Jewish Democrat Jeremy Moss becomes Michigan's first openly gay Congress member

Moss will fill an open seat in the 11th Congressional District being vacated by Democratic US Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for the US Senate.

Democratic state Sen. Jeremy Moss has defeated Republican Troy Mayor Ethan Baker on Tuesday to become Michigan's first openly gay member of Congress, scoring a victory for a Democratic-leaning Oakland County US House seat.

Moss of Bloomfield Township was ahead with 59.5% of the vote to Baker's 38% with an estimated 77.5% of the votes counted, according to unofficial returns. The Associated Press and NBC called the race for Moss, who was trailed by independent candidate Anil Kumar, a Wayne State University governor, at 0.8%; the Libertarian Party’s Farid Ishac at 0.8%; and the Green Party’s Ryan Teasdale, 0.7%.

Moss will fill an open seat in the 11th Congressional District being vacated by Democratic US Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for the US Senate.

The 11th District - which covers Oakland County communities such as Pontiac, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Farmington Hills, and West Bloomfield Township - has morphed in the past eight years from being a GOP-leaning area to becoming a Democratic stronghold.

Moss, 40, won the Democratic primary with 49% of the vote, followed by attorney Aisha Farooqi of Sterling Heights at 32%, John Paul Torres at 10%, and former Ford Motor Co. engineer Don Ufford of Bloomfield Township at 8%. Baker was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Moss, who is Jewish, hasn't endorsed Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, but the two have had discussions. Moss has said he wouldn't vote for Republican US Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake Township because of his election denial and "obedience" to US President Donald Trump.

Hasan Piker uses Moss as example of US Jew with pro-Israel rhetoric

In August, far-left streamer and El-Sayed supporter Hasan Piker featured a photo on his livestream of Moss as Piker suggested that some pro-Israel rhetoric could lead to violence against American Jews. The episode came after Moss said people have been sharing a fake audio clip claiming the entire purpose of his US House campaign is to ensure America continues to support Israel.

"If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone is going to come around and take action, not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews," Piker said while showing the image of Moss.

In the state Legislature, Moss was a leading proponent of expanding the Freedom of Information Act to apply to the governor's office and state lawmakers.

Baker, 47, has been Troy's mayor for six years and was on the City Council four years before that after being a special assistant to president Ronald Reagan after his presidency when he worked in California. He ran on a campaign theme of addressing rising costs and doing problem solving while putting aside the partisan divide.