There’s nothing like waking up on a bright Sunday morning, taking a deep breath of crisp fall air and savoring a moment of quietude with a hot cup of coffee in hand.
With less than one month before the midterm election I, admittedly, will be clinging to those moments with a bit of desperation.
Indoors, we’re only a TV remote press away from a nonstop battle for our votes, playing out over airwaves and social media. More than $20 million was spent running political ads on Michigan TVs in the last week alone, according to AdImpact, and things are only expected to ramp up in the campaign season’s final stretch.
Abortion, education and the economy are all taking center stage in this election. As absentee ballots hit mailboxes throughout the state, my colleagues and I will be writing about the candidates and issues you need to make informed choices on key candidates and issues, no matter when or where you choose to vote.
What better place to start than with those names on the top of the ballot? This past week and moving forward, MLive has been publishing interviews with the candidates vying to lead Michigan.
– Incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told me she’d still want to find a permanent solution for road funding in a second term, but isn’t interested in trying to raise the gas tax again. Education, climate change and economic growth top her list of priorities, while arguing she is a key bulwark in the fight to protect access to abortion.
– Republican Tudor Dixon, meanwhile, details how she believes Michigan needs to get back on track. It begins with education, she told me, and extends to cracking down on crime and slashing regulations. Abortion, Dixon would like voters to believe, shouldn’t be a relevant issue in her election. “Never once have I said I’m running on my personal pro-life position,” she told a room full of supporters Friday.
My colleague Ben Orner is also out with profiles of the major-party attorney general candidates, who came out swinging in their respective interviews.
– Incumbent Democrat Dana Nessel called her opponent a “fundamentally flawed human being” who’d flout election law to see from president Donald Trump back in office. She touted her own streak of wins, including expanding Michigan’s civil right law and an $800 million opioid settlement.
– Republican nominee Matt DePerno gained prominence by questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 election, but argues voters should pick him to instead fight crime and progressive views as attorney general. DePerno, who has no fear of histrionics, called Nessel a “groomer” who wants to “wants to sexualize our children within the education system.”
I’m eagerly awaiting Ben’s insights from the secretary of state race.
We also have overviews out on a couple of key Congressional races. Jordyn Hermani dives into what could be one of the country’s most expensive races: Michigan’s 7th district, where incumbent Democrat Elissa Slotkin is hoping to win over a moderate constituency for a third time, this time against state senator Tom Barrett.
Alyssa Burr meanwhile examines the new 10th U.S. House district in Macomb County, where John James is hoping the third time’s the charm for his congressional aspirations after twice coming up short to win a U.S. Senate seat.
Blink and you might have missed it, pouncing at the prospect of getting a bigger piece of the EV manufacturing pie, the legislature quickly wrote a $1 billion check to the state’s economic development fund, which the Governor signed earlier this week.
Almost immediately after, a major chuck of that check was cashed as economic incentives were approved for Chinese battery maker Gotion and the $2.4 billion facility it plans to build in Big Rapids.
Both Whitmer and many legislative Republicans were happen to tally the thousands of promised jobs up as a win for the state after seeing Michigan passed up for some major EV manufacturing projects in the recent past.
Dixon, however, has railed against the move — not out of opposition to economic incentives, but because of the corporation’s ownership.
“I do not want to have our adversaries buying property here in the state of Michigan,” Dixon said on Friday. “I think that our Chinese adversaries have a dangerous plan for the United States of America.”
For some related viewing, the 2019 documentary “American Factory” on Netflix offers a complex, human portrait of the trials and tribulations when a shuttered Ohio plant reopens under Chinese ownership. My girlfriend and I, for our part, are getting into Spooky Season with a viewing of Mel Brooks’ iconic “Young Frankenstein.”
Top of my viewing agenda this week will be Thursday’s first gubernatorial debate on WOOD TV. While you all will be watching from the comfort of your homes, I will be in studio, diligently reporting for you as it unfolds. We learned recently that this will be the first debate of two, with a second to be held Oct. 25 in metro Detroit.
