Question 1): The administration of President Donald J. Trump seems hell-bent on dismantling the U.S. Dept. of Education — in fact, abolishing it, with the help of a Republican-held Congress. Trump’s newly-appointed Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, is on board. Aside from whether it’s a good idea, how did it ever come to this?
Answer 1): What goes around, comes around. Using another cliche, this is a belated case of “Be careful what you wish for,” going back to when Jimmy Carter was president. It was Carter who pushed a Democrat-controlled Congress to enact one of his campaign promises — to give the teachers’ unions, especially the National Education Association (NEA), something they had long sought — an independent, free-standing federal education department. In 1979, Congress separated out the “Education” part of the U.S. Dept. of Health, Education & Welfare (HEW) to create a new U.S. Dept. of Education. What was left of HEW, which had existed for nearly three decades, was today’s Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS), still one of the federal government’s largest agencies.
But that meant the new Dept. of Education was a sitting duck target for all the opprobrium heaped on all levels of American education ever since. As student test scores have plummeted relative to other industrialized countries during the past 45 years, and higher education has escalated in cost with little to show in bang for its many bucks, criticism has mounted against the flagship federal department for failing students everywhere. For documentation, check out the most recent “Nation’s Report Card’ in which the country’s 4th and 8th graders are shown to be falling ever farther behind in literacy and math.
To be sure, the amount of money spent by the federal government on education has always been very small compared with what is spent by state and local governments — it was only about 5% before 1979, and it’s still only about 10-15% today, depending on who is doing the counting. However, a disproportionate number of federal school dollars go to special programs to help the disadvantaged, handicapped and minorities, compared with how state and local governments allocate their money.
Yes, Trump, Elon Musk, and McMahon would have taken a sledgehammer to the federal education budget anyway, but they wouldn’t have had such an inviting target if Education — along with the growing antipathy towards activist teacher unions and the perception that K-12 school have become primarily a social services network — was still a part of HEW. The U.S. Dept. of Education has become the focal point of the public backlash against administrators, teachers, and faculties everywhere. Institutional learning would have been better protected from enemies of the “Academy” if HEW had been left alone, with Education in the title but relatively shielded from assault.
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Question 2): As all observers of Michigan government know — and maybe much of the general public as well — U.S. Senator Gary Peters has announced he will not seek re-election in 2026, so the seat is open. One by one, various major prospective candidates have taken themselves out of consideration — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is out, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is out, U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) is out. Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are both running for governor. On the Republican side, the picture is not quite as muddled. Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (the GOP nominee for Michigan’s other Senate seat who lost by a razor-thin margin last year to Democrat Elissa Slotkin) will almost certainly announce soon. The 2022 Republican nominee for governor, Tudor Dixon, is still trying to make up her mind whether she will run for the Senate or for Governor, or maybe neither. Nobody know what U.S. Rep John James (R-10) will do. So, who’s left to consider on either side? Who might run, and who will turn out to be the nominees for each major party?
Answer 2): On the Democratic side, most of the recent chatter has been about state Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) and her current efforts to promote her new memoir/book on getting involved in politics from scratch some seven years ago. She seems poised to announce for the Senate seat next month, and she’ll have a lot of wind at her back — a national fund-raising network and a stint as a speaker at last summer’s Democratic National Convention.
Up to this time, pundits and other political observers have dismissed a run for anything by Attorney General Dana Nessel, but she appears to be ramping up her presence with a series of town halls around the state accentuating her ongoing attempts to confront and defy the Trump administration at every turn. Meanwhile, there is continued speculation about U.S. Reps. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) and even Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City), even though she was just elected to Congress for the first time last year. Also, there is Wayne Co. Health Director Abdul El-Sayed, who finished a distant second to Whitmer in the 2018 Democratic primary for governor.
