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Saturday, June 27, 2026

2026 Michigan Congressional Races

This post was last updated on August 5, 2026.

Michigan's 13 congressional districts are up for election in 2026.  Michigan's congressional map was drawn by Michigan's Independent Redistricting Commission.  The commission drew some poor lines, and skewed districts 3 and 8 to the left in the name of partisan fairness, but also created districts (7 and 10) that are winnable for each side.

Michigan Redistricting: Congressional Map Approved


The map above is from the page at RRH Elections linked below, which also has individual district maps.


Interactive versions of the map are available at Dave's Redistricting and 538.

Michigan Congressional Map-Dave's Redistricting
Michigan Congressional Map-538

There are two open seats (10 and 11).  There will also be several interesting general election races.  Consider the districts in detail.

The election data for each district is the R candidates for 2022 congressional results (R-D), President 2016 (P16), Attorney General 2018 (AG18), Governor 2018 (G18), President 2020 (P20), and President 2024 (P24).  (There was 1-5% of the vote for third party candidates in these races.)

District 1  (Upper Peninsula, northern Lower Peninsula) Safe R
60-37 62-38 P16: 59 G18: 54 AG18: 57 P20: 59 P24: 60
Retired general Jack Bergman was first elected in 2016. He broke a term limits pledge in 2022, and is running again this year.  When he does retire, a troll (below the bridge) candidate may finally win the seat.  Matthew DenOtter and Justin Michal also soughtthe R nomination.  Callie Barr, the 2024 D nominee, defeated Kyle Blomquist and Wayne Stiles for the D nomination.

District 2  (West Michigan coast, central MI) Safe R
64-34 65-32 P16: 61 G18: 56 AG18: 59 P20: 63 P24: 64
John Moolenaar was first elected in 2014, and ran here in 2022 after previously representing a district based in Midland.  Ben Ambrose narrowly won the D nomination over Jamie Hill and Clyde Welford.

District 3 (Grand Rapids, north Ottawa, Muskegon) Safe D
42-55 44-54 P16: 46.6 G18: 44.9 AG18: 47.8 P20: 44.8 P24: 45.1
This district was drawn to combine Grand Rapids and its suburbs with Muskegon County, creating a district that would elect democrats.  This is a pro-D gerrymander in the name of "partisan fairness".
Attorney Hillary Scholten (D) won in 2022 after losing by 6% in 2020.  TV meteorologist Terri DeBoer defeated businessman and Army veteran Ryan Cushman for the R nomination.

District 4 (Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Holland) Lean R
54-42 55-43 P16: 51.6 G18: 49.4 AG18: 52.3 P20: 51.1 P24: 51.9
Ottawa county congressman Bill Huizenga ran here in 2022 after first being elected in 2010.  He eventually won the Trump endorsement, and incumbent Fred Upton, who had voted for impeachment, decided to retire.  He easily defeated ex-Holland Mayor Philip Tanis for the R nomination.  The D nominee is state senator (18-26) Sean McCann of Kalamazoo, who defeated Diop Harris II in the primary.

District 5 (South-central Michigan, lower tier) Safe R
62-35 66-33 P16: 60 G18: 55 AG18: 58 P20: 61 P24: 63
Republican Tim Walberg has become increasingly entrenched since his comeback in 2010, and he is now the longest-serving house member from Michigan.  Christian Vukasovich, is the D nominee.

District 6 (Washtenaw, plus south and west Wayne) Safe D
34-66 35-62 P16: 37 G18: 35 AG18: 36 P20: 36 P24: 37
In 2014, democrat Debbie Dingell easily replaced her husband John Dingell in Congress after his 58 years (!) in office.  Debbie Dingell moved here from Dearborn, since she represented the bulk of this territory.  Heather Smiley is the R nominee, as in 2024.

District 7 (Ingham, Livingston, Eaton, Clinton, Schiawassee) Tossup
46.3-51.7 50.3-46.6 P16: 48.9 G18: 44.2 AG18: 48 P20: 48.7 P24: 49.8
This is a highly competitive district containing Lansing and surrounding counties.  It contains the core of old 8 (Ingham and Livingston), which was drawn to lean R.  It added lean R areas from old 4 and 7, while losing R (but D-trending) areas in Oakland.  Conservative state senator (18-22) and veteran Tom Barrett was elected in 2024 after losing a close race in 2022.
The D nominee is far-left activist William Lawrence, who won 44-29-28 over ex-ambassador Bridget Brink and veteran Matt Maasdam.

District 8 (Genesee, Saginaw, Bay, Midland) Likely D
43-53 44.6-51.3 P16: 46.9 G18: 42.5 AG18: 45.8 P20: 48.2 P24: 50.2
This district contains Flint and the tri-cities area, in basically the best configuration Ds short of adding Lansing to the district.  This is another example of gerrymandering by the commission.  
State senator (22-24) Kristen McDonald Rivet (D) was elected in 2024, succeeding Dan Kildee.
The R nominee is Thomas Smith, who won despite dropping out.  He beat veteran Amir Hassan and engineer Al Lemmo.

District 9 (The Thumb, N Oakland, N Macomb) Safe R
64-33 67-30 P16: 64 G18: 57 AG18: 60 P20: 64 P24: 66
Self-funding businesswoman Lisa McClain (R) was elected in 2020.  Ray Pooley is the D nominee.

District 10 (S Macomb, Rochester Hills) Lean R
48.8-48.3 51.1-45 P16: 50.4 G18: 44.4 AG18: 46.6 P20: 49.8 P24: 52.2
Congressman John James (R), who was first elected in 2022, is running for governor.  Veteran Michael Bouchard, the son of the Oakland County sheriff, won the R nomination easily with Trump's endorsement.  Attorney Robert Lulgjuraj, veteran Steffan Demetropoulos, and attorney Justin Kirk also ran.
Attorney Christina Hines defeated attorney Eric Chung and Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel for the D nomination.

District 11 (Central Oakland) Safe D
39-61 40-58 P16: 41 G18: 38 AG18: 39 P20: 39 P24: 41
Businesswoman Haley Stevens (D), who was first elected in 2018 is running for US Senate.  State senator (18-26) Jeremy Moss won the D nomination over Aisha Farooqi, John Torres, and Don Ufford.
Troy mayor Ethan Baker will be the R nominee.

