In one of the nation’s most competitive U.S. House races, the battle has escalated as Congressman Tom Barrett reminds voters of Will Lawrence’s 2013 felony arrest.

At an event in Lansing with Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, Congressman Barrett called Will Lawrence a “convicted felon”.  Congressman Barrett is referencing his opponent, who pleaded guilty to a felony when he was 22 years old.

MLive, a Michigan-based news organization, reported the arrest story back in 2013. After refusing police orders to unchain himself from Enbridge equipment during a radical environmental protest, Will Lawrence was arrested by the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office and charged with felony resisting or obstructing police and misdemeanor trespassing. He pleaded guilty to the felony, and the Ingham County prosecutor dropped his misdemeanor charge. His conviction was eventually expunged and removed from his record.

In a 2025 Instagram video , Will Lawrence made light of his former felony arrest saying, “We wanted to stop the pipeline, but we didn’t get the job done, he continued to say, “So I wouldn’t advise that you do what I did, but my conviction remains and you can always count on me to fight for pure Michigan and our water.”

Michigan’s 7th Congressional District has been ranked as the third-most expensive flipped House seat in the country in 2024, according to AdImpact. The outcome of this race will play a decisive role in determining which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives in 2027. Freshman Congressman Tom Barrett, who flipped the seat by defeating former State Senator Curtis Hertel by 3.7 percentage points, is now seeking a second term.

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