Of all these, Nessel might seem like the most likely candidate among current officeholders if only because she is term-limited in 2026 whereas Stevens and McDonald Rivet are not., and neither is McMorrow, who could run for one more term in the state Senate under the amended term limits statute approved by voters in 2022. The two Congresswomen can run again (as can Scholten) in safe districts at least until 2032, after the next census. McMorrow’s ability to raise campaign cash stems from her speech rebutting an attack from a Republican state Senator on the Senate floor three years ago that went viral. But don’t count out the polarizing Nessel, who marches to her own drummer and proved it by winning the AG nomination over the establishment favorite at the 2018 Democratic state convention. Yes, she very early on said she wouldn’t run for governor, but she is term-limited and never expected to have a chance to run for the U.S. Senate. Furthermore, she’s the only candidate out there who has been elected twice statewide in a general election. Plus, she has strong appeal to the Democrats’ progressive base. It’s hard to believe she wouldn’t be first in any poll taken now among the various potential candidates for the Democrats.
As for the Republicans, Dixon has a longstanding media presence with a strong conservative following besides having been the Republican nominee for governor against Whitmer in 2022 and holding her own against the governor in debate. Still, if she should run for the Senate, it’s hard to see her beating Rogers, who will have the staff, funding, messaging and organization built up from his oh-so-close Senate loss last year. Yes, auto dealer Kevin Rinke may run, but if he couldn’t beat Dixon in the gubernatorial primary in 2022, it’s highly unlikely he can beat both Rogers and Dixon (if she runs) in 2026. James is in the same position as Stevens, Scholten, and McDonald Rivet — he would have to give up likely re-election to Congress to risk all on an iffy U.S. Senate race (and he’s already lost two such contests).
Bottom line: it’s likely to be Rogers vs. either Nessel or McMorrow in the general election in 2026.
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[After this article, TBR will take a sabbatical to go “Down Under.” No, not to Hades, but to Australia and New Zealand, returning in time for the Kentucky Derby.]
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Bet.
Nice article, Bill, and a good appearance on OTR. Enjoy your time Down Under.
Imagine, Trump doing something that Reagan tried but could not do. As for the US Department of Education, dismantling it does not mean the money goes elsewhere as checks could be sent out of the Treasury or returning DOE to HHS (now imagine Bobby Kennedy running Education). More than likely, there will be block grants (a favorite of the GOP) to the states for special education and other things Congress appropriates. And as long as the US DOE’s defenders cannot point to significant accomplishments of the Department, it becomes harder and harder to preserve it.
As for the US Senate, it seems that the Democrats are clearing the deck for State Senator McMorrow. Nessel may want it, but if she is named to replace Clement, McMorrow’s path through the primary will be infinitely easier, Dr. Al-Sayed notwithstanding. As for the GOP, Rogers would like another chance having lost by – if memory serves – 0.3%, so that is not a stretch that he would run again. You’re right about both Rinke and Dixon. They may stir the hearts of some GOP faithful, but that is not usually enough to win. Just look at 2018. All of this will be bad news for TV stations and others who rely on campaign advertising. If it’s McMorrow and Rogers with no primary fights, that’s a whole summer without ads. Maybe good news for the people, but bad for the stations.
Once again, enjoy your sabbatical and have a couple of pints of Foster for us.
Dana Nessel has been a Comedy of Errors as Michigan Attorney General
(A) the Enbridge/Line 5 litigation – in which she had powerful proof of environmental impact that was adverse – was met with mixed success
(B) the St.Vincent and Catholic Charities cases were disasters for her office in which the State of Michigan eventually agreed to pay $800,000 in attorney fees to reimburse those organizations for lawsuits lacking merit;
(C) the Flint water contamination criminal cases were dismissed after errors were committed in interpreting the Michigan grand jury statute;
(D) the “fake elector” cases have been mired in court for 20 months with little progress.
Nessel’s accomplishments are far outweighed by her office’s failures during her six years in her seat as Michigan Attorney General.
Her ostensible candidacy for U.S. Senate or governor would be met with ridicule.
Excellent review of the Federal Dept. Of Education.
I am most concerned about maintaining funding for I.D.E A. , Civil Rights and Title One money, which Trump has said he will maintain. Seeing is believing- I leave my faith for church.
Secondly, McMorrow v. Rogers for Senate. My fellow Plymouth resident, Dana Nessel, AG, will not run.
Agreed. No one comes close to Mike Rogers in the ability on the GOP side to raise funds for his campaign. As a former committee chair in U.S. Congress you have that ability.