District 12 (W Detroit, Southfield, Livonia, Dearborn, Westland) Safe D
26-71 25-70 P16: 25 G18: 22 AG18: 24 P20: 25 P24: 29
This district is about 46% black, and contains a substantial Middle Eastern population.  Rashida Tlaib (D) ran here after previous representing a district based in eastern Detroit since 2018.  Tlaib is a Muslim member of "the squad" who has made national news due to her anti-Semitic remarks and sympathy for Hamas.  Former state rep (06-12) Shanelle Jackson and Byron Nolen also sought the D nomination.
James Hooper will be the R nominee, as in 2024.

District 13 (E Detroit, Downriver, Romulus) Safe D
24-71 25-69 P16: 23 G18: 21 AG18: 22 P20: 25 P24: 28
State rep (20-22) Shri Thanedar, a wealthy Indian businessman who moved to north Detroit, won an 11-way primary in 2022.  The local D establishment is unhappy with Thanedar, in part because he isn't black.  They  supported DSA socialist state rep (22-26) Donavan McKinney, who defeated Thanedar 52-48 this year.
T. P. Nykoriak will be the R nominee this year.
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Monday, June 30, 2025

July 2025 Judiciary News

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

ABA:  The Trump administration will not allow the American Bar Association (ABA) to vet judicial nominations using non-public information and interviews.  Previously, presidents W, Trump, and Biden have prevented pre-screening of nominees by the ABA.  The ABA is nonetheless continuing to rate nominees.

6th Circuit:  President Trump announced his first judicial nomination on May 2.  Whitney Hermandorfer clerked for Justices Alito and Barrett at the Supreme Court, and Brett Kavanaugh at the DC Circuit.  She works for the Tennessee AG's office.  Notably, she falls in the Federalist Society mold, not the more Trumpist mold that some pundits have suggested Trump could nominate.

3rd Circuit:  President Trump nominated Emil Bove to the 3rd Circuit, as was previously rumored.  He is being nominated for a seat in New Jersey.  Bove is controversial due to his handling of the decision to drop the prosecution of New York Mayor Eric Adams, which led many of his subordinates to resign.  Ed Whelan has a skeptical take on Bove's nomination, while Josh Blackman has a positive take. Shortly before his Judiciary Committee hearing, a whistleblower alleged that Bove had suggested defying court orders in a meeting, which Bove denies.

Retirements:  Fewer R-appointed judges are taking senior status in Trump's second term compared to previous presidents.  There are only 11 new vacancies between January 1 and June 1.  Josh Blackman considers whether this is due to concern over nominees like Emil Bove or for other reasons.

Federalist Society:  President Trump issued a rant against the Federalist Society and its longtime leader, Leonard Leo.  This was apparently due to a decision by the Court of International Trade striking down his unilateral imposition of tariffs on most other nations.  One of the three judges who issued the ruling, Timothy Reif, was a Trump appointee, though he was a democrat who was not supported by Federalist Society leaders.

Federalist Society:  Notwithstanding his criticism of the Federalist Society, most of President Trump's early judicial nominees have ties to the Federalist Society, and it retains deep ties to the GOP.

ED-KY:  Trump nominee Chad Meredith was almost nominated before.  After being passed over in 2020 at the end of Trump's term, he was almost nominated by President Biden in 2022.  Nominating the conservative Meredith was either a 'good will gesture' or part of a secret deal with Senator Mitch McConnell.  However, Senator Rand Paul objected to the deal, as did leftists, and it never came to pass.

SD-FL:  Judge Ed Artau is being attacked for ruling on a case involving President Trump while he was being considered for a nomination to SD-FL.

Impact:  Russell Wheeler considers how big an impact Trump nominations will have on the judiciary in his second term.  In brief, it will be much less than his first term, due to fewer vacancies, and fewer judges being eligible for senior status.

Nominations:
TBA

The Federal Judiciary:

Trans:  The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that states can ban transgender medial procedures for children, rejecting a challenge by leftists.

Supreme Court:  The court issued three unanimous decisions yielding conservative outcomes.  The decisions on 'reverse discrimination', religious liberty, and a Mexican lawsuit against US gunmakers, were all written by liberal justices.

Supreme Court:  On the final day of its term, the court issued three 6-3 opinions on the issues of religious liberty in schools, pornography age limits, and limiting nationwide injunctions.

Clerks:  David Lat has an updated list of Supreme Court clerk hiring.  Based on this, he does not believe that any justices will retire this year.

Souter:  Justice David Souter died on May 8 at age 85.  He was appointed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court by John Sununu (R) in 1983.  He was appointed to the 1st Circuit in May 1990 and the US Supreme Court in October 1990, both by George H. W. Bush (R).  He almost immediately betrayed the people who supported him and sided with the left on most controversial cases.  He retired in 2009 at age 69, allowing Barack Obama to pick his successor.

5th Circuit:  Judge John M. Duhé, Jr. died on May 16 at age 92.  He was appointed to WD-LA in 1984 and the 5th Circuit in 1988, both by Reagan.  He took senior status in 1999, and became inactive in 2011.

Vacancy Declarations:  There are now 61 current and future judicial vacancies.  There were no new vacancies over the past two months.

State Supreme Courts:

Alabama:  Justice Jay Mitchell resigned from the Alabama Supreme Court on May 19 to run for Alabama Attorney General.  Mitchell was elected to the court in 2018. The next day, Governor Kay Ivey appointed Judge Bill Lewis to replace Mitchell.  Lewis was appointed by Ivey to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals in February 2024.

Georgia:  The Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission recommended four candidates to replace Chief Justice Michael Boggs, who resigned on March 31.  They are Magistrate Judge Brian Epps (SD-GA), Georgia Court of Appeals judges Benjamin Land and John Pipkin III, and Judge Paige Whitaker.  Governor Brian Kemp (R) will appoint Boggs' replacement.

Kansas:  The Kansas judicial nominating commission recommended three candidates from 15 applicants to replace Justice Evelyn Wilson, who will retire on July 4.  They are Judge Amy Hanley, Judge Christopher Jayaram, and attorney Larkin Walsh.  Governor Kelly (D) will appoint Wilson's replacement.

North Carolina:  The dispute over the 2024 election for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court has ended.  Jefferson Griffin (R) conceded the election to Alison Riggs (D).  Federal judge Richard Myers (ED-NC) had ruled that the election should be certified, ruling that some contested ballots could not be disqualified after election day.

