WHO LOVES YOU BABY

Senate candidates are not the only ones showing off their endorsements, with Michigan candidates for a variety of offices seeking stature parading their supporters as advocates for their positions. One candidate we’re hearing a lot from is Republican Secretary of State nomination candidate Monica Yatooma, who boasts some major MAGA cred in her court, with “pro election integrity” folk supporting her, including Carolyn Richards, chair of the St. Clair County Republican Party and its exec committee, as well as St. Clair County GOP; Anthony Noble, clerk of White Lake Township; Sonja Buffa, Warren Clerk; and Minde Lux, Isabella County Clerk, along with Dr. John Eastman, election counsel to President Donald Trump following January 6, 2021. Yatooma isn’t the only SOS candidate racking up the endorsements – Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, running for the Democratic nod, boasts the endorsement of the Michigan Democratic Party Progressive Caucus, Rev. Horace Sheffield; Christopher Taylor, mayor, Ann Arbor; David LaGrand, mayor, Grand Rapids; Dayna Polehanki, state Senator; state Rep. Carrie Rheingans; and numerous unions, including Michigan AFL-CIO, UAW, AFT, MEA, Carpenters, Unite Here Local 24, LiUNA and the Next 50. Will Dems be more swayed by Gilchrist’s endorsements, or the news that he skipped 94 percent of Senate session days in 2025, when lieutenant governors are expected to preside over the Senate as the de facto leader of the Senate? Former Michigan Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli is certainly hoping for the latter. Secretary of State – along with Attorney General, state Supreme Court candidates and university trustees – are chosen not by primary voters, but by the state party electoral base at party conventions. The Republican convention takes place Saturday, March 28. The Democratic party convention takes place three weeks later, on Sunday, April 19.

Monica Yatooma