Episodes

The absentee ballots have been mailed with many Republican voters still making up their minds on their candidate to take on Gretchen Whitmer? Which Bill Lie, anti-choice, pro-Trump, tax-cut-promising candidate to choose? Did Wednesday’s debate provide any clarification? The debate did, though, give an hour of TV exposure to a series of factual misstatements, conspiracy theories and occasional intramural insults. Mark and Jeff offer their take on the debate (with condolences to moderator Rick Al...

Abortion. It has turned our politics around. Mark and Jeff analyze the polling showing the Cobb decision is moving the numbers decidedly in the direction of Democrats. Also on the podcast agenda this week: Michigan Republican voters are still undecided on Governor even as absentee ballots start showing up in mailboxes (meaning Jeff’s pants are still a contender!); and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions on gun rights and religious freedom could also get into the mid-term electoral mix. _______...

Michigan was back in the spotlight at the January 6 Select Committee hearings, with tales of a possible overnighter in the state Capitol for the GOP slate of phony presidential electors. Republican witnesses confirmed that the multi-state phony elector plot was led by the Trump campaign; Michigan’s 16 fraudulent electors are facing potential state and federal criminal charges. Also on this week’s agenda: Michigan Republicans double-down on stopping all abortions in Michigan; Texas Republicans g...

This week’s focus: brand-new polling on the chaotic GOP race for Governor, along with James Craig’s you’ve-gotta-be-kidding write-in campaign, Perry Johnson’s latest court loss, and the state Senate going out of its way to diss LGBTQ+ Michiganders. Our guest this week is Detroit state Representative Joe Tate, considered the frontrunner for House Democratic Leader in the 2023-24 session. We’ll talk about how Michigan Democrats plan to flip the state House and Senate and give Michigan its first De...

It has been a week focused on the intersection of crime and politics: The initial hearing of the January 6 Special Committee laying the case that Trump led the attempted coup; GOP gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley arrested by the FBI; Multiple other Michigan Republicans facing criminal investigations Also this week: James Craig launches a Quixotic write-in campaign for Governor, believing that’s less of a challenge than collected 15,000 valid signatures. Mark and Jeff mull over the politi...

In the rapidly developing state political scene — Three frustrated Republican would-be candidates for Governor lose in court The remaining GOP gubernatorial candidates bring a far-right message to the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce The GOP opts to bypass voters on petition-drive-generated laws New polling shows minimal support for Betsy DeVos’s latest efforts to take money away from public schools Joining Mark and Jeff to update us on the latest are pollster Bernie Porn of EPIC-MRA pub...

A seismic shift in Michigan politics with as many as five would-be Republican gubernatorial candidates facing banishment from the August ballot due to petition signature fraud. Joining Mark and Jeff this week are two seasoned political savants to shed some light on the sudden end of the James Craig and Perry Johnson campaigns are Michigan pollster Bernie Porn of EPIC-MRA; and Detroit native Mike Murphy who has been a top adviser to dozens of prominent Republican campaigns including those of Geo...

This week in politics: Mark Brewer takes a victory lap as Pro-Choice advocates win a crucial court test Multiple state legislative candidates knocked off the ballot by the Secretary of State Mike Pence brings his defund the public schools campaign to Michigan Pennsylvania’s GOP goes full MAGA; Democrats look to flip a Senate seat Two MAGA candidates bite the dust: Madison Cawthorn falls in North Carolina, a Trump-backed challenge to the Governor of Idaho falls short All that … inside info ...

This week in Michigan: * The Republicans hold their first gubernatorial debate with James Craig MIA * The candidates agree on opposing freedom of choice for women, with nuanced differences on who won in 2020 * Craig concedes petition fraud, but says it’s not his fault * The Detroit Chamber limits participation in its upcoming debate to five candidates … leaving out Tudor Dixon Jeff and Mark also weigh in on problems with two GOP-sponsored petition drives, changing Michigan’s term limits, a ...

How does the pending demise of Roe v Wade change Michigan politics in 2022? Mark and Jeff examine the new political playing field with veteran Republican political operative Bill Nowling. Bill Nowling Nowling is Executive Director of Strategic Communication at DP+. Previously, he was communication director for Wayne County (Michigan). Nowling has been a professional communicator for the better part of a quarter century, and he has advised governors, mayors, chief executives, and corporations on...

The race to be the Republican nominee for Michigan Governor became the latest black eye for the Michigan GOP as petitions from at least 3 of the candidates may have fraudulent signatures. That could mean Perry Johnson, James Craig and/or Tudor Dixon don’t even show up on the primary ballot. Craig has even more problems as northern Michigan Congressman Jack Bergman switches his endorsement from Craig to Johnson, and the former Detroit police chief reports lackluster fundraising. Adding to the dr...

The Republican culture wars was on full, ugly display in Michigan this week…and denounced by one of its targets. State Senator Mallory McMorrow’s floor speech responding to Senator Lana Theis’ fundraising email insinuation that McMorrow was “grooming” children for a life of sexual exploitation went viral with 10-million views and national media attention. Also this week: 10 Republicans filed signatures for a place on the gubernatorial primary ballot. Who benefits most from a crowded field? Joi...

