Michigan

The largely invisible presidential campaign on the ground in rural Michigan

Published

1 year ago

August 4, 2024

The largely invisible presidential campaign on the ground in rural Michigan

EVART, Mich. —

Brandy Jones and Justin Patterson were hoping to find a restaurant with prime rib on the menu as they walked along the main street in this small Central Michigan town of about 1,750.

Justin Patterson and Brandy Jones in downtown Evart, Mich.

(Connor Sheets / Los Angeles Times)

The pair said they have seen little evidence of the presidential election this year in their hometown outside Lansing, on the nearly two-hour drive to the Evart area, where they were vacationing, or even on social media. That’s a major shift from past campaign seasons, according to Jones.

“I’m actually seeing a lot less campaign signs and advertisements,” she said Monday afternoon. “Usually this time during an election year, we’re being bombarded with it and I’d be over it and irritated. This year it’s just nothing.”

While the relative prevalence of campaign signs is hardly a scientific indicator of voter enthusiasm, election day is just three months away and you wouldn’t know it by visiting or driving through many rural stretches of Michigan.

A Times reporter who drove hundreds of miles across a broad swath of the state last week, mostly on rural main streets, country roads, gravel lanes and highways, spotted only 16 presidential campaign signs and flags and a single billboard, all in support of former President Trump.

Several Michigan political experts agreed that it’s far different from the nearly ubiquitous pro-Trump yard signs and flags that characterized even the early lead-ups to the last two presidential elections.

“I am beginning to see just a few here and there in the last couple weeks, but it has been noticeably different than 2016 or 2020,” said Thomas Ivacko, the recently retired executive director of the University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, who travels frequently to largely rural Benzie County in the state’s northwest.

In more than two dozen interviews last week, rural Michiganders chalked that gap up to a weariness of what they describe as a broken political system, fear of repercussions for sharing their views, and a lack of passion for the politicians at the top of both parties’ tickets.

The result? In rural Michigan, the 2024 presidential election is all but invisible.

‘Just not as big this time around’

Along a 42-mile stretch of hilly backroads in Ingham and Livingston counties, east of Lansing, dozens of signs advertised a local “U-Pick Festival,” equestrian summer camps and down-ballot politicians, but only one flag and one sign for Trump was visible — and none for President Biden or presumptive Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

A Trump flag flies outside a home on a country road in Macomb County, Mich.

As Joan Saunders headed into Christians Greenhouse in rural Williamstown to shop for plants, she said she’s “for Trump,” but doesn’t have a sign or flag supporting his candidacy outside her home.

The election is “just not as big this time around,” said Saunders, who lives in an unincorporated community in Ingham County. She said she, too, has seen far less visible support for the presidential candidates this election cycle. “People know who they’re voting for, and they are sick of the games.”

Nicholas Valentino, a political science professor at the University of Michigan, cautioned that it’s still too early to draw broad conclusions from the dearth of signs and flags.

He said much of the political emphasis in Michigan is focused on the Tuesday primary, which will help determine who will fill the state’s open U.S. Senate seat, all of its 13 seats in the House of Representatives, and a number of state and local positions. There will likely be “a pretty dramatic change” after the primary, he said, with both political parties pouring money and energy into the presidential election.

“Salience and energy in the race is very important, and it’s going to tell the tale when we find out who wins in November,” Valentino said. “The outcome of the election will pivot not so much on how each campaign is able to persuade voters, it will be a matter of mobilization.”

Michigan is one of a handful of battleground states — one with a recent history of hotly contested elections whose winner also claimed the White House. In 2016, Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Michigan by only about 11,000 votes; four years later, Biden won the state by more than 150,000 votes.

For months before Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 21, polling consistently showed Trump beating the president in Michigan, typically by fairly slim margins. But a poll conducted by Bloomberg News/Morning Consult between July 24 and 28 showed Harris with an 11-point lead over Trump in the state.

Multiple Michigan political experts described the poll as an outlier, and said the race will be far tighter come November. While most Michigan voters live in big cities and suburbs, the rural vote could play a key role in an exceedingly close election.

