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While Joe Biden gets to celebrate a B.F.D., Republicans continue to pay homage to their Golden God nationally and in Michigan as the once Grand Old Party continues to disintegrate. One ominous sign (of many) for the GOP’s state ticket: a lack of money. The Whitmer/Gilchrist/Nessel/Benson ticket is banking millions for the fall campaign while the opposition campaigns operate on fumes.

Also this week: opponents of the Reproductive Freedom constitutional amendment lash out at the petition printer … the Republicans’ would-be Secretary of State heads to New Jersey for some Trump love even as the state GOP faces major financial woes … Democrats prepare for the best kind of party convention (boring and uneventful) … while Republicans start preliminary feuding over Tudor Dixon’s running mate in the run up to a state convention that promises too be the political equivalent of a UFC championship fight – admittedly, in the lightweight class.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”

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A search warrant at Mar-A-Lago, a special prosecutor may put Matt DePerno’s campaign to be Michigan’s chief law enforcement official, and state Republicans look to what could be a volcanic summer convention. In other words, just another bizarre week in Michigan politics.

In Washington, a string of victories for President Biden. Congress is set to pass the biggest climate bill in history after already pushing through long-overdue support for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, the first gun safety law in decades and much-needed jumpstart for a domestic microchips industry.

We’re joined this week by Michigan’s senior Democrat in Congress, Flint’s Dan Kildee. As Chief Deputy Whip—part of the Democratic leadership team in Congress—he acts as an important liaison among Members of Congress and the leadership to build support for Democratic priorities and legislation. Congressman Kildee serves on three committees: Ways and Means Committee, Budget and Science, Space and Technology.

Before being elected to Congress, Congressman Kildee co-founded and served as the president of the Center for Community Progress, a national non-profit organization focused on urban land reform and revitalization. He also founded Michigan’s first land bank—the Genesee County Land Bank—which is responsible for tens of millions of dollars in redevelopment in Flint. The Genesee County Land Bank later served as a model for over 100 other land banks across the nation. Previously, Congressman Kildee served as the Genesee County Treasurer, on the Genesee County Board of Commissioners and on the Flint Board of Education.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”

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Reproductive rights win in ruby-red Kansas…
Peter Meijer pays the price…
DeVos money and (maybe) Trump’s endorsement does the job for Tudor Dixon…
Incumbents fall in state legislative races

We record the day after Tuesday’s primary election and are joined in the conversation by one of the shrewdest political analysts in the state: former Lt. Governor John Cherry.

Former staff member to Michigan State Senator Gary Corbin, Cherry served as the state political director for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees until 1982. He was then elected to the Michigan Legislature as a state Representative, state Senator and Senate Minority Leader. He then served 8 years as Lt. Governor under Governor Jennifer Granholm.

Cherry was respected and well-liked across the aisle and was a key ally for Granholm as she battled with legislative Republicans. He’s the first in a long line of family members in state government with at least one Cherry family member in state office since 1982: Cherry’s facJohn’s wife, sister and son have all served in the Michigan Legislature…and his sister is currently Genesee County treasurer. 

On Primary Day his son John won the Democratic nomination for the state Senate after two terms in the state House.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”

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The primary voting ends next Tuesday at 8 p.m. with multiple key battles brewing. The most visible is, of course, the most-bizarre-ever Republican primary for the right to take on Gretchen Whitmer in November, a campaign with five candidates who have never held public office beyond the local level. A week out polling still showed “undecided” in the lead, with Tudor Dixon and her DeVos-funded campaign holding a slight lead over self-funding millionaire Kevin Rinke and indicted January 6th insurrectionist Ryan Kelly.

Also at issue: four Congressional primaries. Three are Democratic battles in southeast Michigan; the fourth has first-term Republican Peter Meijer at a risk of losing to Big Lie believing Trump-backed John Gibbs.

Joining the conversation is veteran journalist Zach Gorchow, publisher of the Gongwer news report — a must-have subscription newsletter for Capitol insiders.

Gorchow has covered Lansing for nearly 24 years, 20 of them with Gongwer plus a four-year stint at the Detroit Free Press. He was named publisher of Gongwer in 2020, succeeding our recent guest John Lindstrom.

He began his journalism career as a reporter at Michigan State University’s nationally acclaimed student newspaper The State News. He graduated from MSU with a degree in international relations. Zach is a native of Birmingham where he attended Seaholm High School.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”

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With just two weeks until the primary election, nearly 40% of Republican voters haven’t made up their mind  between the five candidates. Three candidates are in a statistical tie; adding to the uncertainty is the impact of Democratic crossover votes, and whether Donald Trump will endorse a candidate.

