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Topping the political news this week: the Governor delivers a populist State of the State message, with Democrats in the Legislature cheering repeatedly and Republican members sitting on their hands – even to the point of not cheering a proposal to help young children, or throwing shade at Ohio and Indiana. Mark and Jeff analyze the Governor’s address, and talk legislative priorities with the first woman to serve as Senate Majority Leader, Grand Rapids Senator Winnie Brinks.

Also this week: in what’s becoming our weekly Republicans in Trouble segment, Macomb Prosecutor Pete Lucido has done it again – this time quoting the GOAT of insurrectionists, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and being targeted in another lawsuit alleging official misconduct. And there’s a lot happening in both the state and national Republican Party leadership that pits the ultra-MAGAs against less extreme MAGAs.

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks has the historic distinction of being the first woman to ever hold this position in the Michigan Senate, as well as being the first woman to represent Grand Rapids in the Michigan Senate in more than 100 years. Her legislative focus has been on clean drinking water in Michigan and has worked tirelessly on efforts to reduce the prevalence of toxic PFAS chemicals in it. Her other policy passions have included improving equity in maternal health care, reproductive rights, reducing prescription drug costs, and helping uplift local communities and organizations.

Before being elected to the state House (where she served two terms) Brinks was a caseworker at The Source, helping businesses and nonprofits improve workplaces and retain employees. She also worked as the director of a community-based corrections agency and as a school paraprofessional. She is a graduate of Calvin College, earning a bachelor’s degree in Spanish with a concentration in sociology.

State of the State

• Whitmer in State of the State calls for tax cuts, gun safety
• 5 takeaways from Michigan Gov. Whitmer’s State of the State speech
• Gretchen Whitmer State of the State: Tax cuts, gun reform, expand pre-K
• State of the State: Whitmer urges ‘immediate’ tax relief, gun reforms
• Michigan Democrats move to strike abortion ban references from state law
• Michigan revenue surplus balloons to $9.2B as ‘mild recession’ looms

Also this week

• Calley and El-Sayed rule out Senate campaigns, McMorrow stays mum
• Slotkin preps Senate run after winning tough reelection bid | AP News
• In Michigan, Democratic women are rising. Now some are weighing a Senate run. – The Washington Post
• Trump endorses DePerno in race for Michigan Republican Party chair
• Michigan Senate OKs earlier presidential primary, to dismay of GOP
• Bitter RNC chair race roiled by questions of Trump loyalty – The Washington Post
• Ex-assistant prosecutor accuses Lucido of retaliation, sues under whistleblower law
• Macomb Prosecutor Lucido apologizes for post quoting Robert E. Lee
• Pete Lucido lands in hot seat again over allegations of racism, sexism
• Dems vote to give states more time on new primary calendar | AP News
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer open to charging tolls on Michigan roads
• Highway tolls could raise $1B to fix Michigan roads, study finds. Is it time?
• Report: Electric vehicle sales could cost Michigan roads $500M by 2030
• Right-to-Work repeal just a start: Michigan Democrats eye pro-worker agenda
• Historic fight brewing over repeal of Michigan’s ‘right-to-work’ law
• Susan J. Demas: Michigan Democrats can’t buckle on repealing Right to Work
• Michigan GOP to Democrats: Don’t mess with income tax rollback
• Michigan Democrats aim to tighten environment regs, reduce industry control
• Lawmakers plan ethics reforms amid ‘several ongoing investigations’
• A Majority of Republican Voters Say the GOP Should Raise the Debt Limit — Without Cuts to Social Security or Medicare
• End may be near for Michigan redistricting panel, a year after finishing maps
• At a Va. union hall, Biden to tout accomplishments, take aim at GOP – The Washington Post

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We’ve got a MAGA alert agenda this week:

• Michigan Republicans have a battle of election deniers for chair of their party. 
• Some top Michigan Republicans want to draft charisma-challenged Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to lead the 2024 ticket. 
• In Ottawa County, the MAGA takeover of the Republican Party is on full display with a purge of county officials who aren’t radical enough for the new county commission. 
• And the MAGA wing is looking at a takeover of some mid-Michigan school boards. 

The MAGA-craziness is on display in DC as well, with reality-adjacent people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan now into power positions in the U.S. House…which also features a couple of committee assignments for the Congressman currently known as George Santos.