Some experts expect high voting rates in the state again this year. Corwin D. Smidt, an associate professor of political science at Michigan State University, said via email that he “will know a lot more after Tuesday’s primary,” but “right now my models expect turnout will be very close to 2020.”

‘Some people are tired of his antics’

As the county seat of Macomb County, northeast of Detroit, Mount Clemens is home to more than 15,000 people — more a sleepy outlying suburb of the Motor City than a true rural small town like Evart. Trump carried Macomb County by just 8 percentage points in 2020, a far smaller margin than in rural counties such as Osceola, where Trump commanded more than 72% of votes, and Gratiot, where the former president defeated Biden by more than 28 percentage points.

Mickey Kraft and Kristy Kitchen sit sit on a park bench with a dog

In conversations with several people who were enjoying a greenspace in the shadow of Mount Clemens’ City Hall on Monday, the overriding sentiment, as in many more rural areas, was that the 2024 presidential campaign season is uninspiring and passing by without much fanfare.

Mickey Kraft and Kristy Kitchen, both Trump supporters, said they believe many people’s enthusiasm for the former president has flagged.

“People love Trump and everything, but some people are tired of his antics,” said Kraft, 52.

Kitchen, 47, added that she’s “not afraid to put a Trump sign in my yard” in nearby Roseville, but she thinks many people will opt out of that ritual this year.

“People don’t care who the president is,” she said. “They care who gives them money. They care about gas prices, how much groceries cost.”

Some rural and suburban Michiganders also reported a general sense of unease and even fear, particularly those who say they were spooked by the attempted assassination of Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania last month. Kitchen said she “kind of shut down” her previously active Facebook account after the attack, because the political rhetoric got too heated.

Raffy Castro, 22, was fishing for bass from a dock over the Clinton River on Monday afternoon. Though this will be the first election the Sterling Heights resident has voted in, he recalled much higher enthusiasm in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

“I haven’t heard people talking about it,” he said. “I think people are scared, especially with the shooting. I guess people don’t want to portray who they support.”

Raffy Castro fishes in the Clinton River

In Clare, a rural town about 150 miles northwest of Mount Clemens, Gene and Cindy Gibson chalked up the lack of excitement to a broader malaise.

“I think a lot of people are voting for the lesser of two evils,” Gene Gibson said of Trump and Harris. “And people don’t want to vote for either of them. They’re tired of all the fighting.”

Whatever the reason, Matthew Grossmann, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University, said this year’s level of public-facing political expression has a different feel.

“In 2016 and 2020, people didn’t wait for the signs to be produced,” he said. “They were making their own and painting the sides of barns, and we’re seeing a lot less of that.”

Source link

Michigan

More than 50,000 without power across Michigan before strong storm begins

Published

6 days ago

December 29, 2025

Press Room

More than 50,000 without power across Michigan before strong storm begins

Even before high winds have kicked in from a strong incoming storm system, more than 50,000 homes and businesses were without power across Michigan.

The bulk of these outages are in Mid-Michigan. Clare County had the largest outage tally, with more than 16,000. Mecosta County had more than 7, 500 without power, and Isabella County had more than 6,000 out.

A couple counties in the very western Upper Peninsula were also reporting outages.

These outage numbers are expected to increase by early Monday, as high winds come in as part of this storm system. Sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph are expected, but wind gusts could top 60 mph in some areas.

The issue with the Mid-Michigan outages is rooted in Friday’s ice accumulation. Utility officials said there has been about a half-inch of ice accumulation on trees and power lines in that area through the weekend. Temperatures this weekend did not get warm enough to melt the ice, as they did in other areas. Heavy rain on Sunday froze again quickly, causing a heavier ice load and more outages.

Consumers Energy has said they have crews mobilized to work on outages as they arise with this storm.

To see the latest update on this storm coverage, follow our headlines on the MLive Weather page.

