Michigan congressional hopeful leaps from plane in first TV ad

Grant Schwab, The Detroit News on Sep 3, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. House candidate Michael Bouchard this week released his first video ad since winning the GOP primary in a suburban Detroit swing district a month earlier.

The ad, titled "Jump," features the former Army paratrooper leaping from a plane and making a direct-to-camera appeal that he will "lead the fight" against socialism if elected to represent Michigan's 10th District in Congress.

Bouchard's campaign said the 30-second spot will be part of a seven-figure advertising campaign across television and social media as the Rochester Hills candidate looks to court voters in a race that prominent political handicappers rate as a toss-up. The 10th District covers southern Macomb County, and Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County.

The 32-year-old Bouchard will face off in the November general election against Democratic nominee Christina Hines of Warren. Hines, 36, is a former special victims prosecutor for Wayne County, where she worked on sexual assault cases.

The winner will succeed GOP U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township, who chose not to seek reelection to his current post and instead became Michigan's Republican nominee for governor.

"Washington politicians like to talk tough, but taking on radical socialism and rising costs, that makes their knees weak,” Bouchard said in his first video ad of the general election. "They might be scared, but I’m not. I’m Mike Bouchard. I fought extremists in the Army and led America’s best.”

Bouchard spoke to the camera at various moments before jumping from the plane and deploying his parachute. “Socialism is never going to win on my watch,” he said while boarding.

"Join me. Let’s fight back," he said in the moment before his jump.

"I'm Mike Bouchard. I definitely approve that message," he said after landing safely in a field.

Production of the video relied fully on campaign funds and did not use U.S. Army resources, according to Bouchard's campaign.

The ad will air on television during several scripted dramas, news programs and both college and professional football games, according to a public filing from WWJ-TV (CBS Detroit). The most expensive 30-second time slot listed in the disclosure was valued at $25,000 during a Big Ten football broadcast the final weekend of September, when Michigan voters can start receiving absentee ballots by mail.

The 10th District contest is expected to draw millions in spending ahead of November, and Bouchard appears to have an early fundraising advantage. His campaign had about $960,000 in cash on hand as of its most recent public filing on July 22.

Hines had to fend off two primary challengers and had about $160,000 in the bank as of mid-July, per her latest filing. Her campaign has not yet launched its first general election ad.

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