Late April had all the makings of a reality show gone bad for Milford-based Republican Michigan House member Matt “Mad Dog” Maddock, coming off the GOP state early nomination convention where the MAGA forces (Mad Dog among them) officially took over the state party, with Trump-backed candidates securing ballot spots for secretary of state and attorney general. That was on Saturday, April 23, as the party schism between traditional party members and 2020 election-deniers playe

Word is still trickling out of the Michigan GOP convention in April, where the former “mainstream” Republicans discovered there was a “No Longer Welcome” sign out. Besides MAGA-base convention-goers choosing Matt DePerno on the general election ballot for attorney general and Kristina Karamo for secretary of state, they eschewed more establishment candidates for  trustee for University of Michigan and Michigan State University, notably former trustees Andrea (Andi) Fischer Ne

Just days after the GOP nomination brawl at the DeVos Place in Grand Rapids,  there were more signs of the growing division in the state Republican party with the resignation of Tony Daunt from the 100-member  Republican State Committee, which is generally charged with helping set the future course of the party in Michigan. Daunt, one of two GOP members of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, is considered one of the titans for the state Republican party. Props to reporter

The takeover by the “MAGA” wing of the Michigan Republican party is being blamed by many in the party on state GOP co-chair Ron Weiser, a wealthy Ann Arbor real estate owner, former Ambassador to Slovakia under President George W. Bush and University of Michigan regent. This is Weiser’s third gig as party chair, but it seems he is not currently as focused on matters at hand, more concentrated on health issues and a new girlfriend after getting divorced, letting co-chair Mesha

Michigan’s noted Devos family has placed their hand on the tiller for the Republican gubernatorial primary, endorsing candidate Tudor Dixon of Norton Shores, a radio host on the west side of the state. Former GOP Michigan chair (and one-time unsuccessful candidate for governor) Dick Devos, husband of Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy Devos, said the endorsement came from the entire family, and “the family intends to support her financially.” So far, Dixon has not been a top G

As of press time, five of 10 – half the GOP gubernatorial field – were found to have not submitted enough valid ballot signatures, include two of the top candidates, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig and Perry Johnson, meaning they will not appear on the August primary ballot. According to reports, hired petition circulators (working for a firm with a possible criminal past) submitted pages of fraudulently filled out petitions with invalid signatures. In a classy move,

The Democratic primary contest between Reps. Andy Levin and Haley Stevens has gotten downright nasty with two months still to go before the August primary. And while his campaign asserted way back in February they had no intention of going down that road, Levin’s peeps have been throwing most of the poison darts. A lot of it stems to Stevens receipt of a $300,000 donation from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, a bipartisan American organization tha

The municipal election for city commission is over a year off but rumblings are starting to surface that at least one Birmingham board member could be the target of a concerted effort for change come next November.  First elected in 2019,  the term of commissioner Brad Host is up in November of 2023. A polarizing figure even before he last sought office, the performance of Host on the city commission has done little to improve his reputation with what appears to be a growing