← All 2026 races
H6MI07280
COWEN, JOSH Challenger
2.1
Influence Score · 2026
Lightly backed
Non-incumbent — only contributions, independent expenditures, and dark-money exposure are scored.
Lobbying, vote alignment, bundle timing, and trade direction require committee assignments and
roll-call records, neither of which exist for a non-sitting candidate. Maximum reachable score is
about 23, on a challenger-only scale — incumbents are scored 0–100 across all twelve axes, so the two
are not directly comparable. See methodology.
Score components
| Axis | Raw | Normalized (pts) | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct contributions | $195K | 0.74 | 2026 cycle, principal committee |
| Outside spending — direct support | $0 | — | PACs that directly supported this candidate |
| Outside spending — indirect (OPPOSE against opponents) | $1.03M | — | OPPOSE spending against opponents in the same race, attributed proportionally |
| Outside spending — OPPOSE against this candidate | $0 | — | PACs that spent to defeat this candidate (not scored on this axis) |
| Total outside spending in favor | $1.03M | 1.37 | direct + indirect — drives the outside-spending axis |
| Lobbying exposure | — | — | Requires committee assignment |
| Vote alignment | — | — | Requires voting record |
| Contribution timing — money arriving near key votes | — | — | Requires recorded-vote calendar |
| Dark-money exposure | 0.0000 | 0.00 | Disclosed-vs-dark outside spending share |
| Personal trade direction | — | — | Requires STOCK Act filings |
Race matchup MI-7
| Candidate | Party | Status | Direct $ | Outside $ | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BARRETT, THOMAS MORE | REP | Inc. | $901K | $4.11M | 66.2 | Moderately exposed |
| BRINK,, BRIDGET | DEM | Chal. | $1.85M | $675K | 8.1 | Substantially backed |
| MAASDAM, MATTHEW | DEM | Chal. | $1.26M | $2.09M | 6.7 | Modestly backed |
| LAWRENCE, WILLIAM | DEM | Chal. | $440K | $1.71M | 3.4 | Modestly backed |
| COWEN, JOSH | DEM | Chal. | $195K | $1.03M | 2.1 | Lightly backed |
Challenger and open-seat scores reflect contributions, outside spending, and dark-money exposure only — a maximum of about 23. They are not directly comparable to incumbent scores, which run 0–100 across all twelve axes. Compare the dollar columns (Direct $, Outside $) for a like-for-like view.