South Dakota:  South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Janine Kern will retire on December 8.  She was appointed in 2014 by Dennis Daugaard.  Her replacement will be appointed by Governor Larry Rhoden.

Utah:  Justice John Pearce will retire on December 1.  He was appointed by Gary Herbert in 2016.  Governor Spencer Cox (R) will get his third appointment to the court.

Numbers and Trivia:

Here are the numbers of senior status declarations/retirements for federal judges (circuit judges) for the first half of 2025.
1 (0) December 2024
8 (0) January/February 2025
7 (2) March/April
0 (0) May/June

Statistics:  Susie Moore of Redstate compiled some statistics on the composition of the federal courts by President who appointed them.  She also examines D-DC, the distribution of cases challenging the Trump administration, and how biased the judges are.

ABA:  Mike Fragoso compiles a list of R-appointed judges who were given a partial NQ (not qualified) rating by the ABA.  Many of them went on to have distinguished careers as judges.

History:

On Ed Whelan's Substack, "Confirmation Tales", recent posts deal with historical Supreme Court nominations.
Friend of Hillary Clinton Tries to Stop Kavanaugh Confirmation to D.C. Circuit
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Thursday, November 07, 2024

Michigan 2024 Election Results

2024 Michigan Election Results

President: Trump 49.8% Harris 48.3%, Other 1.9%

Senate:  Rogers 48.3% Slotkin 48.6%  Frustratingly close loss.

Congress.  The congressional delegation will be 7R, 6D.  Rs picked up district 7.

1. 59-38 for Jack Bergman 
2. 65-32 for John Moolenaar 
3. Hudson 44 Scholten 54 This gerrymandered seat isn't winnable in this form.
4. 56-43 for Bill Huizenga 
5. 66-33 for Tim Walberg 
6. 35-62 for Debbie Dingell 
7. Tom Barrett 50.3% Curtis Hertel 46.6% PICKUP for Barrett after losing by 5% in 2022.
8. Paul Junge 44.6% Kristen Rivet 51.3% After three consecutive losses for Junge, time for a different candidate.  There will be a special election for Rivet's senate seat.
9. 67-30 for Lisa McClain 
10. John James 51 Carl Marlinga 45 Decent improvement for James in this rematch.
11. 40-58 for Haley Stevens 
12. 25-70 for Rashida Tlaib 
13. 25-69 for Shri Thanedar 

State House.  The house will be 58R, 52D.  Rs picked up four seats, ending the D majority after two  years.  They overcame the gerrymandered map.

2. Kokinda 42 Liberati 52 Downriver is getting more competitive.
13. Singer 46.3 Xiong 50.8  This may be worth targeting in the future.
20. Cowley 47 Arbit 53 
21. Konesky 43 Kelly Breen 55
22. Stathakis 47.5 Matt Kolezar 52.5
27. Linting 52.2 Churches 47.8 PICKUP
28. Thompson 54.4, Robinson 45.6
29. DeSana 55 Wright 45
31. Biniecki 49.4 Reggie Miller 50.6 (686 votes)  Missed opportunity?
38. Whiteford 46.9 Joey Andrews 53.1
40. Sackett 44 Longjohn 56 Modest improvement in a once-Republican district.
42. Matt Hall 57 Marsman 43  Hall is in line to be Speaker this upcoming term.
44. Frisbie 51.9 Haadsma 48.1  PICKUP in a district where Rs found a better candidate.
46. Schmaltz 52.1 Mahoney 47.9  Only a small decline in a district where Ds disowned their candidate two years ago.
48. Ignatowski 47.1 Conlin 51.5 
54. Donni Steele 52.4 Shadia Martini 47.6 Districts 54 and 55 continue to be a concern.
55. Tisdel 53.7 Bernard 46.3
57. Kuhn 57 Farooqi 43
58. Robinson 53.2 Shannon 46.8 PICKUP thanks to big R margin in Sterling Heights.
61. Wojtowicz 49.3 Mentzer 50.7 (715 votes)
62. St Germaine 56 Levine-Woodman 44 
68. David Martin 54 Schlinker 46
69. Duveneck 44 Martus 56
73. Rockey 45 Brixie 55
76. Shaver 47.9 Witwer 52.1
80. Sage 43 Phil Skaggs 57
81. Youngquist 45 Wooden 55
83. Brann 46.9 Fitzgerald 53.1
84. Wetzel 45 Glanville 55
The Grand Rapids area is gerrymandered to have 5 D districts, instead of the 2-3 D districts a fair map would have.  Note that the R percentages in 80, 81, 83, and 84 are all 43-47%--drawn to be just out of reach.
86. Nancy DeBoer 56 Klomparens 44
92. Neyer 58 Odykirk 42
96. Beson 60 Howard 40
103. Trombley 47.2 Coffia 52.8
109. Bohnak 51.3 Jenn Hill 48.7 PICKUP with a better candidate than the previous 4-time loser.

Supreme Court:  
Full term: Fink (R) 39 Thomas (D) 61
Partial term: O'Grady (R) 38 Bolden (D incumbent) 62
Ds will now hold a 5-2 majority on the court.  Ds did much better at getting their voters to vote in this nonpartisan race.

COA District 2: Ackerman 55 Willis 45
Ackerman had many R endorsements (and some Ds).

State Board of Education:  R incumbents Snyder and McMillin were reelected.  There was a 74K vote margin between the second and third candidates.
University of Michigan:  Meyers (R) and Illich (D incumbent) won.  The other R finished last.
Michigan State:  Rs Balow and Maday won.  There was a 14K vote margin between the second and third candidates.
Wayne State:  Rs Busuito and Reddy won.  There was a 66K vote margin between the second and third candidates.

My ratings turned out to be pretty accurate.  Every race I had at safe for a party was won by that party.  The only lean race I missed was house 109. I predicted all tossups correctly.  For congress, the tossup had a margin of 4, and the leans had margins of 6 and -7.
My state house tossups had margins of 4, 4, 4, 6, and -6.  My lean R races had margins from 5 to 14.  My lean D races had margins from 4 to -10.  The closest margin in race I had at safe was -6 in district 20.

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Thursday, July 11, 2024

2024 Michigan Congressional Races

This post was last updated on August 10, 2024.

Michigan's 13 congressional districts are up for election in 2024.  Michigan's congressional map was drawn by Michigan's Independent Redistricting Commission.  The commission drew some poor lines, and skewed districts 3 and 8 to the left in the name of partisan fairness, but also created districts (7 and 10) that are winnable for each side.

