(Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) Michigan’s largest teachers union is struggling to keep a toehold as change-minded foes with growing momentum seek to topple the MEA — one of the state’s traditional political giants. The 152,000-member union’s finances are deteriorating. Its growth strategy is uncertain. And it faces an unrelenting political offensive by opponents who see the […]
Michigan Republican Party
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Worldview embodied by Agema, Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban headed for history’s trash heap
Peter Luke was a Lansing correspondent for Booth Newspapers for nearly 25 years, writing a weekly column for most of that time with a concentration on budget, tax and economic development policy issues. He is a graduate of Central Michigan University. The ravings on Dave Agema’s Facebook page only seek to justify discrimination, a losing […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Legislative Republicans worry more about ’14 primaries than in helping Snyder lead
Peter Luke was a Lansing correspondent for Booth Newspapers for nearly 25 years, writing a weekly column for most of that time with a concentration on budget, tax and economic development policy issues. He is a graduate of Central Michigan University. When they hit the House floor for a vote this month, it appears doubtful […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
*Home-court advantage is a perennial topic of conversation in college basketball, but Michigan Republicans have to be congratulated – or pilloried – in how they have created a huge advantage for themselves in congressional elections. As this Bloomberg visual details, Michigan Republicans win by losing. Even though they gained only just under 46 percent of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Fouls called by Truth Squad in GOP attacks on Debbie Stabenow
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: “Replacement Refs”, “Stabenow: Addicted to spending”, “Stabenow: Sheepish” Who: Hoekstra for Senate, Michigan Republican Party What: TV ads Truth Squad calls: Flagrant foul on Hoekstra, Technical foul on Michigan GOP Hoekstra ad Questionable statement: “What’s the most watched sport around here? It’s the debate about Debbie Stabenow being the worst senator […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Analysis: Northern Michigan rules the House for 2013
Northern Michigan has miles of pristine Great Lakes shoreline, wineries of growing renown, the Porcupine Mountains, M-119, M-22 and the world famous Mystery Spot. What it doesn’t have much of these days are Democrats filling the region’s seats in the state House of Representatives. In November 2008, Democrats collected 190,000 votes in securing seven districts […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Election 2012: GOP House eyes appeal to conservative base
In the 12 months since House Republicans passed the bulk of Gov. Rick Snyder’s economic agenda, they have: * Spurned Snyder’s call to establish a state-run health insurance exchange, per the federal Affordable Care Act, in the hope that the U.S. Supreme Court might declare the whole thing unconstitutional. Close, but no cigar. But following […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Elites are trying to wrest control of courts from the voters
By Dan Pero/American Justice Partnership The recent recommendations of Michigan’s Judicial Selection Task Force have been widely hailed by legal elites, prominent newspaper editorial boards and others. Yet the proposed changes would do little to reduce the influence of money or politics in the judicial selection process, while seriously weakening the power of ordinary voters […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Republicans play to win; Democrats play to pout
In 1983, Michigan Republicans secured a two-seat majority in the state Senate thanks to the recall of two Democratic senators from southeastern Michigan. They’ve been running the Michigan Senate ever since. After the 2008 elections, Michigan Democrats had assembled a 20-seat margin in the Michigan House, thanks to the second of two successive national wave […]