News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Congressional Candidate Callie Barr is pictured next to the fountain outside the Alpena County Public Library on Thursday.

ALPENA — Callie Barr, Congressional Candidate for Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, is gearing up for another election run in 2026.

Barr ran against incumbent Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, in the 2024 election, where she garnered 37.9% of the votes.

She hopes those percentages will improve and earn a seat in the House of Representatives in Washington DC.

Before quarrying off against Bergman again, she must win the primary election in August, but she is a heavy favorite.

Barr, D-Traverse City, has experienced the realities of war from being married to a Marine, which has informed her thoughts on the U.S. war with Iran.

“I was a military spouse for over a decade and a half, and now of course I’m still a veteran spouse,” Barr said. “I have lived with and will continue to live with the trauma of war. I know in a very personal way what it means when we go to war and specifically when we put boots on the ground and I know it’s never a decision that we should make lightly. And that it’s always something that should be supported by the American people.”

At the start of the conflict, Barr said, there was no approval from Congress. Many people are wondering what the plan is.

“The ayatollah gone, terrorists gone, I don’t think anybody’s sad about that,” Barr said. “The thing is, when you’re taking risks with American lives we need to be really careful about what that means, right, and what the plan is.”

“The fact that we have also within the ranks of our military fired people who were really competent and seasoned professionals and leaders…that is also very, very concerning.”

The Iran war has caused some tension between the U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies that have not supported it.

Barr said that NATO was set up by the U.S. in our favor and or our benefit. It is something that has maintained world peace since World War II.

“I think it’s really concerning when we have, for example, Greenland (having) NATO troops, fearing an invasion by the United States,” Barr said. “You know, we need allies. We want to have allies around the world. I support having NATO.”

When it comes to the Line 5 tunnel project in northern Michigan, Barr said she would respect the court’s decision as to whether the issue should be handled by the state or federal government. Currently, the court has decided that the issue should be handled by the state.

She added that in the role of a congressional representative, she can make decisions to ensure energy needs are met while protecting the environment.

“What we want to make sure of I think in this role is making sure that we meet our energy needs in the Upper peninsula,” Barr said. “That we’re protecting the Great Lakes. That we’re making sure that we are securing our environment, you know, for generations after us.”

Barr explained her position on protecting the environment as a whole.

“I come from a family of hunters and conservation is really important,” Barr said. “Being able to go out in the woods, you know, when I was a kid that was like my childhood…we are stewards of all of this.”

Barr said that recently two research stations in Houghton and L’Anse were cut.

“We just had an ice storm,” she said. “We have a timber harvest that we’re gonna be recovering for generations for and now we’re pulling research to make sure that we have healthy forests.”

As a congressional representative, she wants to make sure that actions like closing research stations don’t happen.

Barr also discussed the affordability of healthcare and housing. The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) that passed made cuts to medicaid funding.

“What we saw is they cut medicaid funding. This was disastrous for rural hospitals, hospitals like ours.”

She explained that when people cannot afford to pay their health care bills, it leaves the hospital to foot the bill. Over time, hospitals will cut programs and ultimately close.

“We’ve lost three labor and deliveries in the past year and a half,” Barr said. “We’ll continue to see programs cut…We already have a hard time having accessibility.”

Barr believes that everyone deserves a chance at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and people cannot pursue those things when they can’t even just afford life.

“So what’s an affordable life?” Barr said. “Life’s an acronym. It’s local housing, “I” is income, “F” is food, and “E” is essential healthcare.”

Barr said we need to be able to access capital for local developers to start to meet the housing demand. Some of that carries into local government with zoning laws, where they could allow smaller homes or more innovative housing options. Senior populations should be moved to places where they can age with grace and stay in their homes longer and allow younger families to move into bigger homes.

She would like to see more grants available to first time home owners.

Affordability ties into the kinds of jobs available for Northern Michiganders.

“You want to help engage with local industry and business to make sure that they’re in an environment where they can prosper and do well,” Barr said.

Many business owners are having to reprice items regularly due to tariffs, she said. Small businesses need access to grant writers and capital. Barr believes that the federal government can be a player in that.

“We need an environment where small businesses can thrive,” Barr said.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com