Michigan Redistricting: Congressional Map Approved


The map above is from the page at RRH Elections linked below, which also has individual district maps.


Interactive versions of the map are available at Dave's Redistricting and 538.

Michigan Congressional Map-Dave's Redistricting
Michigan Congressional Map-538

There are two open seats (7 and 8).  There will also be several interesting general election races.  Consider the districts in detail.

The election data for each district is the R candidates for 2022 congressional results (R-D), President 2016 (P16), Attorney General 2018 (AG18), Governor 2018 (G18), and President 2020 (P20).  (There was 1-5% of the vote for third party candidates in these races.)

District 1  (Upper Peninsula, northern Lower Peninsula) Safe R
60-37 P16: 59 G18: 54 AG18: 57 P20: 59
Retired general Jack Bergman was first elected in 2016. He broke a term limits pledge in 2022, and is running again this year.  When he does retire, a troll (below the bridge) candidate may finally win the seat.  Josh Saul is also seeking the R nomination.  Callie Barr is the D nominee, defeating Bob Lorinser, the 2022 D nominee.

District 2  (West Michigan coast, central MI) Safe R
64-34 P16: 61 G18: 56 AG18: 59 P20: 63
John Moolenaar ran here in 2022 after previously representing a district based in Midland.  Michael Lynch is the D nominee.

District 3 (Grand Rapids, north Ottawa, Muskegon) Likely D
42-55 P16: 46.6 G18: 44.9 AG18: 47.8 P20: 44.8
Old MI-2 was split into three pieces.  23% went to new 2, 51% went to new 3, and 26% went to new 4.  The core of old 3 in Kent County was merged with half of old 2.  New 3 dropped heavily R rural Kent, Barry, Ionia, and Calhoun.  It added Kentwood (D), Wyoming (lean R), N Ottawa (R), and the city of Muskegon (D), moving about 6% left.  This is a pro-D gerrymander in the name of "partisan fairness".
Attorney Hillary Scholten (D) won in 2022 after losing by 6% in 2020.  
Attorney Paul Hudson (R), who previously ran for MI Supreme Court in 2022, is the R nominee.  He defeated Michael Markey 55-45.

District 4 (Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Holland) Safe R
54-42 P16: 51.6 G18: 49.4 AG18: 52.3 P20: 51
Ottawa county congressman Bill Huizenga ran here in 2022.  He eventually won the Trump endorsement, and incumbent Fred Upton, who had voted for impeachment, decided to retire.  Engineer and Ottawa County GOP chair Brendan Muir is also seeking the R nomination on an antiestablishment platform.  The D nominee is lawyer Jessica Swartz.

District 5 (South-central Michigan, lower tier) Safe R
62-35 P16: 60 G18: 55 AG18: 58 P20: 61
Republican Tim Walberg has become increasingly entrenched since his comeback in 2010, and he is now the longest-serving house member from Michigan.  Libbi Urban is the D nominee.

District 6 (Washtenaw, plus south and west Wayne) Safe D
34-66 P16: 37 G18: 35 AG18: 36 P20: 36
In 2014, democrat Debbie Dingell easily replaced her husband John Dingell in Congress after his 58 years (!) in office.  Debbie Dingell moved here from Dearborn, since she represented the bulk of this territory.  Heather Smiley is the R nominee.

District 7 (Ingham, Livingston, Eaton, Clinton, Schiawassee) Tossup
46.3-51.7 P16: 48.9 G18: 44.2 AG18: 48 P20: 48.7
This is a highly competitive district containing Lansing and surrounding counties.  It contains the core of old 8 (Ingham and Livingston), which was drawn to lean R.  It added lean R areas from old 4 and 7, while losing R (but D-trending) areas in Oakland.  Former DOD official Elissa Slotkin (D), who was elected 2018, is retiring to run for senate.  The R candidate is conservative state senator (18-22) and veteran Tom Barrett, who lost a close race against Slotkin in 2022.

District 8 (Genesee, Saginaw, Bay, Midland) Lean D
43-53 P16: 46.9 G18: 42.5 AG18: 45.8 P20: 48.2
This succeeds old 5, adding the rest of Saginaw County and the city of Midland.  While the district moved about 1% right, this is basically the best configuration Ds short of adding Lansing to the district.  This is another example of gerrymandering by the commission.  Former Genesee Treasurer Dan Kildee (D), who succeeded his uncle Dale Kildee in 2012, is retiring.  
State senator Kristen McDonald Rivet was elected to a swingy district containing the tri-cities (Saginaw, Midland, Bay City) in 2022.  She is the wife of state rep (98-04) and Bay County Drain Commissioner (04-20) Joe Rivet, and has the bulk of D establishment support.  She defeated Flint mayor (87-91) Matt Collier and MSU board member (14-P) Pamela Pugh for the D nomination.
The R nominee is television anchor and Trump USCIS official Paul Junge (R), who lost old 8 to Elissa Slotkin by 4% in 2020, moved here and lost the general in 2022.  He won 75%, defeating Dow executive Mary Draves and Anthony Hudson.

District 9 (The Thumb, N Oakland, N Macomb) Safe R
64-33 P16: 64 G18: 57 AG18: 60 P20: 64
Self-funding businesswoman Lisa McClain (R) was elected in 2020.  Clinton St Mosley is the D nominee.

District 10 (S Macomb, Rochester Hills) Lean R
48.8-48.3 P16: 50.4 G18: 44.4 AG18: 46.6 P20: 49.8
Veteran and businessman John James, the R US Senate nominee in 2018 and 2020, easily won the R nomination in 2022 and barely won the general election.
Former prosecutor and judge Carl Marlinga, who was the 2022 D nominee, won the D nomination again at age 77.  He defeated former state house candidate Emily Busch, state board of education member (18-P) Tiffany Tilley, and financial adviser Diane Young.

District 11 (Central Oakland) Safe D
39-61 P16: 41 G18: 38 AG18: 39 P20: 39
Businesswoman Haley Stevens (D) was elected in 2018, and defeated fellow incumbent Andy Levin in 2022.  Nick Somberg won the R nomination.

