A Republic, If You Can Keep It

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. Form...

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-...

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...

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 occasiona...

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&...

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 w...

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 tal...

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&#...

In the rapidly developing state political scene — Three frustrated Republican would-be candidates for Governor lose in court The remaining GOP gubernatorial candidates bring a far-right message to the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce The GOP opts to bypass voters on petition-drive-generated laws New polling shows minimal support for Betsy DeVos’s latest efforts to take money away fr...

A seismic shift in Michigan politics with as many as five would-be Republican gubernatorial candidates facing banishment from the August ballot due to petition signature fraud. Joining Mark and Jeff this week are two seasoned political savants to shed some light on the sudden end of the James Craig and Perry Johnson campaigns are Michigan pollster Bernie Porn  of EPIC-MRA; and Detroit native Mike...

This week in politics: Mark Brewer takes a victory lap as Pro-Choice advocates win a crucial court test Multiple state legislative candidates knocked off the ballot by the Secretary of State Mike Pence brings his defund the public schools campaign to Michigan Pennsylvania’s GOP goes full MAGA; Democrats look to flip a Senate seat Two MAGA candidates bite the dust: Madison Cawthorn falls in N...

This week in Michigan: * The Republicans hold their first gubernatorial debate with James Craig MIA * The candidates agree on opposing freedom of choice for women, with nuanced differences on who won in 2020 * Craig concedes petition fraud, but says it’s not his fault * The Detroit Chamber limits participation in its upcoming debate to five candidates … leaving out Tudor Dixon Jeff and...

How does the pending demise of Roe v Wade change Michigan politics in 2022? Mark and Jeff examine the new political playing field with veteran Republican political operative Bill Nowling. Bill Nowling Nowling is Executive Director of Strategic Communication at DP+. Previously, he was communication director for Wayne County (Michigan). Nowling has been a professional communicator for the better par...

The race to be the Republican nominee for Michigan Governor became the latest black eye for the Michigan GOP as petitions from at least 3 of the candidates may have fraudulent signatures. That could mean Perry Johnson, James Craig and/or Tudor Dixon don’t even show up on the primary ballot. Craig has even more problems as northern Michigan Congressman Jack Bergman switches his endorsement fr...

The Republican culture wars was on full, ugly display in Michigan this week…and denounced by one of its targets. State Senator Mallory McMorrow’s floor speech responding to Senator Lana Theis’ fundraising email insinuation that McMorrow was “grooming” children for a life of sexual exploitation went viral with 10-million views and national media attention.   Also this...

Multiple Republican county conventions devolved into chaos as Trump backers faced off with the party’s onetime establishment. Mark and Jeff analyze the fallout from the growing divide in the party and its implications for this fall. Also in our “legitimate political discourse”: the Planned Parenthood lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Michigan’s abortion ban; and...

Trump gives a Castro-esque nearly two-hour speech in Macomb County, promoting his Big Lie believing candidates for Michigan Secretary of State and Attorney General … much to the consternation of non-Trumpist Republicans. A tale of two campaigns: Congressman Fred Upton decides he’s had enough, and would-be Attorney General Tom Leonard is pushed to the exits by his party’s chairper...

The focus in Michigan politics this week is the apparent takeover of the state Republican Party by the Trump Big Lie faction even as the gloves come off in the race for the Attorney General. Bridge Michigan published a major “opposition research” dump on the sketchy professional resume of frontrunner Matt DePerno. DePerno’s campaign is also under pressure for him to disclose how...

Governor Whitmer gained some powerful evidence of leadership for her reelection campaign with a pair of huge victories: announcement of a $1.7-billion expansion of a car-battery plant in west Michigan (weeks after GM’s $7-billion investment commitment for electric vehicles and battery manufacturing); and an agreement with the Republican Legislature on a $4.7-billion supplemental spending bil...

There’s plenty going on in Michigan politics. Jeff and Mark offer their takes on the apparent domination of Donald Trump in Michigan politics, and the massive field of Democratic candidates in the Detroit-based 13th congressional district. In our second segment, our focus shifts to Putin’s vicious war on Ukraine. Joining the conversation is one of the nation’s leading experts on...

Jeff is off this week as he and his family deal with the sudden passing of their youngest son. Our hearts go out to Jeff, Mattie and their four other children. They have asked that we all respect their privacy. If you would like to send a message to the family, you can email “Comments@ARepublicPodcast.com”. Pinch-hitting for Jeff this week is one of the best of state capitol journalist...

Since our last “legitimate political discourse,” Putin invaded Ukraine on what he labeled a peacekeeping mission (complete with bombs, missiles and miles-long convoys), President Biden began what the White House hopes is a reset with his State of the Union address, and the debate over Michigan’s new legislative districts’ impact on African-American voters became more heated...

The week in Michigan Politics: There’s another multi-millionaire candidate for Governor who’s off to a rocky-but-expensive start. Abortion and the right to use birth control grow as possibly pivotal issues in the 2022 general election. Mark and Jeff analyze both subjects. The conversation pivots to the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump. Adding her expertise is former...

Another bizarre week in Michigan politics: * former Michigan Republican chairperson Laura Cox is subpoenaed by Congress * the home of two top staffers of former House Speaker Lee Chatfield is raided by the state police * the Michigan Republican Party has an internal fight over how it will count votes at its state convention – will they continue to use the machines they bought from Dominion?...

Still more on the Electoral College fraud conspiracy, the ever-growing field of far-right-wing Republican gubernatorial candidates and an amazing roster of petition drives are afloat in Michigan. Those of the subjects of our opening segment, now officially called our weekly “Legitimate Political Discourse.” Then we shift the focus to the long-term future. While most of the political fo...