If Rogers does run, I do not expect anyone else to mount a serious challenge against him in the primary.
McMorrow is the presumptive Democratic U.S. Senate nominee – and the only Dem who has ANY shot at beating Rogers in November of 2026..
Some hard-hitting topics this week Bill. Sure to spark discussion for some time to come. Great job, and nice appearance on OTR the other day . . .
wrt Q#1: Woot woot! Finally, as you say, “What goes around, comes around.” After brain filtering the word, V-O-U-C-H-E-R-S, for 50+ years, the ones affected are inching toward their day. Southern Oakland County, by itself, has enough home-schooling high school age kids to populate 2.5 AAA level high schools. And the long-suffering parents have to foot the entire bill.
After typical bullying at the middle school level that resulted in my wife and I getting the option of placing the bully parents in jail for refusing to control their kids (the need evaporated after the bully’s put themselves in reform school after getting nabbed breaking into a local establishment), we yanked both our kids out of the public schools.
We found colleges love home schooled kids. They perform marvelously at the college level, and there are always openings at our great colleges that they reserve for homeschoolers. Both our kids transitioned to college very well with scholarships and are doing well in their careers.
Parochial schoolers are perennially at the top of graduating student achievers. Charter schools would do even better if the certified teacher yoke would be removed.
Teachers’ union teachers never did us anything special other than cause us increasing tax burden each year. Good riddance Dept of Education. We pray now that the state of Michigan wakes up to the elephant that is crowding their room.
Wrt Q#2: Isn’t it something that Caesar’s party can find 3 strong candidates (McMorrow, Nessel and Stevens) with Oakland County roots? But the Republicans can find . . . none? I prefer Stevens over McMorrow or Nessel but could live with all 3. Rogers? I’d prefer James, or even Dixon if she could find the real-time ability to defend her policies. Could we coax Snyder to run? But I fear they would appear as midge-mites compared to Caesar’s big 3. The Republicans need to get their anti-Trump heads out of their naya regions and build their farm club back bench whether Trumpian or not.
Enjoy yer field trip down under Bill!
John James is well-regarded in the Republican Party by grassroots activists.
The problem is that he has already lost TWO statewide elections and the question would be why he just does not run for a third term in U.S. Congress as he has won the last two U.S. House elections?
John James needs to stay in the U.S. House.
“Could we coax Snyder to run?”
Do you mean Rick or Nikki?
Well, I was thinking Rick (I saw him on an interview the other day and he looked battle ready to me; albeit never-Trumper that he appears to be . . .), but Nikki at the national level is A-OK as well . . . 😉
Eliminating the DoE will focus public ire on SBE/MDE and the local school boards. One less actor for parents to blame for our illiterate and ilnumerate public school graduates. Whitmer’s Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) will jockey with the constitutional SBE/MDE over control of federal block grant funds, which the DoE will no longer direct. Could become a major issue in the 2026 Michigan elections.
Become familiar with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and measures to prevent blood clots on long flights. It is a serious risk for travelers to Oz.
Wiping out the federal DOE will shift parental ire and concern back to the State and local school boards. Who knows, maybe people will actually know who is on their local school boards, or better still, vote in those elections and get to school board meetings. Hey, they may even pay attention to who the parties nominate at their conventions for the state boards – including the universities.
Stranger things have happened.
Remember when the MIGOP rallying cry was “No more Common Core!”?
That was because federal revenue sharing in education was tied to adherence of a core curriculum mandated by the U.S. DOE as a precondition to receiving funding.
In other words, the Obama administration governed the curriculum in public schools by tying funding to the corresponding implementation of the DOE policy.
Most Republicans here found that situation to be repugnant.
Ummm. Common core was pushed by Bush…and John Engler. Facts. (And it was probably the right thing to do. The nations that score highest in education attainment have national curriculums. Fact.)
You are conflating concept with execution. The CCCS was originally proposed by William Bennett during the Reagan Administration. It devolved into left wing political indoctrination by the Obama Administration.
Along this road to perdition, conservatives revolted against CCCS.
