![]() That led to speculation that Biden might be able to count Michigan among his “safe” states in 2024. Unlike in most other “battleground” states, Biden’s 2020 win in Michigan was a healthy one-he beat Trump by a 51-48 margin. Ad PolicyĪll three blue-wall states swung to Republican Donald Trump in 2016 and then voted for Biden in 2020. In the center of that blue wall of Northern industrial states that the party pretty much has to carry in order to hold the presidency, Michigan also has an open US Senate seat and several contests that could be critical to deciding which party controls the US House after November. Michigan has been one of the biggest concerns for Democratic strategists as the 2024 election approaches. That bodes well for Michigan Democrats in the fall, and for the candidate who will top the party’s ballot line: Joe Biden. So, too, did strong labor support for the Democrats. Whitmer’s appeal, as a popular and effective governor with a growing list of accomplishments, also helped boost the Democratic numbers. But that’s not the only advantage Democrats had on Tuesday. “Voters want their fundamental freedoms protected, and tonight’s elections delivered a clear rebuke of GOP extremism and attacks on reproductive care.”ĭefending reproductive rights remains a resonant issue in Michigan and other battleground states, such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona. “Michigan has been a shining example of what can be accomplished when Democrats are in control-from action on gun violence to expanding healthcare access,” she said. But there were no signs of that happening in Michigan, as Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams noted. ![]() ![]() Pundits keep suggesting that the political potency of this issue will fade. They also ran as energetic supporters of reproductive rights, a stance that has benefited Democratic contenders in states across the country since the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. What accounted for the landslide victories in contested races that drew major media attention? Xiong and Herzberg both benefited from strong support from Whitmer, and a muscular Democratic Party. In a suburban Wayne County district, Peter Herzberg, a City Council member in Westland, won 60 percent of the vote. In a district representing parts of Macomb and Wayne counties, Democrat Mai Xiong, who came to the United States as a 3-year-old Hmong refugee and eventually became a Mccomb County commissioner, won 65 percent of the vote. Last Tuesday’s contests produced big wins for a pair of pro-choice Democrats, giving the party a 56-54 majority and a clear path to carry forward with a progressive agenda that includes funding free community college for all high school graduates, establishing free preschool for 4-year-olds, and addressing gun violence and school safety. And these particular special elections gave Republicans an opportunity to target all their energy and resources on flipping suburban seats and potentially derailing Whitmer’s agenda.īut that didn’t happen-not by a long shot. These were districts where, though Democrats had some advantages, a backlash against the party could have left it without control of the legislature. And these elections were in suburban Detroit districts where Democratic incumbents, both of whom had been elected to local mayoralties last fall, had stood down-leaving the two parties with a 54-54 tie in the state House. Special elections are always challenging, as they tend to draw fewer voters and give those who do turn out an opportunity to send a message to people in power. Last week, they got their answer, in a pair of special elections that determined that Democrats could maintain the unified grip on the state government that has allowed them to chart such a bold course. There were skeptics who wondered whether Michigan Democrats could maintain the momentum. They still saw Michigan as vulnerable to a Republican resurgence. By 2023, Democrats had enacted measures to defend reproductive rights, restore protections for workers and their unions, and make the Great Lakes State a leader on a host of economic, social, and racial justice issues.īut the experience of being beaten down in the 2010s shook the faith of a lot of political seers.
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