Joining the conversation this week is former Republican Denver Riggleman of Virginia. A former Air Force officer and National Security Agency contractor, Riggleman was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2018. He was defeated in his bid for reelection in 2020, losing to Republican primary challenger Bob Good in a drive-through party convention. 

Riggleman co-authored a book with Hunter Walker titled, The Breach, which was published in October of 2022. The book detailed his work on the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. He is the only member of the Republican party to speak on the House of Representatives floor against QAnon. He is a co-sponsor of 2020 US House resolution “Condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes”. He is also one of the co-authors of the Network Contagion Research Institute report called “THE QANON CONSPIRACY: Destroying Families, Dividing Communities, Undermining Democracy” which he wrote before the January 6 storming of the US Capitol.

This week in Michigan politics: 

• Michigan Democrats: Let’s move up presidential primary. GOP: Not so fast | Bridge Michigan
• New Hampshire Democrats to Biden: Changing primary calendar will ‘wreak havoc’ on us   | The Hill
• Biden risks backlash with 2024 presidential election primary calendar
• Inside the Early Elbowing for Michigan’s Open Senate Seat
• Pressure coming for Stabenow to step down early | WLNS 6 News
• Perry Johnson, mulling presidential or U.S. Senate run in Michigan, plans Super Bowl ad
• Basically broke, Michigan GOP to charge delegates to attend convention | Bridge Michigan
• New Ottawa County board ends racial diversity office, hires John Gibbs
• Ottawa County’s newly named health officer spread baseless COVID-19 info
• Michigan GOP chair candidates stick with unproven election claims
• Conservative group names 5 Greater Lansing school districts to watchlist
• Top Michigan Republicans move to draft DeSantis for 2024
• Michigan Biden electors sue false Trump slate
• House GOP votes: Marjorie Taylor Greene is not ‘fringe‘
• Insider: Some <Michigan state Legislators>… relegated to subcommittees after speaker vote

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:
• Public Opinion Surveys
• Market Research Studies
• Live Telephone Surveys
• On-Line and Automated Surveys
• Focus Group Research
• Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns
• Political Campaigns & Consulting
• Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research
• Community – Media Relations
• Issue – Image Management
• Database Development & List Management

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The Michigan Legislature’s 2023 session has officially started. Democrats, now controlling both chambers for the first time in 40 years, have already introduced a raft of high-priority bills. And the 2024 game of political musical chairs is underway. We update the race to succeed Debbie Stabenow in the Senate, and the likely domino effect of that race on Michigan’s congressional delegation.

Walt Sorg sits in for Mark Brewer who is on vacation. Walt and Jeff decided that makes it a good time to talk about Mark behind his back … specifically about how Mark was one of the behind-the-scenes heroes of the 2022 midterm election. His constant vigilance over those who would wreak havoc on the electoral process was a big factor in keeping the election and post-election period quiet and without controversy.

Some of the stories in this week’s panoply of Michigan politics:

• Perry Johnson considering U.S. Senate bid, launching book
• Holly Otterbein on Twitter: “Abdul El-Sayed…doesn’t “have any plans” to run for Senate in 2024
• Ken Coleman on Twitter: “Former state Rep. Leslie Love (D-Detroit) interested in running for U.S. Senate
• Opinion | Debbie Stabenow retires, but Democrats can keep Michigan’s Senate seat – The Washington Post
• Benson on Michigan Senate run: ‘I’m really happy in my current job’
• Michigan AG Nessel reopens investigation into false Trump electors – Detroit News
• Dana Nessel: There’s ‘clear evidence’ to charge fake electors loyal to Trump – Bridge Michigan
• Returning citizens feel betrayed after Bernstein blasts clerk hire – Detroit Free Press
• Peters will again chair the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm – NBC News
• AP-NORC Poll on 2023 Priorities
• CBS News poll: Inflation, cooperation and…investigation? Americans on what the new Congress should — and shouldn’t — deliver – CBS News
• DeVos-funded campaign for school voucher-like plan withdraws petitions in a sign of defeat | Bridge Michigan
• Ann Arbor Public Schools mask mandate relieves some, frustrates others | Bridge Michigan
• Michigan Republicans pitch absentee ‘ballot harvesting.’ That’s not legal. | Bridge Michigan
• Speaker, Senate Majority Leader Make Priorities Known with First Bills – Senate news release
• New Democratic majority kicks off session with bills axing Right to Work, 1931 abortion ban ⋆ Michigan Advance
• Michigan Democrats, back in power in Lansing, eye quick action on tax cuts – Bridge Michigan
• Historic fight brewing over repeal of Michigan’s right-to-work law – Detroit Free Press
• 8 Republicans vote against Tate as House speaker as GOP grapples with life in the minority ⋆ Michigan Advance