I actually liked the Common Core concept when William Bennett first espoused it, but by the time Obama’s Dept. of Education issued its policy statements, I and most GOP activists rejected the concept.
Federal policy control of a local school district is bad politics.
What’s sauce for the goose may not be sauce for the gander. Let elected local school boards formulate district policy.
I was a candidate for Wayne State University Board of Governors in 2014 and 2016, and consistently received opinions from GOP party activists that Common Core was an attempt for the federal government to cram Obama’s liberal policies down the throats of our teachers, administrators and schoolchildren.
Anyone who can’t give you the definition of the word “woman” has no business running for an elected position anywhere.
You can’t say that the creation/dismantling of DOE was an example of what goes around/comes around, No!! The dismantling occurred without any due consideration by
Congress. and was done with viciousness and vitriol, unlike its creation.
The Department of Education Organization Act just barely passed in the 96th Congress, by a vote of 215 yay to 201 nay. 77 Democrats joined the Republicans in voting nay. The 17 cowards who failed to vote could have defeated President Carter’s act of abject fealty to the teacher’s unions.
The DoE has spent $ 4 trillion since 1979. Student NAEP reading and writing test scores have not changed with any degree of statistical confidence since 1980. Hence the vitriol.
Mark M Koroi says
(Edit)Project 2025 is the shape of things to come.
It vows to deconstruct the United States Department of Education as a primary policy goal. Betsy DeVos, an esteemed former Education Secretary, called for the dissolution of the department she was once at the helm of.
It wishes to reduce the federal role in education to that “of a statistics-gathering agency that disseminates information to the states.”
Since the LBJ administration in 1965, Title I has plowed massive aid to high-poverty school districts. Project 2025 aims to abolish Title I financing completely. These will be replaced by federal block grants with “no strings attached”. This will affect 2.8 million of the poorest and disadvantaged districts in America.
Project 2025 also seeks abolition of the controversial Head Start program that was once a centerpiece of Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty and serviced 833,000 children during 2022 and would discontinue free school lunches.
The Biden administration’s Title IX rule change that was effective in August of 2024 that bars discrimination due to gender identity and sexual orientation is another Project 2025 target, The Biden-era changes had prohibited schools from requiring transgender schools to use bathrooms and locker rooms that do not correlate to their claimed sexual identity. Biden administration rules also mandated referring to syudents by pronouns they wish to assume.”
Project 2025 aims to abandon these and additional Title IX rules and to to redefine “sex” to exclude “sexual orientation and gender identity” across the spectrum of the federal government.
Project 2025 would seek to largely deregulate charter schools, which drain government funding of the public school system, and have only limited accountability to parents. They would also support a Federal Voucher Bill that would ease the financial burden of parents enrolling their children in private schools.
Project 2025 further seeks to revoke the charter granted by U.S. Congress to the National Education Association. The NEA has blasted this position, claiming Project 2025 is trying to stifle the powerful collective voice of teachers.
Overall, Project 2025 seeks to limit federal control of America’s educational systems and to countervail NEA advocacy of a radical extremist agenda that made great strides under the Biden presidency.
Most conservative Republicans can applaud the goals and work of the Heritage Foundation in its authorship and advocacy of Project 2025.
State Senator Mallory McMorrow announced today that she is officially running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat next year.
If Democratic primary voters were smart they would pick McMorrow over Dana Nessel.
McMorrow has a lot of the characteristics that made Candice Miller successful – a down-to-earth ordinary citizen.
Mike Rogers needs to shed the “Florida Mike” moniker and get an early and better-organized campaign.
Thoughts: Thank Leanne for destroying any claim to residual credibility by the ideology-driven Nessel..
If Snyder stays in the NeverTrump lane, he gets my vote. Some day a sane GOP will crawl out of its hiding place. Send Trump greasy hamburgers. !
Angry white female liberals are the dem base in Michigan. Stevens and McMorrow won their races because of 2018 being a Trump mid-term.
Stevens went to college, and then worked on the Obama campaign, which led to a patronage job in the Obama administration. She over-sells her role as the “chief of staff” for the auto bailout.
