In 2018, over half of the Democratic candidates for the state legislature and Congress who won their primary and went on to the general election in Michigan were women. When you talk about women finally getting parity in terms of high elected office (or ANY elected office, for that matter), there’s only one political party who is even close to […]

Perusing the Facebook pages of some of the Democrats who won their elections last week, I came across a post by Jeff Irwin, the newly-minted Democratic Senator in Michigan’s 18th state Senate district. In it, he reveals that Democratic members of the state Senate are given $129,700 plus two staff benefit packages (for two staff members.) Republican senators, in sharp […]

The biggest and most profound victory in Michigan on Election Day was, for me at least (and LOLGOP chides me about mentioning this on the pod all the time) that Michigan’s Bigot-in-Chief, Bill Schuette is being replaced as Attorney General by lesbian attorney Dana Nessel. Dana is the amazing woman who helped bring marriage equality to the USA, something Schuette […]

The race for Michigan’s open seat in the 19th State House District is a virtual tie according to polling. Democrats have a dynamite young woman running. Laurie Pohutsky is a microbiologist (you know I have a soft spot for scientists!) who has an impressive list of endorsements from progressive and labor organizations as well as notable community leaders. She supports […]

Michigan has long been a bellwether for the national political landscape and, judging by the results of our primary last week, the November general election will be as much of a wave election for Democrats as 2010 was for Republicans. Shri Thanedar’s attempt to purchase a governorship with his personal fortune was resoundingly smacked down by voters. He did only […]

I generally don’t weigh in on Democratic primaries in our state. I learned long ago that it’s better to let primary campaigns play out without me sticking my nose in. The only times I tend to write about them is if a particular campaign is doing something that’s creative and interesting that other Dems can learn from or, more often, […]

I first learned of Shri Thanedar when he hired my good friend Tony Trupiano (R.I.P.) to introduce him around to the various progressive circles in Michigan in the spring of 2017. This was necessary because almost nobody in Michigan progressive politics had ever heard of Shri Thanedar prior to then. Within in a very short time, it was clear to […]

Back in February, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed accused unnamed “establishment Democrats” of using “birther-like tactics” to derail his primary campaign after Bridge magazine published an article raising questions about his eligibility to run due to residency requirements. I was hard on Dr. El-Sayed writing, “Publishing this article is not a “birther-like” tactic and the accusation is offensive. People […]

In late January, an article at Bridge magazine raised questions about Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s eligibility to run for this position due to his having lived outside of Michigan for a time. Experts on campaign law weighed in and were not in agreement. Some said he’s fine. Others expressed concern that he may not be fine at all and […]

I have largely avoided writing about Michigan’s gubernatorial this cycle. We interviewed both Gretchen Whitmer and Abdul El-Sayed on The Sit and Spin Room podcast early on but I have been watching the primary unfold without saying much. Partly because it’s so early and partly because I haven’t been “wowed” by any of the campaigns. However, this week, the campaign […]

Last year in a rare exhibition of bipartisanship, the Michigan state senate voted unanimously and the House voted 89-11 to pass a new rule involving the taxation of a purchased vehicle when someone trades in another vehicle in the transaction. Under a 2013 law, buyers initially could exempt the value of the trade-in vehicle up to $2,000 from the sales […]