===========================

This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:
• Public Opinion Surveys
• Market Research Studies
• Live Telephone Surveys
• On-Line and Automated Surveys
• Focus Group Research
• Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns
• Political Campaigns & Consulting
• Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research
• Community – Media Relations
• Issue – Image Management
• Database Development & List Management

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:40 — 36.1MB)

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In Washington D.C., Republicans are a hot mess – with two former Michigan congressmen waiting in the wings as a possible solution. In Michigan – a political shocker. Even as Democrats take full control of state government, Senator Debbie Stabenow drops a political bombshell.

Michigan politics has been upended by the decision of Senator Stabenow to end a half-century of public service to, in her words, “I intend to begin a new chapter in my life that includes continuing to serve our State outside of elected office while spending precious time with my amazing 96-year-old mom and my wonderful family.”

The Michigan inauguration on January 1 not only launched the Democratic trifecta in Michigan State government, it cemented the prominence of women and minority group members in all the centers of political power within state government. Women are now Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Senate Majority Leader, Chief Justice, House Speaker Pro Tem, and chairs of both the House and Senate Appropriations Committee. Two more top leaders — the Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House — are African Americans, and the two Majority Floor leaders are am Indian-American and Middle East-American. Add to that: eight of Michigan’s 13 members of Congress are women!

In other political news over the last week:

• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sworn in for second term: 8 issues to watch in 2023 in Michigan | Bridge Michigan
• Whitmer pledges gun control, relief for seniors, in 2nd inaugural speech
• Gretchen Whitmer won’t boost gas taxes. But maybe a mileage tax for roads? | Bridge Michigan
• Livengood: Michigan Legislature’s term limits experiment begins anew
• Michigan Supreme Court picks Clement as Chief Justice for full term
• Meet Michigan’s new lawmakers: They’re younger, more educated, less diverse | Bridge Michigan
• Hey Michigan Dems: Here are four ways to score bipartisan wins this year | Bridge Michigan
• Whitmer’s husband, Marc Mallory, retired from dentistry after threats
• Finley: Fred Upton finds House speaker suggestion ‘intriguing’
• Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash tweets outside bid for House speaker
• Amash at Capitol to pitch himself as ‘nonpartisan’ speaker amid tumult
• All but two McCarthy defectors in House are election deniers – The Washington Post
• Lavora Barnes seeks reelection as leader of Michigan Democratic Party
• ‘To Hell with It’: A GOP Congressman <Peter Meijer> Reflects on His One Term in Trump’s Party – POLITICO
• Charlie Kirk delivers a warning to the RNC, and sparks a backlash – The Washington Post
• New Ottawa County board ends racial diversity office, hires John Gibbs | Bridge Michigan
• Feds assisting probe of former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield | Bridge Michigan
• Insider: House Dem leader says Chatfield ethics review still needed
• The Michigan lawyer pushing Trump’s voter-fraud fictions in U.S. court
• Michigan evaded election chaos in midterm
• Testimony of former MI GOP chair Laura Cox to Jan 6 committee
• Colleen House, GOP activist and first wife of John Engler, dies at 70
• Art in the U.S. Capitol honors 141 enslavers and 13 Confederates – Washington Post
• MI Legislature approves resolution to replace Lewis Cass statue in US Capitol;

===========================

This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:
• Public Opinion Surveys
• Market Research Studies
• Live Telephone Surveys
• On-Line and Automated Surveys
• Focus Group Research
• Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns
• Political Campaigns & Consulting
• Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research
• Community – Media Relations
• Issue – Image Management
• Database Development & List Management

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:41 — 16.2MB)

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More than 100 years ago, George Satayana wrote “those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.” When it comes to political scandals it is especially true. So today, some Michigan political history that may foreshadow one of the first big stories of 2023.