McMorrow does not have Michigan roots and is likewise thin on experience outside of winning her state senate seat in Royal Oak. She’s married to a guy from Michigan who is a D-party hack with connections to Granholm.
Nessel also is an AWFL who benefited from the Trump 2018 midterm, but at least she’s a life-long Michigander who had an actual legal career with accomplishments before running for office. She has the better resume to be a US Senator.
Dana Nessel had been the dark horse candidate at the 2018 Michigan Democratic Party Convention for the Michigan Attorney General nomination as most mainstream moderates had endorsed U.S. Attorney Patrick Miles – an he was expected to breeze to the Democratic convention nomination.
A progressive group of pro-LGBT progressive liberals based in Ann Arbor organized and recruited delegates to support Dana Nessel. Most at that convention were stunned when Patrick Miles lost, but that is what highly-organized left-wingers from Ann Arbor are known to accomplish. 2018 also saw Gretchen Whitmer as a featured speaker at Hash Bash – something you would have never seen in prior gubernatorial elections.
Nessel’s nomination – and eventual victory in the general election – was something that progressive liberals in the Democratic Party reveled in. Environmentalists lauded her boldness in taking on the big business when she campaigned against Enbridge corporation and vowed to bring vigorous legal action against the company that had transported vast quantities of oil and natural gas via the pipeline through northern Michigan. Her GOP opponent Tom Leonard defended the pipeline’s operation as a crucial aspect of Michigan’s economy, employing thousands of workers. Voters sided with Nessel on this issue.
Six years later, Nessel is still battling Enbridge’s lawyers in massive litigation that has – at best – been a legal stalemate for the State of Michigan.
Enter 2024, when progressives made the Gaza War their “cause celebre”, hundreds of thousands of progressives in Michigan threw their support behind the “Uncommitted” movement. At conferences hundreds of activists showed up to see elected officials and civic leaders speak in favor of peace. Dana Nessel was not among the many progressive Democrats that included Rashida Tlaib, Detroit City Councilperson Gabriela Santiago-Romero, and Dearborn Mayor Hammoud that addressed the attendees.
Nessel alienated a key Democratic Party base when she protested the removal of the Pride Flag at Hamtramck City Hall – despite the fact the Bangladeshi-American Political Action Committee and YAPAC endorsed her with crucial support in her run for Michigan Attorney General in 2018
Dana Nessel’s record as Michigan Attorney General has been spotty – and her support of progressive causes has been questionable at best. Further she has NO federal experience to be a United States senator. Look at Frank Kelley and Terri Lynn Land how a candidate with ZERO federal experience fares in a U.S. Senate race – not good.
The only people that should want Dana Nessel receive the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 2026 are her prospective GOP opponents. Mallory McMorrow may not be perfect but she has a better shot at being elected than Dana Nessel.
Dana Nessel needs to fade off into the political sunset and hope that Governor Whitmer give her an appointment to the state supreme court.
Of course, legalizing pot on the 2018 ballot helped juice D-turnout…and Whitmer speaking at Hash Bash was part of that strategy…
I just noticed an article today authored by Niraj Warikoo from the Detroit Free Press, in which Assistant Attorney General Danielle Hagaman-Clark, chief of her criminal bureau, seeks an appointment via letter of a Special Prosecutor from the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council to investigate the potential prosecution of SIX SUSPECTS – the letter identifying the first five as Arabic – ad citing that Dana Nessel has a controversial history of prosecuting pro-Palestinian Arab demonstrators at University of Michigan.
Another gaffe by Nessel’s office: as journalist Warikoo points out in his article, only ONE of the six suspects, Councilman Mohammed Alsomiri (who is a Yemeni-American) is Arabic. The remaining five are ether black or Bangladeshi-American – Bangladesh is NOT an Arab country.
Apparently, geography was not her best subject in school.
You are referring to the vote fraud investigation that had been carried out by investigators in Dana Nessel’s office and where in October of 2024 an attorney in her office processed arrest warrant requests that were NEVER sent on to the court for unknown reasons.
As in the Muskegon City Clerk investigation in which Democrat-linked individuals were targets of an election fraud investigation, Dana Nessel does not file charges, her office has done everything in the Hamtramck vote fraud investigation to avoid filing charges against Democratic Party interests.
