Michigan
August Primary: Democrats face an uncertain choice in Michigan's 8th Congressional District primary
Michigan voters have already started casting ballots ahead of the August primary.
Perhaps the biggest contest on the ballot is the Democratic race in the 8th Congressional District.
Last November, incumbent Democratic congressman Dan Kildee surprised many when he announced he would not seek re-election in 2024.
The decision marked the end of decades of Kildee family control of the mid-Michigan congressional seat, and possibly along with it, a half century of Democratic control of the seat representing Flint.
The 8th District, which stretches from Democratic strongholds in Genesee County to solidly Republican Midland County, is seen as a toss-up.
Steve Carmody
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Michigan Public
“Hi everybody. Welcome, please feel free to gather round,” a speaker told a small crowd gathered last month on the Saginaw County courthouse lawn to mark the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
At the rally, State Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) related the importance of the 8th district race to the abortion debate.
“In this toss-up U.S. House race, we have pro-choice Democrats running against anti-abortion extremists. Period. That is the choice that’s on the ballot,” McDonald Rivet told the pro-choice crowd.
McDonald Rivet is one of three candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in the 8th Congressional primary. The others are state Board of Education president Pamela Pugh and former Flint Mayor Matt Collier.
While each candidate placed reproductive rights as a top issue in November, McDonald Rivet sees the economy as the key issue in the Democratic Party primary.
“We have to talk about our fundamental rights. We have to talk about gun violence,” said McDonald Rivet, “But people really want folks who are going to roll up their sleeves and figure out how to make it easier to live in the middle class.”
Steve Carmody
/
Michigan Public
McDonald Rivet says congress needs to do more to address the cost of housing, saving for retirement and paying for prescription drugs.
Pamela Pugh announced her plans for the 2024 election early in 2023. But at the time, Pugh’s plan was to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Debbie Stabenow. But plans change. After Kildee’s retirement announcement, Pugh switched her campaign to the 8th district.
Sitting in a Saginaw coffee shop, Pugh discussed what she sees as the top priority in the 8th district Democratic primary.
“Economy, economy, economy.” Pugh said, “It doesn’t matter what neighborhood you’re in. It doesn’t matter what sector I’m talking to. It is about the economy.”
Pugh contends “economic dignity for all” and a family sustaining wage are essential to a good quality of life. She cites investing in education as key to addressing the economy.
Pugh and McDonald Rivet both currently serve in high profile elected offices.
For Matt Collier, it’s been nearly 40 years since he was elected Flint’s youngest mayor back in the 1980s. Since then, the West Point grad has worked in the private sector, as well as the Obama administration.
“My story starts here on the ice in Flint, where you learn how to pick yourself up when life knocks you down,” Collier said in his first TV campaign commercial, showing him playing hockey at a local ice rink.
Steve Carmody
/
Michigan Public
Sitting in a Flint diner, Collier said keeping the seat, long-held by Dale and Dan Kildee, Democratic is important.
“There’s pressure — but not because of the Kildee family — more because on the Democratic side to retain the seat for this country, for the sanity of this country,” said Collier.
The former mayor said political divisions in Washington has resulted in the current session of Congress being one of the least productive in U.S. History.
Paul Rozycki is a retired political science professor at Mott Community College. The longtime observer of Flint regional politics says the August primary winner may face a significant challenge keeping the eighth district in the Democratic column in November.
“I have a hunch that in many ways you could take a look at the 8th District and see it as a mirror of some of the dissatisfaction that’s rumbling across a lot of the country in the last almost eight years,” said Rozycki.
Rozycki expects the 8th district will be the most competitive race in Michigan this fall.
DETROIT – A major banking merger is reshaping the financial landscape in Michigan — and customers need to take action before the changes take effect.
Fifth Third Bank completed its acquisition of Comerica, and beginning Sept. 8, Comerica customers will transition onto Fifth Third’s systems. The switch affects everything from mobile banking to direct deposits.
What Comerica customers need to do
Steve Davis, regional market president for Michigan, said the transition is designed to be straightforward for most customers.
“For the most part, what our customers are going to need to do is on September 8th, they’re going to log in to the Fifth Third app or their website, create a new user ID, a new password, and they’re good to go,” Davis said. “Their debit card, their ATM, their direct deposit information, all their ACHs — that’s all going to transfer over for them.”
To help customers prepare, welcome packets will be mailed in August walking through every step of the process. The bank says it is also staffing up to handle an expected surge in questions.
“It’s an all hands on deck to make sure that we can exceed customer expectations,” Davis said.
Customers looking for additional information can visit Fifth Third’s Better Together page.
Branch closures, but more options overall
The $10.9 billion all-stock deal — finalized in October — comes with significant changes to the branch network. More than 70 locations are slated to close as part of the merger.
The bank says it is working to relocate affected employees or help them find other opportunities. And while the closures mark a loss for some communities, Davis says the combined network ultimately gives customers more options.
