Purple States
West Michigan has been a key GOP stronghold. That’s now being tested by two congressional races.
The 3rd and 6th congressional districts in West Michigan are, in some ways, a study in contrasts: They are a world of dense urban neighborhoods and cornfields that fill the horizon, of cars donning “Resist” and “Make America Great Again” bumper stickers, of Republican and Democratic (and occasional Libertarian and Green) political signs dotting yards […]
Biden heading to Macomb County
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he will be in Warren Wednesday and talk about his plan to “ensure the future is Made in America by all of America’s workers.” Biden’s campaign announced the stop last week but did not release details or a location. Macomb County is hotly contested territory for he […]
Trump announces Michigan stop in same week that Biden returns
President Donald Trump will make his first visit to Michigan this week since an Ypsilanti event in May, announcing that he will campaign in Freeland in Saginaw County. Trump’s stop is scheduled for Thursday, one day after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will stump in Michigan on Wednesday. Biden’s campaign hasn’t released details of the […]
Report: Michigan ranks 3rd in women’s political participation
From 2011 to 2019, Michigan only had one female top statewide officeholder in then-Secretary of State Ruth Johnson. Now women run Michigan — and that’s one reason why the state ranks third in the country for women’s political participation in a new study from the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Women’s Policy Research. The state was […]
Dan Kildee is ‘only moving up the ladder.’ So what’s next?
Dan Kildee is no stranger to leading during a crisis. After all, the Flint Democrat had been in Congress for just a couple years when the Flint water crisis began. “That was one of those moments where I knew why I was there. I knew exactly why I was in Congress,” Kildee said in an […]
Column: Shut down Line 5 — it’s too risky
Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline is too risky to keep operating and now the state of Wisconsin can permanently shut it down. (Part of Line 5 is currently, temporarily shut down thanks to the efforts of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel after the discovery of damage to the pipeline.) The 67-year old pipeline has already […]
Susan J. Demas: Trump was elected to hurt the ‘right people.’ Now he’s hurting his base.
When Donald Trump emerged disheveled and broken from Air Force One Saturday after what was supposed to be his triumphant comeback on the campaign trail in Tulsa (coronavirus — what’s that?), it was clear that the sheen of his electoral invincibility had finally started to tarnish. National journalists (even one who reported live from a […]
Tough times on the farm: Why Midwest agriculture was on the ropes before coronavirus
All in all, 2019 was a terrible year for farmers across the Midwest. And 2020 doesn’t look much better. Bad weather, trade wars and low prices due to oversupply all contributed to the grim economic news, even before the COVID-19 pandemic began wreaking havoc with export markets. “Agriculture has been in a pretty strong downturn […]
Anti-quarantine protests pop up across the U.S., resemble coordinated anti-Obama tea party efforts
Last Wednesday, thousands of Michiganders left their houses to jam the streets of downtown Lansing and protest on the Capitol lawn during the statewide stay-home order. Two days later, President Donald Trump tweeted: “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” He also posted similar tweets directed toward Minnesota and Virginia, two other states that had anti-quarantine protests last week and […]
Whitmer, 6 ‘Midwest’ govs working together to reopen economies
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and six other state governors in the Midwest — or thereabout — are consulting and coordinating with each other on plans to reopen the region’s economy in the coming weeks. Whitmer, a Democrat, is in communication with GOP governors Mike DeWine in Ohio and Eric Holcomb of Indiana, as well as Democratic […]
Whitmer, govs. ask feds for aid as state could face $7B revenue hit
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, along with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, sent a letter to President Trump Wednesday requesting that he expedite additional resources for all states and localities so that they can address economic shortfalls resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. “Without this leadership, the damage to our state economies will be […]
Mail-in voting gains traction, but concerns remain for disabled, Native people
WASHINGTON — As the COVID-19 virus continues to sweep the country, voting rights advocates are demanding Congress fully fund a national vote-by-mail program so people aren’t forced to choose between their health and their right to vote. In Michigan, voters approved a slew of voting reforms in 2018, including measures to allow no-reason mail-in voting. […]