Hello and welcome to The Blue Book, the Michigan Democratic Party’s weekly recap to keep you in the know about Michigan politics. Every week, we’ll bring you the latest in how Democrats are delivering for Michiganders and standing up to Republican extremism in the Great Lakes State.

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FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1. TRIFECTA LOADING: Jocelyn Benson is leading the charge to take back a trifecta in Michigan. This week, she kicked off a statewide bus tour featuring frontline state legislative candidates.

2. THOSE DAMN KIDS: New reporting exposes how Mike Rogers won his first congressional race by passing a law that purposefully suppressed student voters. According to one of Rogers’ former legislative staffers and several of his colleagues, hindering Democratic turnout by making it “harder for college students to vote” was “the point” of the legislation. It worked as intended: Rogers’ law helped drive voter turnout on Michigan State University’s campus down by 12% and secured his razor-thin 111-vote margin of victory, launching his 14-year career in the U.S. House.

3. DRIP, DRIP, DRIP: Mike Rogers’ campaign is sweating from a barrage of resurfaced clips including him proposing to intimidate Detroit voters, calling to protect associates of Jeffrey Epstein, admitting he only entered the race because Donald Trump asked him to, and dismissing Michiganders’ concerns regarding Social Security cuts, healthcare costs, and rising gas prices. The headlines write themselves. 

4. MY DOG ATE THAT POLICE REPORT: Republican AG candidate Doug Lloyd failed to charge his predecessor’s grandson with assault — until the day after the Detroit Metro Times ripped Lloyd for a record “in which cases involving sexual assault, child exploitation, and domestic violence ended with reduced charges, probation instead of jail, or no prosecution at all.” The same offender had previously sexually assaulted minors — in that case, “Lloyd’s office reduced all four charges, and Reed received probation without serving jail time.

5. PROTECTING RIGHTS: Speaking of the race for Attorney General, there is only one candidate who will protect a woman’s right to choose. After the fall of Roe vs. Wade, Savit  “pledged as the Washtenaw County prosecutor to never prosecute a patient or doctor under the ban.” Meanwhile, Lloyd is campaigning with the leaders of Michigan’s anti-choice movement, who threw a fundraiser for Lloyd last month.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Michiganders want a government that works for them, with leaders focused on lowering costs, raising wages, and ending corruption. We’ve spent the last two years building a coalition ready to deliver on those priorities, and we’re going to run through the tape together.”

– Democratic candidate for governor Jocelyn Benson

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