Source link

Michigan

Michigan AD Warde Manuel says firing Sherrone Moore was easy decision

Published

7 days ago

December 28, 2025

Press Room

Michigan AD Warde Manuel says firing Sherrone Moore was easy decision

ORLANDO, FL — Athletic director Warde Manuel introduced Kyle Whittingham as Michigan football’s 22nd head coach in program history on the second story of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on International Drive in Orlando on Sunday, Dec. 28

It was an unusual setting for such a moment, but then again this has been an unusual month for the Wolverines. They began a search for their new coach shortly after Dec. 10 – the day Sherrone Moore was fired after U-M was presented with “credible evidence” of an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.

Manuel discussed the matter – which culminated with an arrest and multiple charges – for the first time Sunday. He called it difficult personally, but something that he had no hesitation about doing professionally.

“Listen man, it’s hard,” Manuel said. “It’s hard when you have a colleague that is going through something personally, professionally, in his family and [knowing the] people and impact that it has on so many staff, student-athletes and the Michigan community.

“Personally, I’ve known him for seven or eight years, so it was difficult to see him, as a person, go through what he went through. But professionally, it was an easy decision to make because of the expectations that we have for everyone on our side.”

Moore was arrested hours after he was fired from U-M for allegedly breaking into the staffer’s home and threatening to kill himself, according to a police report.

While it was by far the most dramatic scene, in the eyes of many, it was simply the latest negative headline for the Michigan athletic department.

As a result, Michigan brought in outside law firm Jenner & Block to conduct a review into Moore’s situation and the athletic department at large. Manuel told reporters it was in part his idea – something he brought up to interim president Domenico Grasso as an effort to understand how everybody can improve.

“There’s not much I can say. There’s an investigation continuing into coach Moore, there’s a cultural evaluation around the department and so we will we obviously know some facts,” Manuel said. “There’s some things that are out there that I can’t comment on, that are untrue, and there may be some things that they find, but that’s why we do an investigation, and I’m very open to that. Wanted the cultural analysis to be done to help us get better.

“I asked the President to help with a cultural analysis and have somebody come in. So yes, I am very supportive of that, because as a leader, I face reality. There are things that happen. I don’t step away from it. Never have, never will. So we need to get better, and that’s part of is getting somebody to come in and to assess.”

Whittingham, for his part, was not deterred by the optics of instability in Ann Arbor. U-M is likely weeks away from naming a new president, and Manuel’s job security has also been called into question.

Whittingham said he didn’t know the details, but that he believes that his job is to focus on what goes on in Schembechler Hall and allow others to figure out what’s next.

“The answer is no, I didn’t have any hesitation,” he said when asked whether he thought twice about taking the job. “There are some issues, missteps that are being taken care of, but the key is the court players here are rock solid. … I’ve got no doubt everything is going to be handled properly.

“I’m not close enough or knowledgeable enough and privy enough to exactly what’s going on in the details, but I’ve got full confidence that we’ll come out of this just fine. … What I’m concerned with is the players.”

How the hire went down

Manuel has been criticized for not formally interviewing any other candidates before hiring Moore. This time, the initial list was “extensive” before Michigan had more official conversations about 6-8 true potential fits.

Michigan had initial interest in Whittingham and it didn’t take long before the Wolverines learned the feeling was mutual. Whittingham explained how the timing was “uncanny” with how things lined up. He had mulled 2024 being his last season in Salt Lake City but after going 5-7 and cycling through a host of quarterbacks, he didn’t want to go out that way, nor did he want to leave his impending successor, Morgan Scalley, in a hole.

He announced his decision to step down from the Utes on Dec. 12; days later people in his circle and members involved with the search for the Wolverines began contact.

Whittingham wasn’t going to leave for just anywhere, but as a U-M fan from afar since the first football game he turned on the TV at age 7, he had to hear the Wolverines out.

He liked what he heard. The more Manuel heard, the more he liked as well. It’s a sentiment he believes is echoed by the U-M faithful – he said he has already received “hundreds” of text messages from former players, coaches and those involved with the university praising the hire.

“He was a great person for Michigan for us to bring in and continue to drive success,” Manuel said. “With his character, with his integrity – the things that people [around him] talked about were high on my list of characteristics that I wanted from the [next] coach.”