Also recall when a Metro Detroit father voted his daughter’s absentee ballot, Dana Nessel issued a press release on how she was cracking down on election fraud. Double standard exists apparently. The complex schemes that were alleged in Muskegon and Hamtramck are FAR MORE SERIOUS than an isolated absentee ballot that cast by a family member.
“Nobody know what U.S. Rep John James (R-10) will do.”
“Congressman John James announces run for Governor”
WXYZ-TV, Posted 5:44 PM, Apr 07, 2025
Wow. That is a shocker! He is my Congressman – and lost for statewide office twice before. I had assumed he would take the safe path and seek re-election to his U.S. House seat.
Look for Carl Marlinga to seek his seat in 2026 in the 10th U.S. Congress District.
Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet ruled out a run for U.S. Senate. She will seek reelection to the U.S. House.
Will one of the announced Democratic Michigan Governor candidates reposition to a U.S. Senate candidacy?
Absolutely not.
Garlin Gilchrist for U.S. Senate? Not likely.
Chris Swanson? Are you kidding? No fund raising ability nor any broad name recognition. Maybe a big name in Flint.
Jocelyn Benson? No federal experience other than a brief stint as the law clerk to Judge Damon Keith in the U. S. Court of Appeals. Plus she’s been raising massive funding for he campaign already in the race for governor and has been establishing her campaign staff for the 2026 run for Whitmer’s vaunted seat.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed has stepped down from his post in Wayne County government and it is anticipated he may run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Gary Peters.
He and Mallory McMorrow would be the only two serious Democrats to actively consider the seat.
El-Sayed was defeated by Gretchen Whitmer in the August of 2028 Democratic gubernatorial primary – he is considered to be a progressive liberal.
That was actually the August of 2018 primary election.
Dr. El-Sayed finished a strong second with 30% of the overall primary vote.
Which makes me believe he could beat Mallory McMorrow in the 2026 primary if he runs.
Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers announced today that he will seek Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat in the 2026 election cycle.
Due to fundraising access from GOP leaders at the national level, Mike Rogers will BE A LOCK to get the Senate GOP nomination.
Ditto for John James at the gubernatorial level.
So, we may as well keep stirring the pot while Bill is abroad, yes?
Now, the beef(s) I have with Mike Rogers is,
1) He was, un-apologetically, one of the main proponents of the Patriot Act. And despite lies and promises to the contrary, what did our socialist/globalist Neer-do-wells within our government/FBI do with it? Spied on,
– you, me, moms, dads
– churches, T-parties, conservatives
– Trumps, Pences, cabinet members
Basically, everybody except,
– Socialists, Communist, Fascists
– Racists, BLMers, ANTIFAs, Soros
– Radical Islamic Terrorists, Democrats, Anarchists, Caesar’s Legions
2) He/It compelled a patriot (yes, patriot) like Edward Snowden to break the law and publish FBI secrets that yes, counter to law, showed they were spying on US citizens without warrants, or, when warrants were required, had no compunction against manufacturing evidence (ala, Kevin Clinesmith)
3) He is a semi carpetbagger (not as bad as some) by retiring to Florida
4) Despite declaring fealty to Trump, still insisted he will resist when he feels compelled
5) He totally ignored campaigning to the Mid-Asian and Arabic Muslim communities despite Trump clearly opening dialogue with them throughout the latest campaign.
6) He runs a campaign like everybody should come kneel at his feet
Therefore, I have no reason to believe the wolf has checked in their sheep costume. I’ll take the thug telling me openly they dislike me and will knife me at the soonest opportunity versus the snake that tells me they’ll fight like hell for me and then have my Pastor and I jailed just for kicks and giggles later.
Come back soon Bill!
You are absolutely correct regarding the Patriot Act – and I believe it was a factor in his razor-thin defeat to Elissa Slotkin in 2024.
As former chair of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, he represents to many voters a living embodiment of the Deep State despised by many Libertarian-oriented Republican activists and faithful. I am unsure if I agree with that characterization, however it will likely resonate with many potential members of the electorate in 2026.