And that is the investigation of former state House Speaker Lee Chatfield – an investigation that began with accusations of sexual misbehavior and quickly branched out to major misuse of government money, campaign fundraising practices bordering on bribery, and the sometimes toxic intersection of high-powered lobbyists and government decision makers.

29 years ago Lansing was embroiled in a scandal with many of the same overtones of the Chatfield affair. Massive amounts of money were stolen by the powerful and excessively independent director of the state House of Representatives’ fiscal agency. 

As has been true with the Chatfield scandal, much of the public’s knowledge of the corrupt behavior was revealed by reporters from the Detroit News. The coverage of the 1993 House Fiscal Agency Scandal was led by reporters Jim Mitzelfeld and Eric Freedman. They were awarded a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting … and they join us on a special edition of “A Republic, If You Can Keep It”. (The interview was recorded before we learned that the U.S. Justice Department was assisting in the Chatfield investigation; anything either of our guests say regarding that investigation is solely based on what they had read in the news.)

For more information on the two scandals:

• The 7 worst political scandals in Michigan history
• The Scandal, 20 Years Later – John Lindstrom blog post
• Corruption lingers 20 years after legislative scandal erupts – Spartan Newsroom (by Eric Freedman)
• Leaders act quickly in fiscal agency scandal. – Free Online Library
• U.S. v. MORBERG | 863 F.Supp. 511 (1994) | upp51111272 | Leagle.com
• Michigan State Police hand off Lee Chatfield probe to Attorney General | Bridge Michigan
• Ex-Speaker Lee Chatfield provided foothold in government for lobbyists – Detroit News
• Lee Chatfield traveled the nation as Michigan’s speaker, but who paid?
• Livengood: Chatfield scandal exposes unchecked influence of lobbyists
• Commentary: Tarnished gavels – Is corruption an occupational hazard for House speakers? – Spartan Newsroom (by Eric Freedman)

===========================

This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:
• Public Opinion Surveys
• Market Research Studies
• Live Telephone Surveys
• On-Line and Automated Surveys
• Focus Group Research
• Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns
• Political Campaigns & Consulting
• Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research
• Community – Media Relations
• Issue – Image Management
• Database Development & List Management

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The recounts show what we all knew: Michigan’s elections were fair, and the vote counts accurate.

Michigan has a major supporting role in the January 6 final report – with evidence that could put some state Republicans in jail as it details efforts by Donald Trump to overturn Joe Biden’s Michigan victory.

And two of the top-tier Biden successors, according to the buzz machine, are Michiganders: Gretchen Whitmer and Pete Buttigieg. One of them is reported quietly building a campaign infrastructure if Biden decides not to run.

Also in this week’s cornucopia of politics and/or political crime news:
• Final Report of the January 6th Committee
• Michigan Trump electors invoked 5th Amendment more than 100 times
• Michigan recount: Big expense, very few changed votes, results show | Bridge Michigan
• Partial hand recounts of two ballot proposals validate election results
• Michigan election board certifies recounts upholding proposal win
• In strategy session, Michigan Republicans say donors abandoned them
• What Trump told Shirkey, Chatfield to try to get Michigan election overturned
• Buttigieg 2024 – Punchbowl News
• The Democrats Have a Deeper Bench Than You Think – The Bulwark
• How Democrats could use their big Michigan win to set up the 2024 race – POLITICO
• New Statewide Poll: Inflation Concerns Persist, Voters Optimistic About Democracy – Detroit Regional Chamber
• Insider: Voters in poll see gun laws as priority for Michigan Legislature
• How Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democrats plan to cut Michigan taxes in 2023 | Bridge Michigan
• Michigan Democrats eye other abortion law changes as Prop 3 set to take effect | Bridge Michigan
• Read the summary of the Jan. 6 committee report – The Washington Post
• Trump is accused of using copyrighted images in his NFT collection | The Independent
• Chatfield scandal helped boost reform effort, but Senate failed us

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” throughout 2022!

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Jeff and Mark are traveling this week as we record the “pre-criminal-referrals” episode of the podcast.

Jeff is getting the better end of the deal! He’s in Nashville where leaders of the Lincoln Project are holding their post-midterm victory lap…beginning planning for 2024..and sampling the hospitality of America’s country music capitol.

