DETROIT – It’s been six days since midterm election day, and the dust has yet to settle.
Midterm elections are always pretty bad affairs for the party in power. And yet, in Michigan, the party in power mostly showed off its power.
Those top of the ticket races for governor, AG and secretary of state weren’t really all that close in the end. Neither were the votes on the three proposals, which all passed. But the real story came farther down the ticket. It was a disaster for republicans.
Instead of just hoping to hang on to seats, democrats took control of the state house and senate for the first time in 40 years. Sure, redistricting had something to do with it. But a big part of the story is told in the infighting that has broken out inside the Michigan GOP, with republican leaders arguing over the fissures in the party that have developed around the influence of former president trump.
But for the democrats, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the good news is you’ve got a majority in the capitol. The bad news is you’ve got a majority in the capitol. It’s easier to throw javelins than it is to catch them -- so the pressure is on Whitmer and her second term agenda.
On Flashpoint this morning, we talked with the man who will be the new speaker of the house. Joe Tate of Detroit will become the first African American speaker in state history.
We talked about the man who won the race that kept Detroit from having an African American member of congress. But as the state’s first ever Indian American congressman, Shri Thanedar has his own pioneering path to follow.
And we chatted with our pollster Richard Czuba about how things broke the way they did.
You can view the November 13, 2022, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.