The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report about the 2020 election in mid-July, reporting that “Election officials faced unprecedented challenges in conducting the 2020 elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Several Michigan election officials have let it be known that after the election, they faced threats, including death threats. Former Rochester Hills Clerk Tina Barton, now a senior elections expert with The Elections Group, received a voicema

Here’s a campaign blunder that would be right up the alley of gonzo journalist Hunt S. Thompson (Fear  and Loathing on the Campaign Trail) if he was still around. The day the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out legal abortions by overturning the Roe v Wade decision from five decades ago, Michigan Congressman Andy Levin posted on his Twitter account a picture of himself doing a yoga pose on a mat in his Capitol office with some accompanying verbiage saying he was “turning inward” af

Political observers have known in the past decade that Oakland County is turning bluer with each election. Now Politico has ranked Oakland as among the top 20 critical counties in the country when it comes to determining the outcome of statewide races and ballot issues, noting the it is a “hub of independent voters shifting increasingly left,”  thanks to an influx of a more diverse racial and ethnic population from neighboring Wayne County. The shifting political face of vote

The five remaining Republican candidates for governor look more and more like tryouts for a new version of The Three Stooges. Originally believed to be an afterthought candidate, Ryan Kelley of Allendale was charged as being an insurrectionist for participating in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and has seen his popularity, well not exactly soar, but climb slightly higher than some of his fellow candidates. He has bragged that it shows “the devotion he had by being

With the latest polling among Democrats showing an overwhelming support for anybody-but-Joe Biden to run in 2024, prognosticators are hard at work floating possible party contenders for a replacement on the presidential ballot. Along with the obligatory mention of Vice-President Kamala Harris and left coast (California) Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is now making it into the playbook put together by the chattering class.  Another Michigan possibili

What is it about the office of Macomb County Prosecutor? First, former Prosecutor Eric Smith thought the county till was his personal checking account. He’s now in prison for that mistake, and other financial fraud. Now comes a report that current prosecutor Peter Lucido has made inappropriate statements containing sexual comments and/or sexual innuendo and – can you believe it? – that he used county personnel and other resources for personal and some campaign-type activities

The duel involving Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, Clawson,  western Oakland and Wayne counties) and Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Township, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Macomb County) over the new 11th District of Congress, encompassing the majority of Oakland County, continues to get nastier by the day, with mud being thrown consistently by Levin’s campaign and surrogates for Stevens. Much of the vitriol can presumably be attributed to desperation

Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-Rochester, Rochester Hills, Holly, northern Oakland, parts of Livingston and Ingham counties), who is running in the newly-redistricted 7th District, with Lansing at its center, brought the Brinks truck to her campaign, raising over $1.5 million in the second quarter of 2022 – and a total of $6.9 million this election cycle. Without a primary opponent, she has over $6.5 million cash on hand. Her likely Republican opponent, state Sen. Tom Barret