News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Republican Congressman Jack Bergman, left, and State Representative for Northeast Michigan Cam Cavitt, also a Republican, answer questions from the crowd during a campaign stop in Alpena on Monday.

ALPENA — Jack Bergman, a Republican from Watersmeet and congressman for Northern Michigan, announced Friday he intends to run for another term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The congressman visited Alpena on Monday night to meet with local supporters at the Holiday Inn Express.

Bergman, a retired U.S. Marine Corps lt. general, was elected to his first term in 2016 and will face off with fellow Republican Joshua Saul during the primary election in August.

The winner of that showdown will face Democrat candidates Callie Barr or Bob Lorinser who are both on the Democrat ballot during the primary.

Bergman defeated Lorinser by 23 points in the general election in 2022.

“I’m proud to announce our re-election campaign and I’m grateful for the continued grassroots support from the Bergman Brigade,” Bergman said in a press release. “Through the teamwork of conservatives across Michigan, we are in the best position we’ve ever been in to win big going into this presidential election year.”

Bergman was joined by state representative for Northeast Michigan Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, who also announced his intent to run for a second term.

While in town, Bergman took the time to update his constituents on events and issues in Washington.

Foreign affairs, and the cost of war, have been a large topic of debate. Bergman has pledged his support to allocate money to properly arm Ukraine in its war with Russia in early 2022. He said preventing Russian President Vladimir Putin from overtaking Ukraine, makes it less likely he ups his ambitions to invade Poland. If that were to occur, Bergman said the United States would have to deploy its military because Poland is a member of NATO and the United States, as a fellow member, would have to help defend it.

“I support any country, especially Ukraine, that is being attacked by Russia and probably any country that would be attacked by China, namely Taiwan,” he said. “I support fundings, but we have asked the administration for a plan moving forward to logically allocate future funding or current usage. We need to have a plan, but it seems the administration doesn’t have one.”

Bergman still believes stopping Russia from being more aggressive with NATO countries needs to be a top priority.

In another part of the globe, the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues. Hamas is the governing body of The Gaza Strip. On Oct. 7, Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,139. Some in the federal government have been critical of Israel’s response to the attack by Hamas and believe the return attack has been too much. Bergman said Israel had a right to respond to the attack and people who think a two-party state is the answer, need to understand the challenges of it becoming a reality or creating lasting peace.

“Israel has a right to self-determination and to exist,” he said. “A two-party state is complicated and not as easy as some people think. I can tell you that from sitting in on meetings there eight or nine years ago.”

Recently, Bergman and other members of Congress visited the border between the United States and Mexico to see for themselves how bad the immigration issue is. He said the entire situation is sad, for everyone impacted by the matter.

“We spent a day and a half there and the one word that describes it for me is sad,” Bergman said. “It is sad on the humanitarian side for the people trying to come here legally and sad for the border patrol and customs agents who work hard every day and are not getting the support from the administration. It is the cartels that are winning from trafficking humans to the border. They are being more rich and also more emboldened. They are making more money trafficking people to the border than drugs.”

The situation at the border led to Bergman voting in favor of impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The House had enough votes for the impeachment hearing before the Senate but is a long shot the higher chamber follow suit.

Bergman said there has to be accountability for the instability at the border and new leadership is needed.

“If there is a military commander who is in command, and they fail, they are relieved of their command,” he said. “Impeachment is a version of relief of command.”