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Michigan Policast for Thursday, August 6, 2020
In this episode:
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Jump to:
- Segment one: Congressional races
- Segment two: State House races
- Segment three: Bob LaBrant on dark money & Unlock Michigan
- Segment four: John James misrepresents his military background
- Transcript
- Comments
Congressional races
- Tlaib wins rematch with Jones in Michigan's 13th District
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib – MI-13 – OpenSecrets (campaign finance)
- Pandemic gave some Michigan politicians an edge over competition
- Michigan District 06 2020 Race – OpenSecrets (campaign finance)
- Michigan primary results: Rashida Tlaib cruises, Peter Meijer wins big
- Meijer wins West Michigan GOP primary for Congress
- Lawmaker Hoadley narrowly wins Democratic primary to take on Upton
- The Trailer: Five things we learned from the latest fundraising reports (Washington Post, may have a paywall)
MI-03 – Peter Meijer and Hillary Scholten will face off in the general.

“[Tom] Norton, a former Sand Lake village president, for instance, argues that he'd have more funds in his campaign coffers if donors weren't afraid of alienating his main opponents, who include Peter Meijer, the grandson of the founder of the eponymous grocery store chain and whose family is deeply connected to the state's business community, and state Rep. Lynn Afendoulis, R-Grand Rapids.” ~Source

MI-06 – As expected, Jon Hoadley will face Fred Upton in November (though it was a bit of a nail-biter at times …. )
Jon Hoadley, a three-term representative from Michigan’s 60th House District, was considered a major favorite coming in to the primary. As of 11:30 p.m., Aug. 4, 2020, he was trialing Jen Richardson 53% to 47% with ballots still being counted. https://t.co/kaiu7OJKfU
— WWMT-TV (@wwmtnews) August 5, 2020

“”Obviously he should have taken the primary more seriously based on what we're seeing right now,” said [Adrian] Hemond, noting Hoadley clearly didn't spend enough of his war chest on the primary. ” ~Source: Detroit News

MI-13: Rashida Tlaib will face David Dudenhoefer in the general. David “the dude” Dudenhoefer won a three-way primary with 47.5% of the vote.

“In her statement Wednesday morning, Tlaib said, “We have a resounding mandate to put people before profits. Let it be known that in the 13th District, just like in communities across our country, we are done with establishment politics that put corporations first. If I was considered the most vulnerable member of the Squad, I think it’s safe to say the Squad is here to stay, and it’s only getting bigger.”” ~ Source: Detroit Free Press
“[Omar] raised less than $500,000 over the quarter, which for a safe-seat member of Congress is fairly standard. Her highest-profile primary challenger, Antone Melton-Meaux, raised $3.2 million. Much of that, as Buzzfeed's Molly Hensley-Clancy reported last week, came from donors outside the state who maxed out at the chance to retire Omar. Lacy Johnson, Omar's Republican opponent, raised more than $2 million for the quarter, despite having no clear path to victory in a Minneapolis-centered district that gave Hillary Clinton 74 percent of the vote.” ~Source
State House races
- Big-spending Shri Thanedar appears headed for seat in Michigan Legislature
- Controversial Democrat Whitsett, millionaire Thanedar lead in state House races
- Live: Michigan State Primary Election Results 2020 (New York Times, may have a paywall)
- Ex-gubernatorial candidate Shri Thanedar wins nomination for Michigan House seat
- Michigan election results for Aug. 4 primary
“With 98% of precincts reporting, Thanedar won with about 35% of the vote, followed by Donavan McKinney with 20% and China Cochran with about 17%.” ~Source
GOP’s advantage wanes in last year of Michigan ‘historical’ gerrymander https://t.co/CUDo15aw6v pic.twitter.com/avAhq8loIo
— Bridge Michigan (@BridgeMichigan) August 5, 2020
“As of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, around 1.6 million people voted absentee in the primary, the first major statewide election since the coronavirus pandemic hit Michigan. The previous record for absentee ballots was 1.27 million in the 2016 general election, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson estimates 3 million could be submitted in the November presidential election.” ~Source
Bob LaBrant on dark money & Unlock Michigan
- Ex-Chamber attorney challenges mystery funding of campaign to limit Whitmer's power
- Mystery money fuels campaign to limit Whitmer's emergency powers
- MICHIGAN CAMPAIGN FINANCE ACT | Act 388 of 1976
- EMERGENCY POWERS OF GOVERNOR | Act 302 of 1945
- Bob LaBrant on LinkedIn
“By making multiple contributions to the campaign, totaling $660,200, Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility became its own ballot proposal committee that should have to file reports with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, LaBrant argued.” ~Source
John James misrepresents his military background
- Yet another GOP Senate candidate uses ‘Ranger’ label despite Army caveat
- Congressional Veterans Caucus | Gary Peters
- THE 75TH RANGER REGIMENT IS NOT THE SAME AS RANGER SCHOOL!
- Ranger School graduates running for office are claiming to be Rangers. Is it right?
The difference between “Ranger qualified” and “Army Ranger” may seem subtle, ... But the Army says he’s not an Army Ranger, and that’s important for voters to understand.' https://wapo.st/2PwnmNO @johnjamesrevealClick To Tweet” James cannot say he is an Army Ranger, only that he is “Ranger qualified.”
Indeed, presumably, James knows this because the biography on his campaign website says: “After graduating from West Point in 2004, he became a Ranger-qualified aviation officer.”” ~Source
“the Fact Checker certainly received lots of email messages — from Army veterans who argued that Ranger-qualified indeed means Ranger and from many other Army vets who were appalled at Messner’s claim.” ~Source
Transcript
On the way !!