District 12 (W Detroit, Southfield, Livonia, Dearborn, Westland) Safe D
26-71 P16: 25 G18: 22 AG18: 24 P20: 25
The commission decided to reduce MI from two black-majority districts to none, with both new 12 and 13 now about 46% black.  New 12 combines parts of old 13 and 14.  Former state rep. (08-14) Rashida Tlaib (D) was elected to a district based in eastern Detroit in 2018.  After incumbent Brenda Lawrence announced her retirement, Tlaib announced that she would run here.  
Tlaib is a Muslim member of "the squad" who has made national news due to her anti-Semitic remarks and sympathy for Hamas.  While there was talk of a primary challenge by a more mainstream D in a district with a significant black population, no challenger made the ballot.
James Hooper won the R nomination.

District 13 (E Detroit, Downriver, Romulus) Safe D
24-71 P16: 23 G18: 21 AG18: 22 P20: 25
This district was vacated by Rashida Tlaib in 2022.  State rep (20-22) Shri Thanedar, a wealthy Indian businessman who moved to north Detroit, won an 11-way primary in 2022.  Thanedar won with 28% to 24% for state senator Adam Hollier.  The local D establishment is unhappy with Thanedar, in part because he isn't black.  Hollier ran for the seat this year and attracted substantial support, but was removed from the ballot due to significant fraud on his nominating petitions.  Thanedar defeated former state rep (2000-06) and Detroit City Council member (21-P) Mary Waters and Shakira Hawkins 54-34-11.
Martell Blivings is again the R nominee after losing in 2022.
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Saturday, June 22, 2024

Michigan Right to Life endorsements

Michigan Right to Life has just issued its endorsements for the 2024 primary.  RTL has influenced a significant number of Michigan primary voters, so its endorsements will decide some races.  Following the passage of a pro-abortion referendum, some candidates are moderating their positions on abortion, and a larger number of incumbents have not sought (or not obtained) the RTL endorsement.  It remains to be seen whether RTL will have as much sway as in past cycles.

RTL will recommend all candidates if they are all pro-life, but if there is a serious non-pro-life candidate, they will pick one pro-life candidate to endorse.  Their noteworthy endorsements are listed below.

https://rtl.org/get-involved/elections/endorsed-candidates/

No endorsements are listed for US Senate.

Congress: All Republican incumbents are endorsed.
3. Michael J. Markey
7. Tom Barrett

State house: All Republican incumbents are endorsed except Brad Paquette, Mike Harris, Donni Steele, Thomas Kuhn, Alicia St. Germaine, and Bryan Posthumus.  Steve Carra was endorsed after not being endorsed in previous cycles.  For seats that are open or have no pro-life incumbent, we have the following. 

27. Rylee Linting solely endorsed.
31. Dale Biniecki
34. Nancy Jenkins-Arno
35. all three endorsed
38. Kevin Whiteford solely endorsed.
44. Steve Frisbie solely endorsed.
48. both endorsed
58. Ron Robinson solely endorsed.
61. Robert Wojtowicz
64. Joseph G. Pavlov solely endorsed.
76. both endorsed
84. John Wetzel solely endorsed.
93. Tim Kelly
103. Katie Kniss solely endorsed.
109. Melody Wagner solely endorsed.

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Saturday, September 30, 2023

October 2023 Judiciary News

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

D-AK:  Senator Dan Sullivan (R) formed a new council to vet potential federal judges without involving Senator Lisa Murkowski (R).  One of three seats on D-AK has been vacant since 2021.

Nominations:
WD-NY: Colleen Holland-clerk for Colleen Wolford (WD-NY), Michael Telesca (WD-NY)
SD-TX: John A. Kazen-clerk for Robert Parker (ED-TX), Magistrate Judge (SD-TX)
D-HI: Micah W. J. Smith-clerk for Souter, Guido Calabresi (2nd Circuit), AUSA (D-HI)
D-NJ: Jamel Semper-AUSA (D-NJ)
D-OR: Mustafa Kasubhai-Magistrate Judge (D-OR)
ED-CA: Kirk Sherriff-AUSA (ED-CA)
D-HI: Shanlyn Park-state judge

The Federal Judiciary:

Recusal:  Carrie Severino points out that Justice Ginsberg regularly violated the ethical standards that the left uses to attack Justice Thomas.

2nd Circuit:  Judge Rosemary Pooler died in August at age 85.  President Clinton appointed her to ND-NY in 1994 and to the 2nd Circuit in 1998.  She took senior status in 2022.

6th Circuit:  Judge Julia Smith Gibbons will take senior status upon confirmation of a successor.  She was appointed to a state judgeship by Lamar Alexander (R).  She was appointed by Reagan to WD-TN in 1983 and by W to the 6th Circuit in 2002.  She choose to repay all the Republicans who gave her those positions by giving her seat to a Biden appointee.

Federal Circuit:  Judge Pauline Newman (age 96) was suspended for one year from her duties by the Federal Circuit.  Critics claim she is unable to fulfill her duties, and she has refused to submit to medical testing.  They rejected the tests that she did submit.  She claims that she is being mistreated due to her frequent dissents.

Vacancy Declarations:  There are now 95 current and future judicial vacancies.  New vacancies over the past month are listed below.
WD-VA: Michael Urbanski (Obama) 7/4/24 (senior)
D-AZ: James Soto (Obama) 7/1/24 (senior)
D-AZ: Douglas Rayes (Obama) 6/1/24 (senior)
SD-IN: Jane Magnus-Stinson (Obama) 7/1/24 (senior)
CD-CA: George Wu (W) 11/3/23 (senior)
D-VT: Geoffrey Crawford (Obama) 8/9/24 (senior)
Claims: Patricia Campbell Smith (Obama) 9/30/23 (retired)

State Supreme Courts:

Connecticut:  Governor Ned Lamont appointed Nora Dannehy to the Connecticut Supreme Court.  She was a US Attorney for D-CT and general counsel to Lamont.  His previous nominee, Sandra Slack Glover, withdrew her nomination after progressives attacked her for signing a letter supporting the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.

Hawaii:  Hawaii's Judicial Selection Commission produced a list of six nominees for two vacant seats on the Hawaii Supreme Court.  Governor Josh Green (D) will fill the seats vacated by Justices Michael Wilson and Paula Nakayama.

Idaho:  Nine candidates have applied for the seat on the Idaho Supreme Court being vacated by John Stegner.  One of them is former Idaho AG Lawrence Wasden, who lost the R primary in 2022.  The Idaho Judicial Council will interview candidates on October 18.

