Michigan Democrats win special elections to regain full control of state government
Democrats won back a majority in the Michigan House and restored their party’s full control of state governmentTuesday thanks to victories in two special elections.
Mai Xiong won the special election in the 13th District, which covers Warren and part of Detroit, while Peter Herzberg won in the 25th District, which contains the cities of Wayne and Westland. Both candidates were favorites in the heavily Democratic districts.
The lower chamber has been tied 54-54 between Democratic and Republican lawmakers since November, when two Democratic representatives vacated their seats after winning mayoral races in their hometowns.
Democrats flipped both chambers in the 2022 midterms while maintaining control of the governor’s office to win a trifecta for the first time in 40 years. They moved quickly to roll back decades of Republican measures and implement the party’s agenda in their first year, including overhauling the state’s gun laws.
The local races perhaps make more of a difference than national races. I think Michigan combating gerrymandering has brought it to this point and Michigan will be more consistently blue going forward. Even if you don't like the candidates, make sure to vote to approve ballot measures like those that combat gerrymandering.
Ballot initiatives are crushing it in Michigan lately. Ending gerrymandering, legalizing weed, protecting reproductive rights, and improving elections have all passed through ballot initiatives in the past few years. Direct democracy works. I feel for people in states that don’t have that option (cough Indiana). I feel like we might be starting to see Michigan emerge as the anti-Florida
Here in Ohio the GOP led legislature just ignores the antigerrymandering measures passed. The state Supreme Court struck down their district maps. The federal Supreme Court sides with the GOP
Don't give up yet! There should be an additional ballot measure that removes the politicians entirely from the map drawing process this fall!
That's rough. A ballot measure is one tool in the fight which will gain effectiveness when it's backed up by other efforts. At the very least, the corruption is on record.