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

Source link

Michigan

Sean Bormet Weighs In On Many New Faces In Michigan Lineup – FloWrestling

Published

1 week ago

December 28, 2025

Press Room

Sean Bormet Weighs In On Many New Faces In Michigan Lineup – FloWrestling

This season’s Michigan wrestling lineup features a new face in every place.

Yes, there are new starters in all 10 weight classes, including five who had never wrestled a dual in a Wolverines’ singlet before this season.

Despite all the turnover, the Wolverines are off to a 4-2 duals start and placed second in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational earlier this month, their best showing in seven years. In all, six Michigan wrestlers are ranked among the top 20, including two who are in the top 10.

And that’s with 2024 All-American and four-time NCAA qualifier Dylan Ragusin not making his season debut until last Saturday’s Kent State Holiday Open.

“Every year you get a new set of guys in your lineup — this year we have a lot — but the standard is the same,” Wolverines coach Sean Bormet said. “By the time we hit the mat to compete, we’ve spent months together with this team preparing them for the season and building toward putting the best 10 guys on the mat. We’ve had success with recruiting the right guys, adding the right transfers, developing them and building great team chemistry.”

Beau Mantanona and Dylan Gilcher are the only Wolverines who started a majority of last season’s duals who are doing so again this season, albeit in new weight classes after bumping up.

Mantanona, a redshirt sophomore and 2025 NCAA qualifier, has moved from 165 to 174 and is 10-3, including four pins and two technical falls. Currently ranked #12, his best wins thus far have come against two-time NCAA qualifiers M.J. Gaiten (Iowa State) and Cael Valencia (Arizona State).

Gilcher, ranked #30, has jumped from all the way from 149 to take Montanona’s former spot and is 7-3, including three technical falls and a major decision, and one of five Wolverines who have gone 5-1 in duals.

The redshirt sophomore decisioned three-time NCAA qualifier Maxx Mayfield (Missouri) during last month’s National Duals.

Gilcher, ranked 30th, made the 2025 NCAA Championships field and is well on his way to bettering last season’s 10-12 record.

Brock Mantanona (184) and Cam Catrabone (157) are also wrestling at higher weight this season.

Mantanona, a redshirt freshman, spent last season down at 165 and won all three dual matches he started before redshirting. He has adjusted well to his new weight, boasting a 9-2 mark, including 5-1 in duals. He has two technical falls and three major decisions and is ranked eighth.

Mantantona has edged three-time NCAA qualifier, 2025 All-American and 2023 Big Ten champion Silas Allred (Nebraska) and majored two-time NCAA qualifier Brian Soldano (Oklahoma).

Catrabone, also a redshirt freshman, has bumped up from 149 and is 8-4. All but one of his victories have come via pins (four), technical fall (two) or major decision (one). He began the season unranked and is now #15.

Catrabone and Beau Mantanona are tied for the team lead in pins. NCAA qualifiers Colton Washleski (Virginia) and Stoney Buell (Purdue) did not last one period against Catrabone, who is 4-2 in duals after going 1-2 last season before redshirting.

“With a handful of guys going up one or in some case two weight classes, we’ve focused on training them for that and getting them consistent with their nutrition to maintain the weight they need and to take advantage of additional training and energy output that cutting less weight provides over the course of the season,” Bormet said. “That requires toughness, discipline and consistency and buying into the process of gains and growth. They’ve been doing a good job.”

Of the starters who had not started a dual for the Wolverines prior to this season, 2024 All-American heavyweight and four-time NCAA qualifier Taye Ghadiali has clearly made the biggest impact, returning to form after being limited to six matches last season and redshirting due to injury.

Back in his home state after spending six seasons at Campbell, the Warren Fitzgerald graduate and 2019 state champion is off to an 11-2 start, including 5-1 in duals. Ghadiali, ranked #6, is the Wolverines’ leader in dual points (25) and bonus-point wins with nine, including five technical falls, three major decisions and a pin.

Ghadiali, who owns a 113-30 career record with 71 bonus-point victories, intends to give Michigan an All-American heavyweight for the seventh straight season and the 10th time in 12 seasons, joining Josh Heindselman (2025), Lucas Davison (2024), Mason Parris (2020-23) and Adam Coon (2015-16, 2018).

