Tom Barrett
Role at the time: U.S. representative and 2026 Republican House candidate in Michigan, through a spokesperson
Mixed or conditional
Statement summary
Barrett's campaign urged local transparency and opposed federal control of local camera decisions. Barrett later supported barring federal agencies from buying the systems.
“State and local governments should engage with their residents on those decisions but that should include full transparency.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)How Flock cameras are becoming an issue in the midterm electionsOriginal reporting on El-Sayed advertisement, Lawrence, Barrett, and Abbott
Original reporting on El-Sayed advertisement, Lawrence, Barrett, and Abbott
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The reference point is whether networked license-plate reader systems such as Flock should exist and be used. Barrett's campaign said state and local governments should engage residents on camera decisions with full transparency. It addressed oversight rather than a ban, so Mixed or conditional fits.