Michigan
Harris effect in Michigan may mean most to down-ballot Dems – City Pulse
By TYLER SCHNEIDER
Judith Daubenmier’s first dose of political activism came when she volunteered for John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004.
In May, the Livingston County Democratic Party chair earned her first selection as a Democratic delegate for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, which includes Ingham County. That means she’ll vote for the party’s presidential nominee during the virtual roll call before next month’s national convention in Chicago.
Until President Biden bowed out, Daubenmier was sure she would support him.
“I felt sad for him and had a lot of empathy for what he was going through and what it must have felt like to make that decision,” she said. “It took a while to work through that — but then I started thinking about the future.”
What might that political future look like for Michiganders?
Assuming Vice President Kamala Harris locks up the Democratic nomination, Michigan State University political science Professor Matt Grossman said the pivot still won’t necessarily put the state’s 15 electoral votes out of reach for either party.
“To the extent that Biden had a relative advantage over Harris, it would have been among older white voters, which Michigan has a lot more of than other states,” Grossman said. “So, the switch does not necessarily help in Michigan as much as it helped elsewhere. And there certainly still is the danger of losing for Democrats.”
The potential trade-off comes in Harris’ expected appeal among younger and minority voters. In February, 13% of the state’s Democratic primary voters selected the “uncommitted” option to protest Biden’s handling of the Israeli war. Many of those votes came from the 500,000 Arab Americans in Michigan — the most of any state — and college-age adults.
Thasin Sardar, an Islamic Society of Greater Lansing trustee, said Harris’ expected candidacy could chip away at that protest vote.
“I do see some attrition of some who were motivated to join the movement not only because of Gaza but also because Biden was not a winning candidate,” he said. “I’m pretty sure they all care for Gaza, but I think they may also see Harris as having a good chance.”
Before Biden dropped out, some thought he was also starting to lose ground with Black voters, long considered one of his strongest electoral demographics. Could that leak be stymied with Harris — who is half-Black and half-Indian — atop the ticket?
Daubenmier thinks so. But it’s still too early to tell for Michigan State University associate political science Professor Corwin Smidt.
“That’s one group that one would assume she can cement support with, but there’s a little concern about how much of a connection she’ll have with the Black voters in Michigan, which tend to also be older,” Smidt said.
She may earn new supporters elsewhere, however.
“There is an Asian-American community in suburban Detroit that does seem a little less unified politically,” he added. “The fact that she’s half-Indian American could resonate with some of those groups that you don’t traditionally see as active in Michigan politics,” Smidt said.
Despite these unknowns, Grossman predicted that Michigan’s electoral coalition would be “90% to 95% the same.”
Smidt agreed but added that the implications of Biden’s withdrawal may be more visible in who is and isn’t representing Michigan next year.
“When it comes to Michigan, it’s not like this is like a sea change, but it does sort of shuffle the chess pieces or the type of communication you might see,” Smidt said.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s future is among the pieces that may be in play. While Whitmer has twice stated that she isn’t interested in becoming Harris’ running mate, her potential to help turn a key swing state blue means she’ll remain in the conversation.
“We have evidence that home state VP candidates do matter, but we’re talking about a very small 1% or so,” Grossman explained. “Were Whitmer in it, that would still make a specific difference in Michigan. Now, there are many other actors on that list, so, more than likely, it will go to someone else.”
If Whitmer stays put, Harris’ rise could still impact Michigan’s future, including in the race for Michigan’s 7th U.S. House District, which includes Ingham County. Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr. and Republican Tom Barrett want to succeed three-term Rep. Elissa Slotkin. The latter, a Democrat, is expected to face former Rep. Mike Rogers for the U.S. Senate, pending the outcome of the Aug. 6 primary.
Based on a poll by the nonpartisan firm Noble Predictive Insights conducted July 8 to 11, Barrett leads Hertel 48% to 41%, with 11% of the survey’s 532 respondents still undecided. The same polls suggested the Senate race would be much closer, with Rogers leading Slotkin by one point at 48%, with 4% undecided.
Grossman said Harris’ increased popularity with younger and minority voters could change the trajectory of these down-ballot races. For one, her candidacy may promote greater turnout, theoretically bolstering Democrats.
“In general, there’s an extremely strong relationship between the presidential vote and votes for all other partisan offices on the same day. It could be two or three points, but that could be important in determining the winner of those elections,” Grossman said.