His best career wins have come against All-Americans Owen Trephan (Lehigh) and Tate Orndorff (Ohio State).

“Taye has brought great energy and just a great personality to our team and he’s a good leader,” Bormet said. “He immediately fit in with the other guys when he arrived during the summer and came in with a lot of gratitude and it’s easy to just pour yourself into it with that mindset. I think he’s appreciated the additional resources and training partners he’s had here.”

Bormet is also quick to credit the growth experienced at Campbell for how he has performed in Ann Arbor.

“(Campbell coach) Scotti Sentes really helped cultivate a great work ethic in Taye and we’ve seen that and his passion here from day one,” he said. “Our guys all respect that.”

Ghadiali is one of three transfers in the starting lineup along with seniors Diego Sotelo (125) and Lachlan McNeil (149).

Sotelo, a two-time NCAA qualifier for Harvard, is 9-3, including 5-1 in duals, with two technical falls and a major decision. He has a 64-37 career mark. He has climbed to #18 in the rankings.

Sotelo’s best wins are decisions over two-time All-American Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) and All-American Jore Volk (Minnesota).

McNeil, a three-time All-American at North Carolina, has gone 7-3 (5-1 in duals) with a pin and a major decision. He owns an 89-28 career record, including 51 bonus-point wins.

McNeil, #16 in the rankings, boasts some eye-opening wins, including over three-time All-Americans Brock Hardy (Nebraska) and Real Woods (Iowa) and two-time All-American Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State). He has beaten seven other All-Americans.

Sophomore Hayden Walters has stepped into the starting role at 197 in his third season with the program. Walters is 4-2 overall and in duals thus far with a pair of major decisions. He defeated NCAA qualifier Brock Zurawski (Rider) last season.

“We have a young team for the most part, so we’ve been monitoring and placing extra emphasis on consistency in their approach, mindset, technique and presence on the mat,” said Bormet, whose team kicks off Big Ten duals Jan. 9 against Michigan State. “We’re doing a lot of teaching and helping the guys build up some mental endurance. They have responded well and their hunger and determination will dictate their further progress.”

Ragusin, who is expected to make his dual debut against the Spartans, wrestled a competitive match for the first time in more than a year with a 2-2 showing at Kent State, good enough for fourth place at 141 pounds. He has moved up to that weight after four seasons at 133.

Ragusin won his first six matches last season before suffering a knee injury during the 2024 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and dropping his last three matches of the tournament. The injury required season-ending surgery.

He is working to regain the form that has led to an 87-32 career record with 36 bonus-point victories.

Ragusin’s best season came in 2023-24 when he placed fifth at the NCAA Championships, second in the Big Ten Tournament and finished with a 28-4 record, including 14 bonus-point wins.

His most significant wins have come against two-time NCAA champion and three-time All-American Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) and two-time All-Americans Patrick McKee (Minnesota), Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) and Chris Cannon (Northwestern).

“Dylan has been back on the mat training hard for about nine weeks and we’re excited to get him back into our lineup,” Bormet said. “As Dylan’s been back on the mat this semester, we have really seen his determination and drive ramp back up, and he’s made good, continual progress to get back to his best wrestling.”

Lemley Takes Another Tourney

Sergio Lemley, a two-time NCAA qualifier, is redshirting this season, but staying sharp by wrestling in open tournaments.

The junior, who has also moved up from 141 to 149 pounds, captured his second tournament title of the season with a first-place finish at the Kent State Holiday Open. Lemley went 5-0, knocking off Kent State’s Silas Stits, 8-1, in the championship match.

Lemley, who also won the Michigan State Open last month, is 8-0 this season with three pins and a major decision.

Lemley racked up a 42-20 record his first two seasons in Ann Arbor with half of his wins coming via technical fall (13), major decision (five) or pin (three).

Also at Kent State, redshirt junior Codei Khawaja went 3-1 to finish third at 184, outlasting Kent State’s Trent Thomas, 16-9, in the third-place match. He is 7-1 this season and has improved his career record to 25-14.

A contingent of Wolverines will compete at the Midlands Tournament hosted by Northwestern on Dec. 29-30.

Source link