With a strong governor, a Legislature passing a raft of liberal measures and a looming early presidential primary, Michigan Democrats are testing the promise and pitfalls of complete control of the state.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin delivers remarks at a student sit-in demonstration at the State Capitol in Lansing, Feb. 15, 2023.
“It would be a mistake for anyone to look at that and think Michigan is not still a tossup, very competitive, very diverse state that’s going to decide the outcome of the next national election again,” she said. “The state Republican Party is not reflective of the average Republican in Michigan,” Whitmer said, nodding to the hard-right turn of the Michigan GOP. “I don’t think that everyone’s all of a sudden become Democrats.”But Democrats have moved assertively to act on their power, which includes full control of the Legislature and governor’s mansion for the first time in 40 years, focusing on both pocketbook priorities and cultural issues.
Whitmer’s victory margin of nearly 11 percentage points — on par or ahead of governors in several more liberal states — has only encouraged a perception among many Democrats that she is possible presidential material. The state Republican Party is now helmed by an election denier, Kristina Karamo, who lost her November race for secretary of state by 14 points and has stoked doubts about her ability to run a serious operation.
The primary and the general elections for Senate are political lifetimes away, but Slotkin, a Democratic congressperson from a competitive district, is currently in a commanding position in the race. Certainly, it is difficult to predict how the Democratic strength on display last fall will translate in 2024. The contests were defined in part by an extraordinary backlash to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and a major, successful initiative to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution — and it is far too early to say what issues will be galvanizing next year.
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