With Biden out, Smidt added that Hertel’s odds of shoring up younger or moderate-leaning voters may also be boosted.
“There’s sort of a social media cache with Kamala Harris that could mobilize younger people more,” Smidt said. “Because this is a split district, Michigan State voters alone can be a decisive factor.”
Still, Smidt views Michigan’s Senate matchup as “more important than the presidential race.”
“You have Slotkin, who’s got some vulnerabilities in her base in terms of Israel and Gaza, and Rogers, who is seen as kowtowing to Trump in some ways. To me, that race has much more to say about the state party’s future and how both parties look coming into 2026 and 2028 than it does the presidential election,” Smidt said.
Grossman said the results of that race could ultimately echo that of the presidential contest.
“If it were literally 50-50 in the presidential race, you’d still expect Slotkin to win, but not much more than that. She pretty much needs Democrats to either win Michigan or come close,” he said.
State Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, believes Democrats can win big if they focus on issues like inflation, the cost of living, the environment and reproductive rights.
“When Harris has come to the state, by and large, it’s been around reproductive health care, which was a defining issue two years ago when the Democratic trifecta was elected and continues to be at the top of mind for Michiganders, particularly women,” Anthony said.
Daubenmier agreed, noting that she hopes Michigan voters will get behind Harris.
“Some people will feel more interested in the campaign now because they wanted to see a new face. They wanted to see someone younger, and I think that will help us tremendously,” she said.
— TYLER SCHNEIDER
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Jeremy Fears had 21 points and eight assists and Coen Carr also scored 21, helping No. 8 Michigan State hold off Rutgers 91-87 on Thursday night.
The Spartans (25-5, 15-4 Big Ten) will close the regular season on the road against rival and third-ranked Michigan on Sunday.
Michigan State has won five straight games to secure a top-four seed in next week’s Big Ten Tournament and a double-bye into the quarterfinals.
The Scarlet Knights (12-18, 5-14) have slumped toward the bottom of the 18-team conference.
Rutgers’ Tariq Francis scored 25 points, Lino Mark had 14 and Emmanuel Ogbole added 13.
Michigan State trailed by a point at halftime and took control with an 11-0 run. Carr dunked three times in 1:13 and Jordan Scott followed with a slam 32 seconds later.
The Spartans had a comfortable cushion until the final minute, when their 10-point lead was trimmed to two. Fears sealed the win with two free throws with 2.9 seconds left.
Jaxon Kohler scored 15 points and Carson Cooper added 14 in the final home game for both seniors.
Michigan State celebrated its seniors after the game, including Nick Sanders, son of Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions.
The school honored a military veteran, as it does every game before the national anthem is played, and the latest was Kohler’s 102-year-old great grandfather, Earl “Chuck” Kohler, who served in the Navy and is one of 12 remaining survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack.
Up next
Rutgers: Host Penn State on Sunday.
Michigan State: At No. 3 Michigan on Sunday.
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2025 MI marijuana excise tax revenues drop for local governments
In 2025, local government retail license share dropped $4,211 from Michigan marijuana sales for the tax year. New taxes could cut it more in 2026.
Michigan municipalities and counties that allow recreational marijuana dispensaries are set to receive far less money this year than last in their annual portion of tax revenue collected from cannabis sales.
Sales declined in 2025 for the first time since legal recreational marijuana sales started in December 2019.
A total of 114 cities, 39 villages, 81 townships, 75 counties and four tribes will receive payments from the Marijuana Regulation Fund, according to a March 3 news release from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency. They will get about $54,000 per retail store or microbusiness, based on nearly $94 million collected.
Last year, each eligible government entity received a little more than $58,000 per business based on a total of nearly $100 million in marijuana tax revenue.
Detroit, once again, will receive the most money of any municipality. There are 61 active retailer licenses in Detroit, so the city will get nearly $3.3 million in tax revenue.
State law determines how the money is split. The Michigan Transportation Fund gets 35% of the revenue, which is used for the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges, and another 35% goes to the School Aid Fund to be used for K-12 education. The other 30% is split between municipalities, counties and tribes.
The payments come from revenue collected from the 10% recreational marijuana excise tax. This tax is separate from a new 24% wholesale tax that went into effect Jan. 1. The revenue from that tax will go to fixes for local roads.
Sales at recreational marijuana dispensaries declined by 3% last year to $3.17 billion, down from $3.28 billion in 2024, according to figures from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency, leading to the smaller payouts. More government entities also split the revenue compared with last year.