A number of conservatives I spoke to feel that John James’ voting record is inconsistent with civil libertarian principles and they will refrain from voting for him in any general election.
Keep in mind also that Rogers and John James will be running in a non-presidential cycle in which incumbent majority parties usually do not fare very well.
Both Rogers and James will have to allay concerns from libertarian-focuses GOP voters that they will advocate for their interests in a meaningful manner.
AG Dana Nessel has a big problem in today’s Democratic Party which will probably end her political career at the end of her current term. Probably keep her off SCoMI as well, unless Governor Whitmer wants a real insurrection.
U of M student Samantha Rose Lewis, who is accused of assaulting, resisting & obstructing a police officer, and trespassing during the antisemitic protests last year, filed a motion on Friday asking the judge in the case to disqualify Nessel and appoint a special prosecutor. Nessel being Jewish has also become an impediment in the 2023 Hamtramck election fraud case.
Nessel may not be interested in Gleichschaltung, but Gleichschaltung is interested in her!
A key irony in the Hamtramck investigation is that the Hamtramck City Clerk, Rana Faraj, is an Arab Muslim who publicly called out Nessel’s office for failing to prosecute despite apparent evidence of Election Act violations.
The Wayne County Prosecutor, Kym Worthy, indicted her office does not handle election-related prosecutions, and the FBI declined in December of 2024 on seeking charges federally in the investigation. It is therefore unclear if any other prosecutorial agency would accept a Prosecuting Attorney Coordinating Committee referral to press criminal charges against the Hamtramck suspects.
Vote fraud is appalling to a successful democracy and Dana Nessel dragging her feet on the Hamtramck investigation is a disservice to all citizens of Michigan.
Former State Senator Adam Hollier announced yesterday that he would once again contest the seat held by Representative Shri Thanedar.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said yesterday, at the Detroit Free Press Breakfast Club, that the Democratic Governors Association is planning a $ 3 million smear campaign against him. They have hired a firm which is sending Freedom of Information Act requests to various offices of the Detroit city government.
“You are going to see the nastiest (campaign) cycle in 2026,” Duggan said. “I’m going to run an ad that says, ‘If you’re tired of this politics, I’m going to give you a different choice: Let’s educate the kids in the schools. Let’s keep our young people in town. And let’s build together on the reasonable people in both parties. And if you want something different, I’m going to be there as your choice.’ “
Michael Duggan has been a complete role model for others in Detroit and for elected leaders.
Partisan politics and party infighting has turned off the public. This scenario in smearing Mike Duggan is uncalled for and the fact that it is coming from Democrats is appalling.
I hope that Duggan’s campaign gets traction and both Benson and the eventual GOP nominee are defeated in 2026.
Vote for an independent in 2026!
Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announced today that he is running for Governor in 2026 with the theme “Make Michigan Great Again.”.
In 2010, Mike Cox led in the polls during most of his GOP gubernatorial primary run with Pete Hoekstra a close second.
Rick Snyder ran an ad blitz the final two weeks up until the August of 2024 primary election that gave him a primary election victory.
Frankly, John James will be the candidate to beat in the GOP primary.
That should have been August of 2010 primary that Snyder won.
Mark Totten, President Biden’s U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, announced today that he running for Attorney General in the 2026 elections.
No surprise there.
He has to ne nominated by the Michigan Democratic Party convention in 2026.
He needs to lobby delegates and whip the convention.
John James will not run for re-election to his 10th District U.S. House seat.
This has caused a mad scramble. Democratic Party leaders are making it the #1 national target to flip to blue in 2026 and will heavily finance a Dem candidate.
Michigan House members of the GOP that reside in the district are planning to run to succeed John James.
Dr. Abdulrahman El-Sayed announced today that he is running for Michigan’s 2026 open U.S. Senate seat.
Dr. El-Sayed just resigned his directorship of the Wayne County Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services.
Dr. El-Sayed received an immediate endorsement by Sen.Bernie Sanders for his candidacy.
He likely hopes he will fare better in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary in 2026 than progressive Dem candidate Hill Harper did in 2024 – who only recd. 21% of the vote.
