The delayed opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge is gradually becoming a campaign issue for Democrats in the U.S. midterm elections — and not just in affected states like Michigan.
In campaign ads and social media posts, candidates are tying the issue to U.S. President Donald Trump’s alleged corruption, urging voters to “follow the money” from a billionaire family that owns a competing cross-border bridge.
“There’s a brand new bridge between Detroit and Canada that is finished, it’s ready, and it’s sitting there empty because Donald Trump will not let it open,” U.S. Rep. Mike Levin, who’s running for re-election in California’s 49th congressional district, said in a video posted last week.
Levin said the $6.4-billion bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit “would feed the auto industry that supports jobs in all 50 states.”
“Canada paid for the whole thing. Every dollar. The U.S. already owns half of the bridge for free,” he continued. “We got a multi-billion dollar bridge at no cost, and it’s finished.
“So why is it closed? Well, follow the money.”
A planned ribbon-cutting event last month for the Gordie Howe bridge was cancelled at the last minute over what Prime Minister Mark Carney called “technical issues” that were being worked through between Canada and the U.S.
The New York Times has reported that billionaire Matthew Moroun, whose family owns the competing Ambassador Bridge, met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hours before Trump issued a social media post in February threatening to block the bridge’s opening if the U.S. wasn’t “compensated.”
A White House official told Global News last month that Trump’s position on the bridge “has not changed” despite outreach from Canadian government officials, including Carney.
U.S. campaign finance records show Moroun donated US$1 million to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., in January.
Get daily National news
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.
“So let’s recap: a billionaire writes a cheque, gets a meeting with Lutnick, the president delivers, and then American workers and businesses and our closest ally pay the price for a free bridge sitting behind a padlock,” Levin said in his video.
“My friends, it’s corruption in plain sight. A government should work for the people, not for whoever writes the biggest cheque. Open the bridge.”
The connection between Moroun’s campaign contribution and the bridge delays was also highlighted in a campaign ad released last month by Michigan Democratic candidate Mallory McMorrow, who’s running to be her party’s nominee for the U.S. Senate.
In the ad, filmed in front of the Gordie Howe bridge, McMorrow argues that Trump is blocking the opening because “the billionaire family that owns the other bridge gave him a million bucks.”
“I’m Mallory McMorrow and I have one message for the president: Open this damn bridge,” she says.
A White House official told Global News on background Thursday that the issue of the bridge’s delayed opening was no longer “relevant,” and referred questions to the U.S. Commerce Department. Global News has asked Lutnick’s office for comment.
Despite the added public pressure, Canadian officials have been tight-lipped on whether any progress has been made in talks with the U.S. to get the Gordie Howe bridge open.
“We know this is an important bridge that has been supported by Canadian taxpayers, and in that sense, its opening is important for the country,” Industry Minister Melanie Joly told reporters in Montreal on Monday.
“We’ll continue to engage with the U.S. on this very issue. (Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic) LeBlanc has been in talks, of course, with Howard Lutnick and (U.S. Trade Representative) Jamieson Greer, and also the prime minister has been in contact with President Trump.”
Carney has insisted there is “no big drama” behind the bridge’s delayed opening, but has not said what “technical issues” need to be resolved.
McMorrow’s ad was released within a heated Democratic primary battle over who will face off in November’s general election against Republican Mike Rogers, a Trump ally who has argued that he’ll make sure the bridge is opened if he’s elected to the U.S. Senate.
That video and Levin’s are also part of a broader effort by Democrats to highlight affordability and economic issues while painting Trump and Republicans as out of touch and beholden to rich donors.
Democrats on the U.S. House Oversight Committee have demanded answers from both Lutnick and Moroun on their reported meeting on Feb. 9 and efforts to delay or stop the Gordie Howe bridge from opening. It’s not clear if either Lutnick or Moroun have provided the requested documentation.
Global News has repeatedly reached out to Moroun and his businesses for comment since February but has not heard back.
The Moroun family are longtime Republican donors who have been fighting the Gordie Howe bridge for years, arguing the new crossing will lead to reduced toll revenue on the Ambassador Bridge.
Lobbying records show the Moroun-owned Detroit International Bridge Company spent over US$2.5 million to lobby the first Trump administration on “issues related to construction and operation of international bridges.” Since Trump returned to office last year, the company has spent another US$250,000 on lobbying.
Trump endorsed the bridge project in 2017 during his first term in office.
—With files from Global’s Reggie Cecchini and The Canadian Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
