the 10th District instead of the Ninth District, where he lives now because of his roots to it. He has lived most of his life in the Oakland County part of the district.

“I’ve spent my entire adult life fighting for everyday people in Southeast Michigan, and now more than ever we need rationale, centrist voices in Washington who are going to be focused on solving problems and standing up for everyday working families,” Greimel said.

He served as a state representative representing the Pontiac area from 2012 to 2018 and was the minority leader after serving on the Oakland County Board of Commissioners from 2007 to 2012. He served on the Rochester Community School District Board of Education prior to commissioner post. As an attorney, Greimel practiced civil-rights and labor law, representing employees who experienced discrimination and acts of retaliation in the workplace.

Hines said she is not only the only woman in the race but the only parent, and very few members of congress are mothers with minor children; she has three young children. That means she understands the concerns of families, she said.

She said families are worried about education, day care and jobs.

She said there are “day-care desserts” in the state where parents have difficulty finding good day care and if they do it’s expensive, adding the federal government needs to step up and provide assistance like the state of Michigan does via the MI Tri-Share Child Care Program and the Child Development and Care program.

In Congress, Hines said she would try to work with Republicans to accomplish goals. She commended Whitmer for working with Trump on issues, notably Selfridge Air National Guard Base, despite their differences in the past.

Although she opposes many things being done by Trump and his administration, particularly on the issues of ignoring he Constitution and not following the “rule of law,” … “It doesn’t mean we that we can’t work on finding common ground on different issues and various policies.”

Greimel said he has demonstrated his ability to work across the aisle as two of his top accomplishments when he led the state House occurred when “I led the charge to expand Medicaid coverage” and “to increase the minimum wage and index it to inflation, and I was able to get those things done every though it was a Republican-dominated state government at the time.”

But he said he has fought “against unelected billionaires like Elon Musk, and that’s exactly why I am running for Congress, so that I can continue fighting for everyday people and standing up against bullies in Washington, D.C.”

“I have grave concerns about what Elon Musk is doing, his attacks on federal workers, his attempts to dismantle important federal agencies and departments like the Department of Education,” he said.

One of the candidates, Hawkins, has been active in opposing Trump. He attended a protest rally when the president appeared last Tuesday at Macomb Community College, South Campus in Warren, as part of him marking his first 100 days in office.

“Thousands of people showed up to send a clear message: we won’t stand by while our freedoms are attacked, our rights stripped away, and working families left behind,” he wrote on his campaign Facebook page. “I’m proud to stand with everyone who showed up, because we’re in a fight not just against keeping democracy, but against every politician who’s too weak, too comfortable, or too afraid to stand up for us. We can’t back down. We won’t stop. Let’s meet this moment head on. Mission priority is MICHIGAN.”

Chung, who worked as a senior lawyer in the U.S. Department of Commerce, criticized the Trump Administration, citing his own experience.

“I saw first-hand how little Donald Trump and Elon Musk actually care about working Americans,” he said. “The Trump Administration is gambling away people’s life savings by taking a chainsaw to job creation programs like the one I worked on, along with Social Security, Medicaid, and public education. They’re playing games with unhinged shoot-from-the-hip policies. We need new leadership that can push back against their overreach.

Prior to working in Commerce, Chung worked at a law firm drafting parts of the CHIPS Act. After it passed, he told The Detroit News he was recruited to go to Commerce because he understood the legislation that was intended to invest $39 billion back into the economy to spur domestic semiconductor manufacturing, including a $325 million investment for Hemlock Semiconductor in Michigan.

But after he went to the Commerce Department to work on the CHIPS Act the Trump administration “gutted” the program and replaced it with “reckless” tariffs, he said.

He left and moved back here last month, he said.