So far, we have Caesar’s ho-hum candidate #1 and candidate #2. Sobered up frat party girl commie and orange man bad, Hamas good, lets raid the capitalist coffers commie. I’ll take door #3 . . . or #4.
Haley Stevens may make a statement in the next few days on her possible U.S. Senate candidacy for the Gary Peters seat.
Politico ran an above the fold article on the Democratic side to the Michigan Senate race today:
“How Michigan could shape the midterms — and the Democratic brand”
“The Senate primary is becoming a closely-watched battle between progressives and moderates.”
Authors Adam Wren, Liz Crampton and Brakkton Booker say “moderate Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens is widely expected to declare her Senate candidacy as early as next week. She is contacting Democrats urging them to run to succeed her in her House seat, according to two Michigan Democrats familiar with the calls and granted anonymity to describe them.”
Haley Stevens was backed with millions in cash from pro-Israel interests in her quest for a U.S. House seat where she eventually trounced Andy Levin in a Democratic primary.
She famously danced while waving an Israeli flag in a viral video.
Dr. Abdul Elsayed has been a staunch and vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause.
Mallory McMorrow’s U.S. Senate candidacy could split the moderate Democratic primary vote AND also split the Oakland County Democratic Party vote between haley Stevens and herself and make it easier for Elsayed to receive the nomination from primary election voters.
On April 14th, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Jane Beckering in Lansing dismissed the federal civil rights case by Palestinian-American Huwaida Arraf against the Michigan Democratic Party and its former chairwoman Lavora Barnes arising out of the August of 2024 state party convention in which Arraf lost a nominating election for seat on the University of Michigan Board of Regents.
The closely-watched case involved alleged voting irregularities in the nominating process at the convention.
The Miller Canfield law firm successfully defended the action.
It should be noted that U.S. District Court Judge Jane M. Beckering is a Granholm acolyte who failed to get the Democratic nomination for SCoMI in 2006 and instead was appointed to the MCoA as a consolation prize.
She was appointed to USDC WDMI by Drooling Joe (actually his puppet masters) in 2021. I never cease to marvel at random case assignments in federal courts.
U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens launched her candidacy for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat this morning. She is emphasizing her opposition to President Trump’s tariffs as being “chaotic”, but claims not to be inherently anti-tariff. No mention of Israel in her launch video.
Rep Stevens has my utmost respect. Few if any people could turn being Steve Ratner’s (the Obama gnome who near single-handedly turned Michigan’s Big 3 into the Middling 2) Bag Lady (aka, Chief of Staff), into not only absconding with the most densely populated MIGOP rep seat, into Caesar’s Throne room. And now may catapult herself into twin Senator sister to Elissa Slotkin.
This is really a remarkable achievement. All while touting the lie that the Ratner/Stevens team “saved” the auto industry. Hah! By giving it away?!? And hoodwinking the UAW rank-and-file into actually voting for her while gaslighting any truth-tellers.
But when considering the opposition the Repubs and Dems are likely to put up against her, she is the clear Alpha Leader and has my respect (sincere Mea Culpa if I don’t sound like it here), and likely my vote. I admire politicians who can leverage what ought to be a clear losing hand into positions of strength. Hail Caesar!
President Trump will hold a celebratory rally in Macomb County on Tuesday, April 29th to mark his first 100 days in office. This suggests that Trump intends to unfurl his electoral coattails during the 2026 election cycle in our state.
State Sen.Jeremy Moss and Andy Levin are expected to square off in the Democratic primary for the seat Haley Steven will vacate in the U.S. House of Representatives to run for the U.S. Senate.
Oakland County Commission Chairman Dave Woodward is said to be eyeing the seat as well.
Kevin Kijewski just declared his candidacy for Michigan Attorney General on the GOP ticket.
He is currently defending a defendant in the so-called “fake electors” case.
Rep. Bill Huizenga said today he is “leaning towards” a run for Senate in 2026. He is “putting some key pieces in place to get some advice on what we’re going to do, what it’s going to look like.”
Gadfly Republican attorney Kevin Kijewski announced at the Lapeer County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner on April 26th he’s running to replace AG Nessel in 2026.