Mark is coming up for air after still another long day of another recount. The futility of the partial recounts of Proposals 2 and 3 being highlighted by a Michigan state Supreme Court ruling, and a federal Appeals Court ruling in Colorado both burying the Big Lie and the attorneys promoting it.

• Michigan Supreme Court ends suit over 2020 election results in Antrim County | Bridge Michigan
• Experts: Michigan recounts that won’t change outcome show law must change | Bridge Michigan
• CO District Court Ruling on Election ‘Fraud’ Lawsuit

Elsewhere in political news this week:

• Livonia clerk was pressured to hand over election equipment
• Rebound in Confidence: American Democracy and the 2022 Midterm Elections | Bright Line Watch
• Poll: Many Michigan voters ready to move on from Trump, Biden in 2024
• ‘Marshall Law!’: Dozens of GOP Politicians Texted Meadows About Overturning 2020
• Pete’s campaign in waiting – POLITICO
• ‘High level’ appointees, lobbyists entangled in Chatfield probe, Nessel’s office says
• Gov. Whitmer says Michigan needs ethics reforms amid Chatfied probe
• Insider: Michigan lawmakers’ farewells warn of money’s influence in Lansing
•  Michigan redistricting commission sues for funding, long after finishing maps | Bridge Michigan
• House GOP reckons with ‘candidate quality’ problem after midterms — and ahead of 2024 – POLITICO
• Michigan GOP official: Shut down ‘by force’ public library with LGBTQ books | Bridge Michigan
• Jan. 6 committee to vote Monday on riot criminal referrals | AP News

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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Lame ducks, federal subpoenas re: Michigan’s 2020 election, a Supreme Court hearing on ending democratic elections, another court hearing on the lawyers who pushed the BIg Lie in Michigan, a bizarre farewell speech from the top Republican in state government, and a new wrinkle in the Democratic Party’s plans to shift the presidential primary schedule – a shift that could mean even better news for Michigan.

And for the last few days Mark has been in the middle of some of some won’t-change-anything recounts … which are really an effort to shore up the BIg Lie conspiracy theories from 2020.

Jeff Timmer and Mark Brewer sound off on all of these issues … and more

Some links to help you follow all the crazy:

• Michigan board slams recounts as ‘frivolous,’ allows them to proceed – Detroit News
• Michigan recounts of ballot proposals underway: Here’s why – Detroit Free Press
• Georgia becomes major roadblock to Biden’s 2024 primary calendar plan – Axios Atlanta
• Trump’s bad week is bad news for his comeback | CNN Politics
• Georgia Runoff Election Results: Warnock Beats Walker – The New York Times
• ‘Very lame lame duck’: Michigan lawmakers wrap up work for the year – Detroit Free Press
  
• Michigan GOP’s reign in Legislature ends with a whimper: No spending deal | Bridge Michigan
  
• Michigan Senate GOP leader warns of push for ‘one world governance
• Special counsel Jack Smith subpoenas Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin officials for Trump communications in Jan. 6 probe – The Washington Post
• Justice Department special counsel subpoenas Wayne County Officials – Detroit Free Press
• North Carolina redistricting case before Supreme Court could lead to profound change – The Washington Post
• How Right-Wing Groups Set the Stage for the Supreme Court to Rig Future Elections – Mother Jones
• Sen. Gary Peters issues sweeping report on government’s COVID response – Detroit Free Press
• Senate Dems’ victorious campaign QB <Gary Peters> reluctant to run it back – POLITICO
• Midwestern House Dems push for leaders between the coasts – POLITICO

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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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Donald Trump may be drawing a lot of heat for his Ye-Dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes at his Mar-A-Lago crime scene, but his acolytes in Michigan appear to be firmly in control of the state’s Republican Party. Potential criminal defendant Matt DePerno appears poised to become the new state Republican chair, but he now has opposition from a more traditional Republican: former congressman Pete Hoekstra.

• Pete Hoekstra plans to run for Michigan GOP chair against Matt DePerno
  Pete Hoekstra on “Off the Record” 11-23-2022

State Democrats are in the middle of a different battle: the high-stakes debate over which states will go first in the 2024 presidential primary schedule. The lame-duck state Senate, still under Republican control, is cooperating with efforts to convince the Democratic National Committee to move Michigan to the head of the line.