Minnesota:  Governor Tim Walz (D) appointed Justice Natalie Hudson as chief justice.  Hudson was appointed to the court by Mark Dayton in 2015.  She replaces Lorie Gildea, who retires on October 1.  Walz also appointed Karl Procaccini to Hudson's seat.  He clerked for Michael Davis (D-MN) and Diana Murphy (8th Circuit) and was Walz' general counsel for four years.

Missouri:  Governor Mike Parson (R) appointed Missouri Court of Appeals judge Kelly Broniec to the Missouri Supreme Court.  She is 52 and was appointed by Parson in 2020.  The other finalists recommended by the Missouri Appellate Judicial Commission were Missouri Court of Appeals judges Michael Gardner and Ginger Gooch.  The seat was vacated by George Draper III on August 5 due to age limits.

Montana:  The Office of Disciplinary Counsel, a body subordinate to the Montana Supreme Court (MSC), has filed a complaint against AG Austin Knudsen (R) for criticizing the MSC.  Specifically, he supposedly "undermined public confidence in the fairness and impartiality of our system of justice by attempting to evade the authority of the Montana Supreme Court and assaulting the integrity of the judiciary" when he criticized them for secretly lobbying against a bill to reform the judiciary.  MSC Chief Justice Mike McGrath and Justice Dirk Sandefur will not seek reelection in 2024.

North Carolina:  North Carolina Supreme Court justice Michael Morgan (D) stepped down in early September.  He announced a campaign for governor in 2024.  Governor Roy Cooper appointed Court of Appeals judge Allison Riggs to replace Morgan.  She worked for the far-left Southern Coalition for Social Justice before being appointed by Cooper in January.  The seat is up for election in 2024.

Oregon:  Governor Tina Kotek appointed Aruna Masih to the Oregon Supreme Court.  She is a labor and civil rights attorney with no judicial experience.  Masih was born in India.  She replaces Adrienne Nelson, who was appointed to D-OR in February.

Wisconsin:  The installation of a new 4-3 leftist majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has set off a fight both within and outside the court.  The four leftist judges fired the court administrator (possibly illegally) and hired a leftist judge as a replacement (possibly illegally).

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) has floated the idea of impeaching newly-elected justice Janet Protasiewicz.  She is refusing to recuse from a case intended to overturn the state's legislative maps despite having declared them 'rigged' on the campaign trail.  If impeached, she would be suspended from hearing cases until the trial concludes.

History:

On Ed Whelan's Substack, "Confirmation Tales", recent posts deal with Bill Clinton's nomination of federal judges.

Resources:
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Thursday, June 01, 2023

June 2023 Judiciary News

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

Blue Slip:  The Congressional Black Caucus is pushing Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) to eliminate the blue slip for district court judges.  They called it a "Jim Crow practice", despite defending the practice when Trump was president.  Many D Senators seem reluctant, as they realize it could be used against them under an R president.

Feinstein:  Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) finally returned to the Senate long enough to cast votes in the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Three controversial nominees, Charnelle Bjelkengren, Kato Crews, and Marian Gaston were passed out of committee.

1st Circuit:  Michael Delaney, the nominee for the NH seat on the 1st Circuit, withdrew his nomination.  He faced opposition from some leftist groups due to signing a brief defending a parental notification law on abortion and opposition from both the right and left due to his advocacy as an attorney for publicly disclosing the identity of a minor victim of sexual assault.

9th Circuit:  Judge Ana de Alba (ED-CA) was unable to explain the Dormant Commerce Clause under questioning by Senator John Kennedy (R-LA).

11th Circuit:  The Senate confirmed Nancy Abudu to the 11th Circuit by a 49-47 vote.  Notably, Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted no, his first vote against a Biden judicial nominee.  This may explain the 16-month gap between Abudu's nomination and confirmation.

ND-MS:  Nominee Scott Colom wrote a letter to Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, disputing the reasons she has refused to return a blue slip.  These include "opposition to legislation to protect female athletes" and support from George Soros.

D-KS:  Jabari Wamble withdrew his nomination to D-KS.  He was previously nominated to the 10th Circuit in August 2022, but never received an ABA rating, and the nomination expired in January.  He was then nominated to D-KS, but he was expected to receive a 'not qualified' rating from the ABA.  Wamble is the son-in-law of Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO).

Nominations:
TBA

The Federal Judiciary:

Ethics:  The D majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee held two hearings to attack the Supreme Court over ethics issues.  However, R senators refuted their attacks.

Ethics:  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced a bill to force recusal of Supreme Court justices who supposedly have conflicts.  This would result in numerous complaints trying to recuse justices the complainants don't like.

Thomas:  Ann Coulter argues that praise from left-controlled establishment institutions is more valuable than the free vacations that Justice Thomas took with Harlan Crow.

Sotomayor:  Justice Sotomayor received over 3 million dollars from publisher Penguin Random House and did not recuse herself from voting on whether to hear a case involving it.

Fortas:  Ilya Shapiro explains that the corruption that led to Abe Fortas' resignation in 1969 is not comparable to anything alleged against current justices.

Fix the Court:  The leftist group Fix the Court accidentally revealed its donors, showing that almost all of its funding comes from three leftist foundations.

Federal Circuit:  The complaint against Judge Pauline Newman claims that Newman is paranoid and unable to remember basic facts.  The Federal Circuit panel hearing the claim denied a transfer to another circuit, despite what would seem to be an obvious conflict of interest.

Vacancy Declarations:  There are now 95 current and future judicial vacancies.  New vacancies over the past month are listed below.
D-HI: Leslie Kobayshi (Obama) 10/9/24 (senior)
ED-MI: Paul Borman (Clinton) 8/1/23 (senior)

State Supreme Courts:

Connecticut:  Governor Ned Lamont nominated Sandra Slack Glover to the Connecticut Supreme Court.  She is an attorney for D-CT who clerked for Richard Posner (7th Circuit) and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court.  After being attacked by the left for signing a letter supporting the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, who she clerked with at the Supreme Court, Glover withdrew her nomination.

Florida:  Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Meredith Sasso to the Florida Supreme Court.  She was Chief Deputy General Counsel to Governor Rick Scott, who appointed her to the Fifth District Court of Appeal in 2019.  She was transferred to the recently created Sixth District Court of Appeal, where she was chief judge. Sasso, age 40, is Cuban.  She fills the seat of retired Justice Ricky Polston.  She was one of the original three applicants for the seat, and one of six finalists after applications were reopened.

