Michigan Democrats Take Control

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Democrats will be in charge Michigan’s state government will be reconstituted for the first time since January for nearly 40 years. This raises progressive hopes for undoing decades worth of Republican-backed legislation and for advancing an agenda that includes gun restrictions and assistance for the working poor.

Democrats will be tested in the coming years by gaining control of the state House, Senate and governor’s offices. This will allow them to prove that they can keep their promises in a swing state, where they have to appeal to more than their base. Their performance could have wider consequences in 2024 for the presidential battleground state: The way voters feel about two years of Democratic control may be a factor in which party’s candidate they want in the White House.

“The most important thing is actually delivering,” said Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who won reelection to her central Michigan district in one of the country’s most competitive U.S. House races. “You can say what you want all day long. An agenda can be written on paper. But in Michigan, you’ve got to deliver something.”

A new challenge awaits the party and governor when full Democratic control is achieved. Gretchen Whitmer is a close ally to President Joe Biden and has been suggested as a potential White House candidate.

Whitmer, who resoundingly won reelection Last month, we must now balance the energy of the newly strong Democratic caucus with maintaining support from moderate and independent voters for the upcoming two-year term.

“We’re mindful that people are watching. What happened here in Michigan’s only happened four times in 130 years,” Whitmer said during a recent meeting with reporters. “There are a lot of eyes on us. It’s our job to make sure that we stay focused on what matters to Michiganders, not what national pundits are interested in.”

Rosemary Bayer is a Democratic state senator, who was elected for the first time in 2018. Others have already tried to reduce expectations and put the emphasis on legislation that is popular across the state.

“We can’t do everything at once,” she said. “We don’t want to scare everybody.”

Bayer’s district includes Oxford, the community outside Detroit where a 15-year-old gunman killed four people and injured others at the local high school in 2021. Bayer is leading the charge for gun restrictions. However, she said that she will ask lawmakers to approve measures that voters want and can accept based on polling.

It is likely that this will lead to legislation that requires background checks for almost all gun purchases, gun storage regulations and a red flag statute to prohibit people who pose a risk to themselves or others from possessing firearms.

“That’s what people are comfortable with. That’s what they’ve been asking for,” Bayer said. “We have to help everybody understand that if we don’t do this correctly and we end up scaring the crap out of everybody, we get nothing done.”

Republicans have warned that Democrats’ agenda would be detrimental to the state’s economy. The most important battle is likely to be over the right-to-work legislation, which was approved by Republicans around a decade ago and allowed union workers to avoid paying dues.

This law is considered to be weakening organized labor politically and financially. Labor unions are among the biggest supporters of the law and have been pushing for its repeal. The GOP and business groups argue that repealing it would harm the state’s recovery after the pandemic.

John Sellek, a Republican consultant who advised GOP state House speakers and was state director for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, cautioned Democrats that the last time the party controlled both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s office, in 1983, it was short-lived. Two Democratic senators were elected and the GOP was back in power after a tax increase passed.

The Democrats will again have a slim majority, just like that time. They will be in control of 56 of 100 House seats. All of them are up for reelection after two years.

“There’s going to be a ton of pressure on the governor in how she handles this,” Sellek said. “It is not a science, it’s an art.”

Whitmer and other Democrats said that they intend to pursue tax credit, education reforms and climate action.

Two ballot measures were approved by voters in November and will be implemented by the Legislature. One increases voting access by allowing early in-person voting to be allowed for nine days. The second enshrines the right of abortion in the state constitution, and removes a ban that was in place since 1931. Whitmer sued to block the ban’s implementation after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade’s 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

The statewide offices for attorney general and secretary state are also controlled by Democrats. Jocelyn Benson, Secretary of State, plans to request that the Legislature impose harsher penalties for harassing electoral workers and spreading misinformation regarding voting.

Michigan could attract more attention than usual during the next election cycle. The Democratic National Committee’s rule-making arm voted to move Michigan up The party’s presidential primaries calendar for 2024. If approved by the full DNC, Michigan would become the fifth state to vote in primary elections and the first contest in Midwest.

If Biden runs again as president, which he has already indicated, that may not be a problem. Whitmer will be impacted if Biden decides not to run. She has repeatedly stated that she will not sacrifice a second term for the chance to run for President. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020 and is considered a likely future White House contender as well, moved to northern Michigan this year to be closer to his husband’s family.

Senator Mallory McMorrow from the State of Tennessee, who was given national attention following her death a viral speech In April, the state Senate floor heard that Michigan Democrats could accomplish something. This is in contrast to Washington which would have divided government, with the GOP having a slim House majority.

“It feels like Michigan is going to be a real opportunity to signal to the rest of the country what it looks like when Democrats are in charge,” McMorrow said.

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Burnett reported from Chicago.

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Joey Cappelletti is a member of The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America This nonprofit national service program places journalists in local newsrooms where they can report on undercovered topics.