KALAMAZOO, MI -- Democrat Paul Clements will make a third run to retire U.S. Rep. Fred Upton in 2018.

The Western Michigan University political science professor unsuccessfully ran for Congress twice already, losing to Upton in 2014 and by a wider margin in 2016. So what's different this time?

"If we look at how things are moving toward the 2018 election, there are number of factors that suggest it could be the best year for Democrats that we've ever seen," Clements said. "We have Republicans in charge of the House, Senate, presidency and the Supreme Court. Historically when you have one party controlling all branches of federal government the electorate has responded to restore balance."

Clements announced his candidacy Wednesday, June 6. He said Upton made himself vulnerable by aligning himself with President Donald Trump, especially after his "flip flop" on the Republican-backed American Health Care Act.

Upton said he wouldn't support a previous version of the legislation earlier this year because he was concerned about limited protections for people with pre-existing conditions. He supported the bill after House leadership agreed to his amendment to make $8 billion available over the next five years to assist those with pre-existing conditions.

The change sparked demonstrations outside his Kalamazoo and St. Joseph Offices. Across the country, pundits have speculated that health care will be the issue that can swing control of Congress to the Democrats.

"It will be a millstone around Congressman Upton's neck," Clements said.

Clements said the health care system in broken, but Republican solutions do little more than raise costs, gift tax cuts to multimillionaires and take health care away from 40,000 people in Michigan's 6th district.

"If you look at what the Republican proposals are doing, they are not addressing the problems that got us into the mess with health care in the first place," Clements said. "If we don't address the rising costs its a drag on the economy and small business."

Clements said that while Upton has benefited from the wave of Republican support that elected Trump, voters have begun to reconsider that course of action since the election.

Additionally, he plans to mobilize a growing grassroots coalition of young, diverse voters. Clements said he has support of the Democratic base, but will his campaign will do more to reach people he hasn't in the last two elections.

Particularly, he said more needs to be done to reach non-college educated white men who have been left behind. Clements said he will be more active in talking to these voters in Cass, Van Buren and Berrien County.

Investments need to be made to retrain the work force and push these people toward technical education, he said.

"We've got an economy that has been working for the wealthy and not most Americans," Clements said. "I want to see an election that is about the issues that got Trump into office: people's frustration with the economy (and) with the federal government."

Clements also said more needs to be done to protect the EPA, increase production in the United States, raise the minimum wage, ensure Medicare for all, improve public education, strengthen technological development, make a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure and jobs and end the school-to-prison pipeline.

He will have some competition before facing off against Upton.

Democrats David Benac and Eponine Garrod have already announced their campaigns for Congress. Benac is a fellow professor at WMU, while Garrod is a Pfizer quality control tester.

"I think, frankly, I have the best chance to win, of the people who are running," Clements said. "I'll be the first to say that I've learned a lot. Experience matters here."

Benac and Garrod have both cited Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as an inspiration behind their campaigns. Sanders endorsed Clements in both the 2014 and 2016 elections.

Upton was first elected to represent Michigan's 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986. The district includes Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties, along with most of Allegan County.

"I feel as though I could do a better job than our current representative," Clements said. "He has shown so clearly that it's the big money and traditional anti-tax positions of his party that he is concerned about more than about the people in this district."

Clements graduated from Harvard University in 1984 and earned a Ph.D. in Public Affairs from Princeton University in 1996. He served in the Peace Corps, teaching math in The Gambia and serving with ActionAid and USAid.

Clements was hired as an assistant professor at WMU in 1996, becoming a full professor in 2009. He teaches national economic development and program evaluation.

More information can be found at clementsforcongress.com.