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Dems are eyeing ethics reforms, gun reform and abortion ban repeal next year, Lasinski says
House minority leader focused on the future while recounting challenges this session during roundtable As the 101st Legislature ends and a newly elected Democratic majority gets ready to take the reins, outgoing House Minority Leader Donna Lasinski (D-Scio Twp.) hosted a media roundtable on Wednesday, focusing on education, economic support and ethics in the Michigan […]
Susan J. Demas: Mike Shirkey’s long, crazy goodbye
“That was some weird shit.” That was former President George W. Bush’s reported take on former President Donald Trump’s angry inaugural address back in 2017. And that seems to be the consensus on the farewell speech last week from Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake), who, notably, dismissed his frequent foe, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, […]
Susan J. Demas: Republicans served up ‘red wave’ Kool-Aid. Pundits drank it up.
The election was four weeks out. Every sign pointed to Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon careening toward an epic loss. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was, by all indications, running a smart campaign that connected with voters on kitchen-table issues, which does, as she often pointed out, include abortion rights. Her authentic bond with her running mate, […]
Michigan’s historic 2022 election in photos
Every campaign comes with the promise that it will be the most important one in history. While the history books have yet to be written on Michigan’s 2022 election, we do know that it was, indeed historic, with Democrats sweeping all top statewide offices with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney […]
Michigan GOP finger-pointing underway following Tuesday’s historic loss at the polls
A post-mortem memo on the historic losses suffered Tuesday by the Michigan Republican Party blames candidates being too closely aligned with former President Donald Trump, prompting major donors to withhold their support and leaving the party without the cash needed to compete. Not only did Democrats sweep the top statewide offices, but they won a […]
Susan J. Demas: Why won’t the House investigate Chatfield’s corruption and sex abuse scandals?
Even if you’ve been in Lansing for way too long, it was pretty stunning to see a former speaker of the House last week accused of running a “criminal enterprise” out of his Capitol office — just months after he was accused of allegedly sexually assaulting a child. This isn’t a name from the distant […]
Susan J. Demas: Adults who choose to bully LGBTQ+ children are weird — and profoundly broken
Twelve years ago, the LGBTQ+ community started a powerful campaign to help young people with three simple words: “It gets better.” Growing up gay or trans is often devastatingly hard, from enduring slurs hurled by kids at school to having abusive parents who kick you out of the house just because of who you are […]
Susan J. Demas: Tudor Dixon trashes all the single ladies
In Michigan, the GOP nominee for a critical congressional seat is on record blasting women being in the workplace and having the right to vote. John Gibbs, who won his 3rd District primary thanks to an endorsement from former President Donald Trump and is facing Democrat Hillary Scholten on Nov. 8, got exactly zero backlash […]
Susan J. Demas: Will your vote count in 2024? It depends who wins Michigan in 2022.
It’s been a psychically scarring last few years between the pandemic, a full-blown insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and the specter of a nuclear-charged war in Ukraine. And we’ve all become inured to scaremongering political ads and election year hyperbole. But the truth is, democracy is on the ballot on Nov. 8. In Michigan, the […]
Susan J. Demas: Michigan Republicans beg Whitmer to zip it on abortion rights
When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave her keynote address at the Mackinac Policy Conference in May, it suddenly became clear how many pundits had misjudged this particular political moment. You would have expected the Democrat to earn some polite applause at the traditionally stuffy confab dominated by CEOs, lobbyists and legislators, one where her predecessor, Republican […]
Susan J. Demas: As Trump goes full QAnon, Dixon delights in sowing Whitmer kidnapping conspiracies
It’s been a rough couple months for Donald Trump, who, as you recall, has the distinction of being our only twice-impeached president. After trying to instigate a coup because he didn’t like that he (badly) lost the 2020 election, he’s still flexing his muscles over the GOP by successfully endorsing a slew of 2022 candidates, […]
Dixon spends the day ridiculing Whitmer over 2020 far-right kidnapping plot
Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon’s repeated comments mocking the foiled plot to kidnap and assassinate Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have drawn widespread condemnation. On Friday morning, the Republican appeared at a pro-Dixon superPAC event in Troy with former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway and criticized Whitmer’s business record as governor. Standing in front of a sign […]