Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses supporters before signing legislation to repeal the 1931 abortion ban statute, which criminalized abortion in nearly all cases, during a bill signing ceremony, on April 5, in Birmingham, Mich.Carlos Osorio/The Associated Press
The past year has been a whirlwind for Michigan’s Democrats, ever since voters handed Governor Gretchen Whitmer an easy re-election and gave her party control of the state legislature for the first time in 40 years.
The party has used this power to implement a flurry of policies: union-friendly labour laws, school meals programs, money for infrastructure and subsidies for new factories. Along the way, they’ve tried to build a broad governing coalition encompassing trade unions to big business, working-class inner cities to affluent suburbs.
While Ms. Whitmer rocketed to prominence as foil to then-U.S. president Donald Trump during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, this caricature has often obscured the moderate, technocratic brand she is cultivating within her state.
“I will work with anyone who’s serious about solving problems,” she declared in an address to lawmakers earlier this year. “Let’s show everyone that the cure for cynicism is competence.”
This big-tent approach to politics could become a roadmap for Democrats federally as they try to lock down a majority voting block in 2024′s fractious presidential election. But it has also undergone severe tests this fall, amid the most extensive auto strike in decades and furious divisions over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
It all means that this key swing state could either be a glimpse at the future of the Democratic Party – or a case study in how its internal contradictions make it collapse in on itself.
Veronica Klinefelt, a state senator from the Detroit suburbs, contends that there is a clear path to victory for candidates who can focus on bread-and-butter issues and avoid the country’s increasingly angry rhetoric.
In her campaign last year, which helped give the Democrats their legislative majority by knocking off a Republican incumbent, she emphasised practical promises on infrastructure, education and the cost of prescription drugs.
“Voters want people that will sit down and talk to each other. We don’t have to hate each other,” she said in her office, overlooking Michigan’s stately, domed legislature building in the quiet state capital of Lansing. “They’re exhausted with the constant crisis and drama.”
Ms. Whitmer won her first gubernatorial run in 2018 by defeating a Bernie Sanders-backed leftist in the primary and running on a bipartisan promise to “fix the damn roads.” Her decisive enforcement of pandemic safety rules made her a folk hero to American liberals and the target of a militia kidnapping plot.
The governor came out of it with both a burnished reputation and a memorable nickname – Big Gretch – bestowed by Detroit hip-hop artist Gmac Cash in a viral video.
By 2022, Democrats’ prospects were also buoyed by the fall of Roe v. Wade. Michigan abortion-rights activists drafted an amendment to the state constitution guaranteeing reproductive freedom. The measure, Proposition 3, passed decisively and had the side effect of driving voter turnout that mostly favoured the Democrats.
“We had something like 30,000 people sign up to get involved,” said Sommer Foster of Michigan Voices, one of the groups that campaigned for the abortion amendment. “I’ve been doing politics in Michigan for 20 years and I’ve never seen so many people wanting to figure out what they could do.”
The Republicans, for their part, took a hard right turn. They nominated an anti-abortion conservative pundit for governor and election deniers for secretary of state and attorney-general. It helped reinforce a voter swap between the two parties that has been unfolding in Michigan since 2016. While some blue-collar former Democrats have gravitated to Mr. Trump, many white-collar suburban moderates have moved in the opposite direction.
Ryan Reese, 45, a Lutheran pastor in the city of Warren, said he was motivated to get involved in Democratic organizing last year to help defeat the GOP’s secretary of state candidate, Kristina Karamo, a high-profile conspiracy theorist.
“I became involved because she ticked me off. Her focus on challenging the 2020 election was detrimental to the democratic process and probably would have ruined our secretary of state office,” he said.
Since taking control of both legislative houses, Ms. Whitmer’s administration has plowed forward. It overturned a state right-to-work law and also obliged non-union contractors to pay union-level wages on government projects; ramped up the education budget, adding school breakfast and lunch programs; expanded a low-income tax credit; and added sexual orientation to the state anti-discrimination law.
Abortion rights protesters attend a rally outside the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich., on June 24, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.Paul Sancya/The Associated Press
The governor has also forged a close relationship with business leaders, funnelling public grants into tech and manufacturing, with a particular focus on helping automakers’ transition to electric vehicles.
“She set out to be aggressive with the EV transition. The resources the state has for economic development, we have not had in many years with that as a major priority,” said Mark Burton, a Lansing lawyer and lobbyist who previously worked as Ms. Whitmer’s chief strategist.
There are, of course, inherent tensions in trying to court wealthy corporations when your base includes increasingly activist trade unions. In September and October, the United Autoworkers undertook their first simultaneous strike at all of Detroit’s Big Three car makers.
Ms. Whitmer spoke at a rally for the union early in the strike and kept in touch with both sides. But Mr. Burton said she was cautious in her approach. “The governor is trying not to be too involved in that,” he said in an interview during the labour dispute.
Even harder to navigate has been Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip. In addition to the sharp divisions running through the Democratic Party nationally, with older voters more sympathetic toward the Israelis and younger Democrats tending to favour the Palestinians, Michigan also has large Muslim and Arab-American communities. In recent years, these have leaned Democratic and can easily tip a close election.
After Hamas’s massacres of Israelis on Oct. 7, Ms. Whitmer’s initial reaction was muted. In a tweet late that afternoon, she made no direct reference to either the violence or the country where it was happening, referring only vaguely to “communities impacted by what’s happening in the region.”
Only after a wave of online outrage did she follow up a few hours later with a more substantive condemnation of “violence against Israel.” During a rally at a synagogue a few days later, she affirmed that “Israel has a right to defend itself.”
This, in turn, provoked dismay from Muslim and Arab Americans. At one point, the governor had to cancel plans to speak at a fundraiser for a Muslim-led health clinic in Dearborn to avoid a planned protest against her presence.
Efforts to pass a resolution affirming support for Israel stalled in the state legislature. Some of the state’s highest-profile Jewish Democrats, including Attorney-General Dana Nessel, have fought on X, formerly known as Twitter, with Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American Detroit congresswoman.
Amer Zahr, a Palestinian-American political organizer in Dearborn, said that, in future, Muslim and Arab-American voters may choose to not vote at all in races where both the Democrat and Republican favour Israel. This could spell disaster next year for President Joe Biden, who is backing Israel with military aid.
“We feel very hurt and angered and betrayed by what this Democratic administration has done, even if we’re not necessarily surprised,” Mr. Zahr said.
At a meeting one fall evening at a union hall on an arterial road in Warren, a suburban city on the other end of Detroit’s sprawling metro region, local Democratic organizers were frank about how much work they will have to do to hold on to power.
Tellingly, while the Democrats won all four state executive offices by double digits last year, the margins in the legislative elections were decided by less than two percentage points. It suggests Michigan is evenly split and that the Republicans’ major error was choosing extreme candidates for the top of their ticket.
Mindy Moore, 67, a city councillor, recalled how when she first ran for municipal office 20 years ago, voters only asked about local issues. Now, they raise culture-war hot buttons that have nothing to do with her work.
“They ask about the border and the death penalty and whether I think boys can be girls and girls can be boys. I tell them I’m not going to be deciding those issues,” she said. “It’s more toxic now than I’ve ever seen it.”
Donavan McKinney, a 31-year-old first-term Democratic state legislator, recounted his casual conversations with Republican colleagues across the aisle.
“They tell me how angry they are that this is the first time they have no say in the state government,” he said. “They’re coming for us next year.”
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