Payments to municipalities could get smaller if sales continue to decline. Recreational marijuana sales in Michigan plunged nearly 16% in January compared with December as heavy snow, cold temperatures and fears of higher prices due to the new 24% wholesale cannabis tax kept consumers at home.
While recent trends indicate a cooling period, a February report from Headset, a cannabis market intelligence firm, said the market — one of the largest in the country — has shown resilience over the last two years.
Below are the municipalities that received the most tax revenue:
- Detroit: $3.3 million
- Grand Rapids: $1.5 million
- Lansing: $1.4 million
- Ann Arbor: $1.2 million
- Kalamazoo: $1 million
- Flint: $648,000
- Traverse City, Hazel Park and Adrian all will receive $594,000.
For a full list of municipalities, counties and tribes that will receive marijuana tax revenue, go to www.michigan.gov/treasury.
Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping everything from classroom conversations to social media, and leaders at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) say West Michigan is positioning itself to help determine how the technology is used, responsibly.
The university’s College of Computing is launching the West Michigan Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) Consortium, aimed at helping businesses, researchers and the community better understand how to use artificial intelligence.
Right in the heart of Grand Rapids, along the Medical Mile, the consortium will meet at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) every week, with quarterly meetings open to the general public.
The effort is aimed at helping West Michigan industries adopt AI that fits their specific needs, while problem-solving for security, bias, privacy, and ethical concerns.
Right in the heart of Grand Rapids, along Medical Mile, the consortium will meet at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) every week, with quarterly meetings open to the general public. (Abigail Taylor/WWMT)
Marouane Kessentini, Ph.D, Dean of the GVSU College of Computing told News Channel 3 that a wide range of companies in the region are bringing forward questions of where, and how, to ethically integrate artificial intelligence into their practices.
“Here in West Michigan, we have a high concentration of many industries, health, manufacturing, and of course high-tech companies,” said Kessentini. “The first questions are about security, privacy, ethics and bias. It’s not just about deploying tools. It’s about deploying them responsibly.”
Kessentini said the consortium will focus on training, research and community education, with a heavy emphasis on data privacy, cybersecurity and misinformation.
“There are many examples where AI systems were trained on data that wasn’t diverse,” he said. “That can lead to inaccurate results. That’s why testing and training are critical.”
The consortium will bring together faculty researchers, students, and industry leaders, with weekly meetings planned to develop guidance for using AI at scale.
The goal is to help companies validate AI outputs, clean and manage data, and identify bias before systems are put into real-world use, especially in high-risk industries like healthcare and manufacturing.
Some projects will involve software design, others will focus on creating public data sets that are reliably sourced, but anonymized for safe use, and many more are yet to be ideated.
Some projects will involve software design, others will focus on creating public data sets that are reliably sourced, but anonymized for safe use, and many more are yet to be ideated. (Abigail Taylor/WWMT)
The initiative is backed by $1,031,000 in federal support, through the Community Project Funding (CPF) process, resources that U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten (D-MI-03) said she advocated for among members of congress in Washington.
“West Michigan should be leading the way in how artificial intelligence is developed and used, and that starts with investing in people and institutions we trust,” said Rep. Scholten. “This funding will help GVSU bring together educators, industry, and public partners to build AI systems that are ethical, secure, and transparent while preparing students for good-paying jobs and strengthening our region’s economy. I’m proud to support this work and to continue delivering federal investments that ensure West Michigan remains at the forefront of responsible innovation.”
It’s important that AI is useful, but also safe…
GVSU also launched an online certificate portal that is open for community members interested in learning about ethical AI use, for free.
Kessentini said the training is for the general public to learn how to navigate the technology, including the risks and limitations.
“It’s important that AI is useful, but also safe,” said Edgar Cruz, master’s student with a badge in cybersecurity.
Cruz is currently researching how AI systems can be attacked or manipulated with poisoned data, specifically as it relates to vehicle-to-vehicle communication, where AI helps self-driving cars exchange information like speed and position.
“We want to ensure that the system is robust and safe,” he said. “Because obviously people are involved.”
Kessentini said the consortium is designed to be a public resource, not just an academic project.
Quarterly community meetings will be open to the public, and training materials are available online through the College of Computing website.
“This is innovation with purpose,” he said. “We want to start here in Grand Rapids, but we want to make a global impact.”
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