• Biden pushes South Carolina as first primary state, elevates Georgia and Michigan – The Washington Post
• Biden seeks overhaul of presidential nominating calendar, bumping Iowa – Detroit Free Press
• State Senate votes to hold Michigan’s 2024 presidential primary earlier

Also in Michigan political news this week:

• Michigan Board of State Canvassers approves 2022 election results
• Judge blocks release of search warrant documents in Chatfield investigation
• Dems’ bid to install Coleman Young statue in U.S. Capitol wins GOP support
• Democrats more positive about Biden post-Midterms | Ipsos
• Mike Lindell announces his bid for RNC chair following an endorsement by Donald Trump
• Livengood: New senator hopes to avoid becoming Michigan Senate’s Joe Manchin

Joining the conversation this week are two of Michigan’s top political consultants, Amy Chapman and Jon Hoadley.

Chapman’s political activism dates back nearly 40 years. While earning her B.A. in politics and journalism from New York University in 1983, she worked on the field staff for former Rep. Andrew Maguire (D) of New Jersey in 1980. After graduating, she worked as the deputy field director and assistant to the political director for former California Senator Alan Cranston (D) when he ran for president in 1984. She was Michigan state director of the Obama presidential campaign in 2008, Oregon state director of the Bill Clinton campaign in 1992 and more recently headed up the Michigan Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign. Nine years ago Chapman formed Amy Chapman Consulting, based in Madison Heights to “provide strategic guidance, planning and assessment management” for nonprofit foundations and other organizations.  

Jon Hoadley served three terms in the Michigan House, representing the Kalamazoo area. Hoadley has been involved in LGBT and progressive political advocacy since college, and has worked on political campaigns since 2004. Currently, he serves on the Michigan Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights . Prior to his election to the Michigan Legislature, he became president and owner of Badlands Strategies, a progressive public affairs consulting firm. During this time he managed a local campaign to defend Kalamazoo’s local non-discrimination ordinance, and assisted with a similar campaign in Royal Oak.  He also managed the campaign to elect Justice Bridget Mary McCormack and worked with the Unity Michigan Coalition.

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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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On this week’s podcast:

In Lansing, Democrats are quickly and quietly putting in place their leadership structure as they prepare to take control of both chambers. In Washington, it’s just the opposite for House Republicans who face the prospect of being unable to elect a Speaker of the House.

The upcoming resignation of Michigan Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack brings some major changes to the court: a centrist Republican appointee as the new Chief Justice (at least, for awhile) and the first-ever black woman named to McCormack’s unfinished term.

• Elizabeth Clement, a moderate on Michigan Supreme Court, named chief justice | Bridge Michigan
• Kyra Harris Bolden makes history with appointment to Michigan Supreme Court | Bridge Michigan
• Newest Michigan Supreme Court member is a young Black mom. How it’s historic
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s to-do list: gun control, tax cuts, Right-to-Work repeal | Bridge Michigan
• As Democrats take charge in Lansing, some business leaders sweat their agenda | Bridge Michigan
• Michigan GOP leader: Bid to probe 2022 election a ‘shameless’ stunt | Bridge Michigan
• Wentworth: House was ready to investigate allegations against Chatfield
• Biden coming to Michigan on Nov. 29 to tout semiconductor bill
• Opinion | How the Supreme Court can start to regain Americans’ trust in its ethics – The Washington Post
• Morning Consult National Tracking Poll November 18-20

Joining the conversation this week: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Nesselwas reelected with an eight-and-a-half point victory over Big Lie promoter and potential criminal defendant Matt DePerno, a definite improvement over her narrow 2.75 point victory over Tom Leonard four years ago.

As Attorney General, her visibility rose first when state GOP chairman Ron Weiser referred to her as one of Michigan’s “three witches” (along with Gov. Whitmer and Secretary of State Benson), and achieved national prominence when then-President Donald Trump labeled her a “wacky do-nothing.”

Nessel first achieved legal prominence in 2014 when she successfully argued for the plaintiffs in DeBoer v. Snyder, which challenged Michigan’s ban on the statewide legal recognition of same-sex marriage; the case was eventually combined with others and appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States as Obergefell v. Hodges, which led to the nationwide legal recognition of same-sex marriage. In 2016, she founded Fair Michigan, a nonprofit organization that works to prosecute hate crimes against the LGBT community.

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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.”