Multiple Republican county conventions devolved into chaos as Trump backers faced off with the party’s onetime establishment. Mark and Jeff analyze the fallout from the growing divide in the party and its implications for this fall. Also in our “legitimate political discourse”: the Planned Parenthood lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Michigan’s abortion ban; and the police killing of an unarmed African American in Grand Rapids. Both have significant political implications. Joining th...

Trump gives a Castro-esque nearly two-hour speech in Macomb County, promoting his Big Lie believing candidates for Michigan Secretary of State and Attorney General … much to the consternation of non-Trumpist Republicans. A tale of two campaigns: Congressman Fred Upton decides he’s had enough, and would-be Attorney General Tom Leonard is pushed to the exits by his party’s chairperson. Sen. Curtis Hertel, Jr. Joining Mark and Jeff this week for a wide-ranging conversation is state Senator Curtis...

The focus in Michigan politics this week is the apparent takeover of the state Republican Party by the Trump Big Lie faction even as the gloves come off in the race for the Attorney General. Bridge Michigan published a major “opposition research” dump on the sketchy professional resume of frontrunner Matt DePerno. DePerno’s campaign is also under pressure for him to disclose how he used $400,000 in contributions raised in the name of fighting for “election integrity” (meaning another audit of th...

Governor Whitmer gained some powerful evidence of leadership for her reelection campaign with a pair of huge victories: announcement of a $1.7-billion expansion of a car-battery plant in west Michigan (weeks after GM’s $7-billion investment commitment for electric vehicles and battery manufacturing); and an agreement with the Republican Legislature on a $4.7-billion supplemental spending bill which invests heavily in schools and infrastructure (roads, bridges, water supplies and more). Also thi...

There’s plenty going on in Michigan politics. Jeff and Mark offer their takes on the apparent domination of Donald Trump in Michigan politics, and the massive field of Democratic candidates in the Detroit-based 13th congressional district. In our second segment, our focus shifts to Putin’s vicious war on Ukraine. Joining the conversation is one of the nation’s leading experts on the opaque world of the Putin dictatorship, Olga Lautman. Lautman is a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for E...

Jeff is off this week as he and his family deal with the sudden passing of their youngest son. Our hearts go out to Jeff, Mattie and their four other children. They have asked that we all respect their privacy. If you would like to send a message to the family, you can email “Comments@ARepublicPodcast.com”. Pinch-hitting for Jeff this week is one of the best of state capitol journalists, Craig Mauger of the Detroit News. Prior to joining the News, he was Executive Director of the non-partisan M...

Since our last “legitimate political discourse,” Putin invaded Ukraine on what he labeled a peacekeeping mission (complete with bombs, missiles and miles-long convoys), President Biden began what the White House hopes is a reset with his State of the Union address, and the debate over Michigan’s new legislative districts’ impact on African-American voters became more heated. Public relations and political consultant Darci McConnell joins the conversation to weigh in on the latter, as well as he...

The week in Michigan Politics: There’s another multi-millionaire candidate for Governor who’s off to a rocky-but-expensive start. Abortion and the right to use birth control grow as possibly pivotal issues in the 2022 general election. Mark and Jeff analyze both subjects. The conversation pivots to the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump. Adding her expertise is former U.S. Attorney for Southeast Michigan Barbara McQuade. McQuade’s areas of legal interest include criminal law,...

Another bizarre week in Michigan politics: * former Michigan Republican chairperson Laura Cox is subpoenaed by Congress * the home of two top staffers of former House Speaker Lee Chatfield is raided by the state police * the Michigan Republican Party has an internal fight over how it will count votes at its state convention – will they continue to use the machines they bought from Dominion? Mark Brewer and Jeff Timmer analyze the political fallout. Then they are joined by Michigan Lt. Govern...

Still more on the Electoral College fraud conspiracy, the ever-growing field of far-right-wing Republican gubernatorial candidates and an amazing roster of petition drives are afloat in Michigan. Those of the subjects of our opening segment, now officially called our weekly “Legitimate Political Discourse.” Then we shift the focus to the long-term future. While most of the political focus is on the 2022 and 2024 campaigns, there’s a new generation of voters who will soon dominate our political ...

What a week: A high-powered coalition launches a petition drive to thwart the Republican-lead voter suppression petition drive A third lawsuit filed against the Redistricting Commission’s maps, even as another lawsuit loses in a divided state Supreme Court Two leaders of the Trump Electoral College fraud in Michigan get congressional subpoenas The former president is all-in for “his” candidate for Michigan Attorney General … and his establishment-favored rival is in deep trouble over the wha...

Another huge week in Michigan politics: Former House Speaker Lee Chatfield, already embroiled in a criminal investigation into sexual abuse charges, is now under the microscope for massive off-the-books spending out of his political slush fund Michigan Republican co-chair Meshawn Maddock is facing pushback for an allegedly racist tweet directed at Lt. Governor Garland Gilchrist, along with a federal investigation into the forged Electoral College documents scandal Governor Whitmer’s State of ...