Tom Barrett is the only helicopter pilot in the Michigan delegation and one of the few in Congress. A 22-year Army veteran who flew Black Hawks and Lakotas, he logged over 1,000 flight hours in combat zones including Iraq and Kuwait. His military service is the cornerstone of his political identity.
He represents Michigan’s 7th District, arguably the most critical "bellwether" district in the nation. Centered on the state capital of Lansing, it includes a volatile mix of liberal state workers, suburban moderates in Livingston County, and rural conservatives in Clinton and Shiawassee counties. It is the district that often decides control of the House.
Barrett flipped this seat Red in 2024, defeating Democrat Curtis Hertel in one of the most expensive congressional races in history. His victory was seen as a rejection of the "EV mandates" that many autoworkers in his district feared would cost them their jobs.
Despite being a freshman in the 119th Congress, Barrett was tapped to serve as the Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization. This rare leadership role for a junior member highlights the GOP's trust in his subject matter expertise regarding the VA's broken software systems.
His signature legislative achievement is the Military Helicopter Training Safety Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in December 2025. The bill, inspired by his own flight experience, mandates the installation of crash-avoidance technology in non-combat military helicopters.
"He flew Black Hawks over Iraq and flipped the toughest swing district in Michigan. Tom Barrett is the pilot trying to land the plane for the American auto industry."
Tom Barrett: The Citizen Soldier
Tom Barrett’s path to Congress was literally cleared by a rotor blade. Enlisting in the Army right out of high school, Barrett spent 22 years in uniform, deploying to Iraq, Kuwait, Guantanamo Bay, and the Korean DMZ. But it was his time as a Black Hawk and Lakota helicopter pilot that defined his leadership style: precise, technical, and hyper-aware of his surroundings.
He entered politics in the Michigan State Legislature, where he served in both the House and Senate. In Lansing, he built a reputation as a conservative pitbull who wasn't afraid to investigate his own government. He famously led the oversight hearings into the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, exposing abuse and neglect that led to criminal charges against staff. That experience convinced him that the government often fails the people it promises to protect—a theme he carried to Washington.
In 2022, he ran for Congress against Democratic star Elissa Slotkin and lost a heartbreakingly close race. Instead of quitting, he ran again in 2024. This time, the political winds had shifted. Campaigning heavily against what he called "state-sponsored corporate welfare"—specifically the controversial Gotion battery plant (a Chinese-linked EV battery factory planned for Michigan)—Barrett tapped into a deep vein of economic anxiety. He argued that American tax dollars shouldn't fund Chinese companies. He won the open seat (vacated by Slotkin) by nearly 4 points, flipping a district that had been a Democratic stronghold.
In Washington, Barrett has focused on two things: Veterans and Aviation. As the Chair of the VA Tech Modernization Subcommittee, he is currently overseeing the disastrous rollout of the VA’s new Electronic Health Record system, grilling bureaucrats with the specificity that only a former soldier can muster. In early 2026, he also made headlines by introducing the Stop Insider Trading Act, joining a bipartisan push to ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks, arguing that "public service shouldn't be a get-rich-quick scheme."
District Context: Michigan 7th (U.S. Census Data)
The Heart of Michigan: This district is the political and geographic cente...
