Current state Rep. Mari Manoogian (D-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, western West Bloomfield) surprised the local political world Friday night, March 25, when she sent out an email and announced on Twitter that she would not be running for an expected third term in November in the newly-formed 5th District, comprising Birmingham, parts of Royal Oak and Berkley, Huntington Woods, Southfield, Lathrup Village, Oak Park and northwest Detroit. While there had be

Republican Chuck Moss of Birmingham will not be running for reelection to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in the newly drawn district 19, which includes most of Birmingham but meanders southward to include Huntington Woods and Ferndale. The current district Moss represents includes Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and most of Bloomfield Township. Moss has served as a city commissioner in Birmingham, the county board and as a state Representative in the past. As of last

As Democratic Congress members Andy Levin (Bloomfield Township, Royal Oak, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, parts of Macomb County) and Haley Stevens (Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, Clawson, parts of western Oakland and Wayne counties) are fighting a turf war for the voters’ nod in the upcoming August primary for the redistricted 11th District, they’re also battling it out in who has the most – and most notable – endorsements. It’s a story of one-two punches, with Stevens rec

So far, just one Republican has thrown his hat into the ring to try to take on the winner of the Levin/Stevens Democratic primary to try to take the 11th District in November and flip it red. However, that candidate – Josh Bitterman – knows what it’s like to get into a ring and battle it out. Bitterman, of Pontiac, is a Bloomfield Hills native, attending Way Elementary and Lahser High School, then University of Michigan, and grew up across the street from Kirk in the Hills Pr

What’s going on with former Detroit Police Chief James Craig’s campaign for governor? The “presumed” Republican frontrunner – and we say that because GOP leadership continues to call him the frontrunner –  and his fellow – at this count – 10 other GOP candidates, if they all file by April 19, aren’t really giving him much of a challenge. And that’s not saying much. Craig is hydroplaning among voters, especially the Republican electorate. His campaign has been undergoing a “re

Although the April 19 filing deadline for 2020 candidates is still a couple of weeks off, there are already a number of races that will be worth following, among them the August primary contest for the new Michigan state House 54th district (parts of Auburn Hills, Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township, and all of Orion Township)  on the Democrat side of the ballot. So far there are two seeking to be the standard bearer for the Democrats – Gary Gerson and Shadia Martini, bo

Traditionally, local, state and national party chairs stay out of the endorsement game during primary season, not wanting to put their finger on the scale for one candidate over another of their own party. But – in so many ways – this year is not like other years. And one key reason is it seems Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock is playing with her own playbook. An example is her recent endorsements of Republican Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo and attorney ge

Speaking of Matt DePerno, at a fundraiser for the AG hopeful at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate in March the crowd included the ex-prez and Pillow Guy (and conspiracy theorist) Mike Lindell, both of whom spoke, and Meshawn Maddock, of course. But there were a number of other Michigan hopefuls, among them Republican gubernatorial candidate Perry Johnson of Bloomfield Township, as well as top spot contenders Ralph Rebandt and Ryan Kelley. Johnson, it should be noted, threw his endors

Two county family dynasties from the west Oakland lakes area are being challenged at the county commission level in the August 2020 election – the Long family in Commerce and the Kowall family in White Lake, both with a long Republican history. Christine Long is currently on the county board and has filed to run in the newly configured 12th district. First elected as county commissioner in 2002, she hails from a family that has been holding public office for decades. Her husb

Like a bald tire in a winter snowstorm, Michigan House 19th district Republican candidate Anthony Paesano of Bloomfield Township got little traction in the media with his early March publicity release calling for the resignation of Birmingham Public Schools Superintendent Embekka Roberson, blaming her for the $14 million budget deficit now facing the district. And for good cause, no doubt. Roberson took over in early summer of 2021; the deficit was discovered several months a