The Ballenger Report

 Question 1): A Dec. 27 meeting has been scheduled to remove Kristina KARAMO from the post of Michigan Republican Party Chair. About what percentage of the state party’s dysfunction would this fix?  Answer 1): Maybe 30%. She’s the biggest single problem, but an enormous clean-up operation awaits the new chair. Also, WHO WILL BE THE […]

Special State House Elections Announced For Jan. 30, April 16, 2024 Question 1): Gov. Gretchen WHITMER two weeks ago called for a special election outside of the already scheduled 2024 election days to fill two now-vacant state House seats. The dates, Jan. 30 for the primary and April 16 for the general election, will be […]

Question 1): House Republican Leader Matt Hall two weeks ago offered a proposal to compel a bipartisan power-sharing agreement in the Michigan House of Representatives as the partisan makeup of the legislative chamber moves to a tie between Republicans and Democrats. Two House Democrats were elected to other offices Nov. 8, which leaves the House […]

It doesn’t look that way, at least anytime soon. The party organization is in a shambles, with seemingly no way out.  But wait! Maybe help is on the way from an unusual source that we don’t usually like to rely on— Ohio! How does that work? Ohio Republicans are in the majority everywhere up and […]

Question 1): The 102nd Michigan Legislature will adjourn sine die for the year tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 14). This is the first time the Legislature has disbanded       before Thanksgiving since 1968, a year when the GOP did it with a Republican governor (George Romney) and a Republican-controlled Legislature. Why did majority Democrats decide to leave early […]

POLL: Clear Majority of Michigan Voters Favor Retaining Long-Standing Regulations on Abortions, and Voters also oppose Spending Taxpayer Dollars on Projects Connected to the Chinese Communist Party   Question 1): A clear majority of voters in the state, including those who voted for Proposal 3 last November, support retaining long-standing regulations on abortions that are […]

The Clock Is Ticking On Proposal 1 Legislation  Question 1): Here’s what was on the ballot on Nov. 8, 2022 — TERM LIMITS FOR STATE LEGISLATORS AND FINANCIALDISCLOSURE REPORTS OF STATE ELECTED OFFICIALSSUMMARY:Proposal 22-1 would amend the state constitution to change its term limit provisions for statelegislators. Currently, a person cannot be elected more than […]

HOW MUCH MORE ‘HARD BALL’ DO DEMOCRATS WANT TO PLAY? Bear with us on this one — we’re really going into the weeds. If you stick it out, you’ll be rewarded with greater knowledge on a critically important political development that’s been almost completely ignored by the “legacy” or MSM (MainStream Media). As reported in […]

They both could have been somebodies. They could have been “contenders” (see “On the Waterfront”). But they threw it all away. Why? We’re talking about two former Republican Congressmen from Michigan — David Trott of Birmingham, who served from 2015-2019 in the old 11th District, and Paul Mitchell (R-Dryden, in the Thumb), who served from […]

Question 1): Former state legislators from Detroit, as well as their constituents and their attorneys, last week denounced the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) for “its discriminatory practices” by drastically cutting the number of majority-Black districts in its 2022 maps. MIRS newsletter reported that ex-state Rep. Sherry GAY-DAGNOGO hosted a press conference at St. […]