“If you’re in the tri-county of Southeast Michigan — like Livingston, Macomb, Wayne, etc., we’re going to be number one in terms of branches there,” Davis said. “In the City of Detroit, we’re going to be number one in terms of branches there, so for our customers on average it’s a much better thing than a worse thing.”
Will Comerica Park be renamed?
Perhaps no question has captured more public attention than the fate of Comerica Park — the downtown Detroit ballpark that is home to the Detroit Tigers.
Could it become Fifth Third Park? That answer isn’t ready yet.
“We’re evaluating everything — we’ll decide something in the offseason,” Davis said. “It’s really cool that people care so much about Comerica Park and what it’s meant to them.”
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Lansing — Republican candidates for governor and Democratic contenders for the U.S. Senate will square off in a series of televised debates this week, giving voters across Michigan their best chances yet to compare the political hopefuls.
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Grand Rapids NBC affiliate WOOD-TV will host a televised statewide debate featuring the three Democrats running for the U.S. Senate: former Wayne County health official Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham.
Then, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, WJBK-TV (Fox 2 Detroit) will host a debate for the three Republican candidates for governor: former Attorney General Mike Cox of Livonia, U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township and businessman Perry Johnson of Bloomfield Hills. The next night, WOOD-TV, which has been using the phrase “debate week” to promote the upcoming events, will host another debate with the three GOP gubernatorial hopefuls at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The string of forums will provide voters a chance to hear from people who want to be the state’s future leaders, said David Dulio, a political science professor at Oakland University.
“Any opportunity that voters have to hear directly from candidates in an unfiltered, uncontrolled, uncurated environment is good,” Dulio said.
The debates will come about four weeks before the Aug. 4 primary election, and many Michigan residents have absentee ballots available to them.
Michigan’s governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, can’t run again because of term limits. Meanwhile, the state has an open U.S. Senate seat because Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, decided against seeking reelection.
Many Democrats said they believe the race for their party’s nomination to replace Peters could be tight. If that’s the case, the televised debate on Tuesday could be important, said Adrian Hemond, CEO of the Lansing-based political consulting firm Grassroots Midwest.
“A marginal difference is a big difference in a close race,” Hemond said of the potential impact of the debate.
Who’s running to be Michigan’s governor?
The three remaining GOP candidates for governor, Cox, James and Johnson, are all expected to participate in the debates this week.
James has avoided most of the primary forums that have been organized. James ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2018 and 2020 before winning in 2022 his U.S. House seat that represents a portion of Macomb County as well as Rochester and Rochester Hills.
President Donald Trump endorsed James to be Michigan’s next governor on June 22.
Johnson has dominated the TV airwaves this year, shelling out millions of dollars of his own money to promote his bid. He made his fortune developing quality controls for the auto industry. He is running on eliminating the state’s 4.25% personal income tax, which currently generates more than $13 billion in revenue annually.
Cox, who was Michigan’s attorney general from 2003 through 2010, has worked as a lawyer with The Mike Cox Law Firm.
The Democratic side has two candidates for governor: Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of Detroit, and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson of Fenton.
Benson is viewed as the favorite to be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in part because of her slew of endorsements, including that of the United Auto Workers union. She didn’t participate in a June 4 primary debate organized by Fox 2.
Who’s running for the U.S. Senate in Michigan?
Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary has gained the national spotlight as a test of how the party’s voters might be leaning after the 2024 presidential election.
El-Sayed, a progressive candidate who ran unsuccessfully for governor eight years ago, has said he wants to build an economy that works for working people, provide guaranteed health care coverage and protect clean air and water.
He’s often clashed with Stevens, who’s been a member of the U.S. House since 2018. Stevens has said she wants to focus on combating rising costs and protecting personal freedoms and entitlement programs like Social Security.
McMorrow was first elected to the state Senate in 2018. Her campaign website vows that she will root out corruption, protect rights and keep tax dollars working at home instead of funding wars.
The Republican nominee will be former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2024.
How to watch the debates
The WOOD-TV debates on Tuesday and Thursday will be carried by CBS Detroit in the Detroit area, WBSF in the Flint area, WLAJ in the Lansing television market, WWTV in the Traverse City area, WJMN in the Marquette area and WBKB in the Alpena area.
The Wednesday night Fox 2 Detroit debate will be streamed on its website. The first 30 minutes of it will be televised on Fox 2 during The Pulse’s regular time slot, hosted by anchor Roop Raj, who is moderating the debate.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
Michigan
3 dead after vehicle collides with semitruck on Interstate 94 in Wayne County, Michigan State Police say
Three people are dead after a vehicle hit the back of a semitruck on Interstate 94 in Southeast Michigan late Friday, state officials said.
The Michigan State Police responded to the crash on eastbound I-94 near Michigan Avenue in Wayne County around 11:44 p.m. Investigators said the semitruck was stopped in traffic due to flooding when it was struck by the vehicle.
Three passengers in the vehicle that crashed into the semi died at the scene, according to the state law enforcement agency, and the driver was taken into custody.
The ages of the individuals involved in the collision have not yet been disclosed by officials.
As of Saturday afternoon, the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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