“That’s an understatement to say that it’s not ideal,” she said on Mackinac Island, where Michigan Republicans gathered over the weekend for a biannual conference.

“We have some really good candidates that are either in the race or talking about being in the race, so I’m confident that we will be able to keep that seat. It’s just gonna take a lot of resources,” she added. 

When pressed later on whether she thinks James is jeopardizing the seat, McClain said, “Absolutely.”

“I mean, if we’re going to be honest, we spent $40 million to keep that seat for him over the two cycles, right?” she said. “It stings us to have him leave that seat, there’s no question. This would be his, what, third term?”

“You know, to have that an open seat, A, it’s going to cost us more money and, two, you have a new face: It would be a heck of a lot easier for us to keep that seat if he stayed,” McClain added.

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The public criticism, unusual from a Michigan colleague, let alone a member of leadership, underscores the stakes of the race for Michigan’s 10th District. 

James won it comfortably in 2024, with a 6-point margin over his Democratic rival. But two years earlier, when he first took the seat, it was by a razor-thin 1,600 votes.

Her comments also echo the chiding President Donald Trump offered James in June, when he expressed reservations about his gubernatorial run at a White House bill signing.

“John James, John James,” Trump said. “I don’t know — you know, he’s running for governor, but I’m not sure I’m happy about that.”

“John, do we have somebody good to take your seat? Because otherwise we’re not letting him run for governor,” Trump added. “You have somebody good, right? OK, as long as you like them, they’ll win.”

James, an early front-runner for the GOP race for governor, is emphasizing the final part of Trump’s remarks to argue the president is comfortable with his decision. He also maintains that any of the Republicans currently eyeing the seat has a path to win and that he would give the eventual candidate coattails, should he become the gubernatorial nominee.

“I want you to hear this very clearly — I am not arrogant enough to believe that I’m the only person in my district who’s best to win this seat,” James said in an interview conducted before McClain’s comments. 

“Making sure we have a strong top of ticket, up and down, making sure that we have viable replacement options in the seat, is something I’ve been aware of since the very, very beginning. And being a former combat officer, trust me — succession has been on my mind, and doing the right thing the right way never leaves my mind.”

So far, Robert Lulgjuraj, a Macomb County prosecutor who has drawn local MAGA support, is the only candidate to enter the primary, but the race is expected to get more crowded in the coming weeks, with Michael Bouchard, the son of a popular Oakland County sheriff by the same name, likely to announce a campaign this fall.

Mike Bishop, a former congressman who expressed interest in July, continues to be floated as a candidate as well.

Both James and McClain declined to express a preference in the race.

“It certainly won’t be an anointing at all,” said Jim Runestad, chairman of the state party that hosts the Mackinac conference every two years.

The Democratic side has also drawn a slew of primary challengers, though one candidate, Navy veteran Tripp Adams, dropped out in July and endorsed prosecutor Christina Hines.

Republicans’ House majority has been a persistent concern for Trump, who has pressured GOP legislatures to redraw their congressional maps in Texas, Indiana, and beyond in a way that benefits Republicans. 

Earlier this year, it also prompted the White House to pull the nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) as ambassador to the United Nations. Last week, the Senate finally confirmed her replacement, Mike Waltz, eight months into Trump’s term. 

McClain expressed confidence that Republicans would keep their majority, or even expand it.

“Listen, I’m an optimist by nature, and I’m confident that we will keep it. I mean, I really do,” she said. “We’re on the right side of the issues.”

Still, the prospect of a divisive congressional race is ginning up concern that Republicans will exit the primary wounded, with little time to recover before the general election. Primaries are held in August in Michigan and the general election in November.

The 10th District is hardly the only battleground where Republicans must devote substantial resources. House Democrats will be contesting more than two dozen GOP-held seats next year, including the one represented by first-term Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI) in Michigan’s 7th District.

National Republicans succeeded in dissuading Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) from running for Senate in Michigan next year, giving Mike Rogers, the expected nominee, an open field after his narrow 2024 Senate loss.

But Huizenga has yet to commit to running again in his somewhat safe House seat in the western half of the state.

Runestad said the complaints over James running for governor have died down since he launched his campaign in April and that the thrust of the conversation on Mackinac Island was getting to know the candidates who are running to replace him.

“I didn’t hear one word of that,” Runestad said.

James’s decision was, however, invoked by his gubernatorial rivals and GOP operatives aligned with them at the conference, who hope to drive a wedge between James and the president.

Mike Cox, a former attorney general running against James, suggested that if the House falls into Democratic hands because of a lost seat, Trump would be “Russia-gated and impeached” his last two years in office.

He also acknowledged there were two primaries underway — one in Michigan and one for the president’s ear.

“I think James will spin it a different way, but I can tell you with 100% certainty, the White House is furious at him,” Cox said of James’s bid, “and doesn’t feel like it was necessary.”

James has previously expressed confidence that he will earn Trump’s endorsement but over the weekend said that he was staying focused on the race.

James is joined by a long list of Republicans competing for the governor’s mansion, including Cox, former state Senate president Aric Nesbitt, and Tom Leonard, the former speaker of the Michigan House.

“We are honored and excited to earn the president’s endorsement, but the focus right now is getting around the state and listening to Michiganders as we lead,” James said.

In the 10th District, Lulgjuraj has aligned himself with Trump and is leaning on a working-class message that invokes his upbringing as the grandson of Albanian immigrants.

He told the Washington Examiner that he has so far raised more than $400,000 for his first quarter in the race, with around half a million expected by the Sept. 30 reporting deadline.

“My family escaped communism and socialism and religious persecution and tyranny and oppression, but so did a lot of other people in the district,” Lulgjuraj said. “And it’s not just my story, it’s an American story.”

Meanwhile, the Bouchard camp has already lined up a list of endorsements that includes ex-Attorney General Bill Schuette and former Michigan Gov. John Engler.

In an interview, Bouchard’s father emphasized the military service of his son, who is expected to announce a decision shortly after he returns from a deployment to Iraq a month from now.

“I think my son has very strong credentials and a very strong opportunity to win that seat. I kiddingly say he’s got all my name ID and none of my baggage,” said Bouchard, who has been the Oakland County sheriff since the 1990s.

Runestad, the party chairman, framed the GOP primary in a positive light, arguing it would lead to a battle-tested candidate who can win in 2026. The primary will nonetheless give Democrats fodder that can be used in a general election contest.

Lulgjuraj, who is attempting to draw a grassroots versus establishment contrast in the race, criticized Bouchard for advocating on behalf of his son.

“This is no longer Jeb Bush’s party. This is no longer Mitt Romney’s party,” Lulgjuraj said. “Just because your father’s a politician or your grandfather’s a politician doesn’t mean that we’re gonna take the crown off someone else’s head and bless it to another candidate.”

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Bouchard, in turn, said voters didn’t want a “bunch of lawyers” in Congress and that his son’s Army background would be of value in the House.

“Robert’s a nice young man, but I think that it’s going to be tough for him to get where he needs to go,” Bouchard said.