Idaho:  Idaho Supreme Court Justice John R. Stegner will retire on October 31.  He was appointed to the court by Butch Otter in 2018.  Governor Brad Little will get his second appointment to the court.

New Jersey:  Governor Phil Murphy nominated Michael Noriega, an ACLU lawyer specializing in immigration.  He would replace Barry Albin, who was age-limited in 2022.  The seat is currently held by Jack Sabatino, a temporary appointee.  The previous vacancy on the court lasted for 10 months due to an extended dispute with the state senate.

North Carolina:  North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan (D) will not seek reelection in 2024.  He was first elected in 2016.  He would only have been able to serve three years, as he would have been age-limited in 2027.  Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin (R) is running for the seat.

Pennsylvania:  The primary election for Pennsylvania Supreme Court was held on May 16.   Pennsylvania Superior Court judge Daniel McCaffery (D) of Philadelphia defeated Deborah Kunselman 60-40.  Carolyn Carluccio (R), the president judge of Montgomery County Court, defeated Patricia McCullough 54-46.  The general election is on November 8, 2023.

Resources:
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Thursday, December 01, 2022

December 2022 Judiciary News

November is over.

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

Vacancies:  Harsh Voruganti of the Vetting Room surveys the existing judicial vacancies and prospects to fill them, now that Ds have held the Senate.

Circuit courts:  President Biden has appointed 25 Biden nominees to circuit courts so far.  However, most replace previous D appointees, with only four replacing R appointees.  Those four were all moderate to liberal.

1st Circuit:  Carrie Severino exposes the radical views of pro-abortion activist Julie Rikelman, nominated to the 1st Circuit.

Nominations:
TBA

The Federal Judiciary:

Affirmative action:  The cases challenging affirmative action policies at University of North Carolina and Harvard were argued on October 31.  Justice Jackson and Justice Sotomayor made poor arguments and asked foolish questions.  Harvard's arguments were unpersuasive.

Supreme Court:  The Hill asks who is the leader of the conservatives on the Supreme Court, but doesn't explain why they would need a leader.

Disclosure:  Carrie Severino exposes the bias in a report from Fix the Court that implies that conservative justices are inappropriately influenced by their spouses' work.

Yale:  Last month, 5th Circuit judge James Ho announced that he will no longer hire clerks from Yale due to harassment of conservative speakers and students.  An additional 12 judges have anonymously joined the boycott, along with Judge Elizabeth Branch (11th Circuit).  However, Judge Jerry Smith (5th Circuit) opposes the boycott.

DC Circuit:  Judge Laurence Silberman died on October 2 at age 86.  He served in the Nixon/Ford administration, and was appointed to the court by Reagan in 1985.  He went senior in 2000, and served in that capacity until his death.  Justice Amy Coney Barrett was one of his many clerks who later became judges.

ND-IL:  Judge Robert Dow has been appointed "Counselor to the Chief Justice" John Roberts, and will serve as his chief of staff.  Dow was appointed by W in 2007.  This creates an open seat on ND-IL, though Dow can return to the bench later.

Law professors:  Mark Joseph Stern claims that liberal law professors are having a hard time adapting “intellectually, pedagogically, and emotionally” to a constitutionalist Supreme Court.  Ed Whelan shows the absurdity of this, as leftist law professors were eager to overturn precedents when they thought the left would control the court.

Vacancy Declarations:  There are now 119 current and future judicial vacancies.  New vacancies over the past month are listed below.
ND-IL: Robert Dow (W) 12/5 (counselor to John Roberts)
ND-IL: Charles Norgle (Reagan) 10/4 (senior)
WD-TX: Frank Montalvo (W) 12/1 (senior)
MD-FL: Brian Davis (Obama) 12/30/23 (senior)
D-NJ: Kevin McNulty (Obama) 10/31/23 (senior)
ED-MO: John Andrew Ross (Obama) 6/9/23 (senior)

State Supreme Courts:

Florida:  Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill to create a 6th District Court of Appeal in Florida, covering the Tampa Bay area.  The boundaries of the 1st, 2nd, and 5th districts are modified to accommodate this, and some judges have been reassigned to new circuits.  The bill creates three new judgeships in the 6th district and four new judgeships in the 5th district for DeSantis to fill.

Michigan:  Governor Whitmer appointed state rep (18-22) Kyra Harris Bolden (D) to the Michigan Supreme Court.  Bolden is a black woman who is only 34 and has little to distinguish her career.  She succeeds Chief Justice Bridget McCormack (D), who retired on November 22.  Bolden will face a special election in 2024.  The court currently has 4 D and 3 R nominees.

Nevada:  Governor Steve Sisolak appointed attorney Patricia Lee to the Nevada Supreme Court.  She is part black and part Asian.  She replaces Justice Abbi Silver, who retired.

New York:  Seven candidates to fill the position of Chief Judge on the New York Court of Appeals have been announced.  The position was vacated by Janet DiFiore, one of a group of four 'conservative' (non-leftist) judges (along with Cannatarro, Garcia, and Singas) on the court.  Judge Anthony Cannataro, currently the acting chief judge, is one of the candidates.  If he is selected by Governor Kathy Hochul, she will have to make another appointment to fill his seat.

Oregon:  Chief Justice Martha Walters and Justice Thomas Balmer will both retire on December 31.  Walters was appointed in 2006 by Ted Kulongoski, and Balmer was appointed in 2001 by John Kitzhaber.  Governor Kate Brown will appoint both replacements before she leaves office in January.  The retirements seemed to be timed to avoid the possibility that they could be replaced by a Republican (the election was won by another D).

Tennessee:  Justice Sharon Lee is retiring from Tennessee Supreme court in August 2023. She is the last D on the court, and was appointed in 2009 by Phil Bredesen.  Governor Bill Lee (R) will get his second appointment to the court.  The replacement must be from East Tennessee.

Resources:
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Sunday, November 20, 2022

The Michigan GOP is a Disaster

The 2022 election was a calamity for Michigan Republicans.  This was partly due to the national environment, but there were major blunders by both the GOP establishment and grassroots.

The problems began with the governor's race.  Surprisingly, no top Republican ran for governor.  The GOP actually has a decent bench, but most seem unwilling to run for any race that is less than a sure thing.  There are former statewide office holders (Miller, Cox, Land, Schuette, Johnson), congressmen (Hoekstra, Camp, Rogers, Trott, Huizenga, Moolenaar, McClain), and state senators, almost all of whom would have been better than anyone who ran this year.