Also on this week’s agenda:

Joining the conversation is David Eggert, senior reporter for politics and policy with Crain’s Detroit Business. Before joining Crain’s in May, he was Lansing bureau chief for the Associated Press for nearly 10 years.Eggert is a graduate of Northwestern University’s prestigious Medill School of Journalism. He first covered Michigan state government 18 years ago as a reporter for the AP and assistant editor at the Lansing State Journal and is a native of Jackson, Michigan.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”

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The absentee ballots have been mailed with many Republican voters still making up their minds on their candidate to take on Gretchen Whitmer? Which Bill Lie, anti-choice, pro-Trump, tax-cut-promising candidate to choose? Did Wednesday’s debate provide any clarification?
The debate did, though, give an hour of TV exposure to a series of factual misstatements, conspiracy theories and occasional intramural insults. Mark and Jeff offer their take on the debate (with condolences to moderator Rick Albin, a first-class journalist who was forced to keep silent when he heard b.s. flowing).

The podcast then moves onto providing an historical perspective to current politics with longtime state Capitol reporter and pundit John Lindstrom.

John’s tenure covering Michigan government and politics goes back 45 years, starting with the well-respected Gongwer Capitol Report in 1977. In 1986 he began a 6 year stint with Crain’s before returning to Gongwer in 1993 where he went from reporter to editor and then publisher. John has covered every Michigan governor since William Milliken and interviewed literally hundreds of state legislators, state department directors and Michigan members of Congress. He’s also covered the Michigan campaigns of dozens of presidential candidates, as well as a couple dozen ballot proposals. In short, he’s a walking Wikipedia of the last half-century of Michigan politics.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”

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Abortion.

It has turned our politics around. Mark and Jeff analyze the polling showing the Cobb decision is moving the numbers decidedly in the direction of Democrats.

Also on the podcast agenda this week: Michigan Republican voters are still undecided on Governor even as absentee ballots start showing up in mailboxes (meaning Jeff’s pants are still a contender!); and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions on gun rights and religious freedom could also get into the mid-term electoral mix.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”

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Michigan was back in the spotlight at the January 6 Select Committee hearings, with tales of a possible overnighter in the state Capitol for the GOP slate of phony presidential electors. Republican witnesses confirmed that the multi-state phony elector plot was led by the Trump campaign; Michigan’s 16 fraudulent electors are facing potential state and federal criminal charges.

Also on this week’s agenda: Michigan Republicans double-down on stopping all abortions in Michigan; Texas Republicans give us a preview of our state’s new GOP’s radical policy agenda; and top Michigan Democrats make their pitch for having Michigan come first in the presidential primary calendar.

Mark and Jeff are joined by Michigan Advance reporter Ken Coleman. He covers southeast Michigan, economic justice and civil rights … and has some keen insights on the politics of southeast Michigan. He is a former Michigan Chronicle senior editor and served as the American Black Journal segment host on Detroit Public Television. He has written and published four books on black life in Detroit.

Coleman has served as a spokesperson for the Michigan Democratic Party, Detroit Public Schools, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters and U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence. Prior to joining the Advance, he worked for the Detroit Federation of Teachers as a communications specialist.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”

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This week’s focus: brand-new polling on the chaotic GOP race for Governor, along with James Craig’s you’ve-gotta-be-kidding write-in campaign, Perry Johnson’s latest court loss, and the state Senate going out of its way to diss LGBTQ+ Michiganders.

Our guest this week is Detroit state Representative Joe Tate, considered the frontrunner for House Democratic Leader in the 2023-24 session. We’ll talk about how Michigan Democrats plan to flip the state House and Senate and give Michigan its first Democrat-run state government since Jim Blanchard’s first term as Governor in 1983—39 years ago!

Representative Tate is a Detroit native. His father was a firefighter for the City of Detroit who gave his life while serving the city, while his mother was a Detroit public school teacher.

His first claim to fame came in athletics as a three-year starter and team captain on the Michigan State football team. In addition to his success on the field, Tate earned a degree in Public Policy and received Academic All-Big Ten honors for his excellence in the classroom. After graduating from MSU, Joe moved on to the National Football League (NFL) where he spent two years playing for three teams.

Tate left his career in athletics and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in the United States Marine Corps. He deployed twice to Afghanistan, first as a Platoon Commander and then as a Company Executive Officer, where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of hundreds of Marines and sailors. After an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps, resumed his education, earning an MBA and Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Planning, both from the University of Michigan.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”

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It has been a week focused on the intersection of crime and politics:

• The initial hearing of the January 6 Special Committee laying the case that Trump led the attempted coup;
• GOP gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley arrested by the FBI;
• Multiple other Michigan Republicans facing criminal investigations
• Also this week: James Craig launches a Quixotic write-in campaign for Governor, believing that’s less of a challenge than collected 15,000 valid signatures.

Mark and Jeff mull over the politics of this week’s Law and Order edition of “A Republic, If You Can Keep It”.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”