The nominal front-runner was former Detroit police chief James Craig, but he seemed unwilling to actually campaign and was unable to secure his own campaign launch against protesters.  Without a strong front-runner, a bunch of lightweights, nuts, and random rich dudes entered the race, resulting in an absurd 10-candidate field.

Anyone running for governor needs a large number of signatures, and voters are not allowed to sign for more than one candidate.  It was obviously impossible for all the candidates to get legitimate signatures, and many turned to crooked signature collection firms, who took their money in exchange for fake signatures.  Five of the ten candidates were disqualified, including Craig and self-proclaimed "quality guru" Perry Johnson.  Shady political consultant John Yob had the non-distinction of working for both Craig and Johnson while failing to get either of them on the ballot.

Most of the remaining five candidates spent much of the primary seeking Donald Trump's endorsement.  This led to them embracing the Stop the Steal election conspiracies, which were poison in the general election.  The best of the bunch was probably Tudor Dixon, who eventually got support from both Trump and the DeVos family, and won the primary.  It isn't clear why rich car dealer Kevin Rinke never caught on with major party insiders.  The fact that January 6 rioter Ryan Kelley, who was arrested mid-campaign, was taken seriously as a candidate says a lot about how out of touch with reality some primary voters were.

After winning the primary in August, Dixon was broke.  Somehow, she was never able to turn grassroots anger at Governor Whitmer into substantial fundraising.  Major funders on the right didn't see her as viable, and mostly avoided donating to her.  Meanwhile, Whitmer had been raising tens of millions of dollars.  She used it to hammer Dixon on abortion and Stop the Steal.  Dixon was mostly unable to respond, and her campaign had no clear message.  A few late polls showed the race close, but this turned out to be a mirage, and Dixon lost by over 10%.

Meanwhile, the AG and SOS nominees were selected by GOP precinct delegates, unofficially at an endorsement convention in April and officially at a convention in August.  Traditionally, GOP delegates are a good mix of establishment Republicans and grassroots activists who carefully vetted candidates and had a history of picking strong nominees.  Over the past few years, however, these positions have increasingly been taken by Trump-loving MAGA types who knew little about what it takes to win a general election.

Most of these activists embraced 2020 election conspiracies that inspired the Stop the Steal movement.  These lies have been repeatedly been debunked, both by me and by serious Republican elected officials.  However, there was no reasoning with the MAGA crowd, who believed Trump and refused to listen to evidence to the contrary.

Trump endorsed the most fringe candidates for both AG and SOS.  For AG, he went with Matt DePerno, a trail lawyer of no distinction.  DePerno has been involved in many ethical controversies, and is under criminal investigation related to the Stop the Steal investigation of voting machines.  He had no history of involvement with the conservative movement prior to the Stop the Steal movement.  He raised a bunch of money from gullible MAGA voters, and of course didn't Stop the Steal.

For SOS, Trump endorsed Kristina Karamo, a low-level GOP activist who teaches a "welcome to college" class at a community college.  She had absolutely no qualifications for running elections.  It appears that Karamo's website was never updated after the endorsement convention.  It features endorsements from Trump, General Flynn, and a bunch of R county chairs and precinct delegates.  Karamo appeared to limit her campaign to Republicans, ignoring swing voters.  She refused to meet with the (mildly conservative) Detroit News, which later endorsed her opponent.  She also filed a lawsuit the week before the election to halt the count of Detroit absentee ballots, which was laughed out of court.  Karamo lost by almost 14%.

The trouble continued in the 3rd congressional district, where Trump endorsed John Gibbs over Peter Meijer, who had voted for impeachment.  Gibbs had no ties to the district, and had made a bunch of impolitic statements that played poorly in a district that was gerrymandered to favor democrats.  The other R candidates for congress in competitive seats performed respectably.  John James won a narrow victory, Tom Barrett did as well as could be expected, and Paul Junge was a respectable candidate in a district where no top R candidates ran.

The legislative caucuses seemed to do reasonably well with the hand they were dealt.  The redistricting commission gerrymandered the maps to help the democrats, but even with the disaster at the top of the ticket, dems only won one seat more than 50% in both chambers.  When there is a close loss, it is easy to speculate that another candidate would have done better.  However, none of the candidates in competitive seats were obvious disasters.

Speaking of the  redistricting commission, the GOP failed to stop it from passing in 2018, and seemed to not even try.  Its effort to influence the commission was unfocused, mostly just telling activists to give whatever opinion they wanted.  Meanwhile, the dems gave their activists clear talking points that were repeated again and again.  Fixing the commission should be a top goal of the GOP in the future.

That brings us to the Michigan GOP itself.  The chair is currently Ron Weiser, a businessman who has led the party in the 2010, 2018, and 2022 cycles.  Weiser has had some success at fundraising (particularly when he writes the checks himself) but by now it seems clear that he isn't a good leader.  Back in 2010, the August convention overseen by Weiser was a fiasco, as the party botching the credentialing process led to an hour-long line half way around the Breslin Center.  The vice-chair of the Michigan GOP is Meshawn Maddock, the wife of MAGA state rep Matt Maddock.  Her main contribution seems to be to occasionally make inflammatory comments.

While the election results in 2010 were excellent, the same can't be said for 2018 or 2022.  It can be difficult to evaluate the performance of a state party, since there are many factors other than its actions that contribute to victory or defeat.  One area where the state party absolutely be involved is vetting candidates.  In a 2022 special election, the GOP nominated Robert Regan, who had expressed many controversial opinions, including that the war in Ukraine wasn't real.  This came out shortly after the primary, presumably due to democrat opposition research.  Regan lost an otherwise safe seat, and made it harder for Republicans to win the redrawn district in November.  While the Michigan GOP should not attempt to pick a winner in every race, it should vet candidates and attempt to expose any crooks or cranks before they lose any more winnable seats.

The Michigan GOP has a choice.  It could continue to embrace conspiracy nonsense and use MAGA messaging that only speaks to the activist base.  Or it can face reality and appeal to winnable voters with a conservative platform that speaks to their concerns.  A test of which direction the party will choose will come at the next Michigan GOP convention in February, which will elect the new party leadership.  Matt DePerno is already running for Michigan GOP chair, and James Craig and Tudor Dixon are considering the race.  Someone better is needed to turn the party around.
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