Catholics Boast Largest Plurality of State Lawmakers in a Dozen Years; Churches Identified with Pro-Life Position on Abortion Constitute a Majority, Maybe Even a 2/3 Majority

Incumbent Schostak Fends off Insurgent Todd Courser by Only Four Percentage Points to Win Second Term at GOP's Feb. 23 convention in Lansing

Big Labor, Veteran Democratic Pols ---Furious that 2012 Didn't Yield Better Results All the Way Down the Michigan Ballot --- Deep-Six Their Record-Setting Chief Party Official

How Could This Happen? Because, in Wake of 2010 Census, 25 Boards Decided to Downsize to Save Money. Number of Michigan Commissioners Spread Throughout 83 Counties Was Reduced to 622 from 686

State Rep. David Agema (R-Grandville) and ex-Secretary of State Terri Land Upset Incumbents Saul Anuzis and Holly Hughes by Decisive Margins in Detroit's Cobo Hall May 19

But Candidates Can Still Withdraw by Friday, May 18, and Sometimes the Withdrawal Deadline Produces More Shocks than the Filing Date Three Days Earlier

Mitchell/Rosetta Stone Survey Taken Thursday, Feb. 23, Shows Romney with 36%-33% Lead over former U.S. senator; Paul & Gingrich Lag Well Behind

Victory Phones survey commissioned by Inside Michigan Politics Shows Romney, Who Had Trailed Santorum in Five Polls Reported Over Last Five Days, Has Caught His Opponent with 12 Days to go Before the Election; Paul is at 7%, Gingrich 5%, 22% Still Undecided

New IMP/MRG Poll Finds Most of State's Voters Don't Believe that It Does, Possibly Paving the Way for Legislative Action This Fall to Expand Range of 'School Choice' Options

Most Republicans Say Yes, Democrats Say No; GOP-Dominated Legislature Has Passed a Bill with a 4-Year Cap and Gov. Rick Snyder Has Signed It into Law --- Now, IMP/MRG Poll Shows Most Michigan Voters Agree with That Decision

IMP/MRG Poll Says Electorate Feels Best Approach is "Mend It, Don't End It"

Michigan's Thad McCotter --- Lagging with Only 2% Support in His Own State --- is Also Scheduled to Attend, but Don't Look for Bachmann, Paul, Gingrich, Cain, Santorum, or Huntsman

Is it Any Consolation That Michiganders are Even More Pessimistic About Direction of Country as a Whole Than They Are About Their Own State?

Four Democratic State Representatives --- Vicki Barnett (D-Farmington Hills), Ellen Cogen Lipton (D-Huntington Woods), Marcia Hovey-Wright (D-Muskegon),  and Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) --- Rack Up Almost-Perfect Liberal Scores

Recall Petitioners Managed to Get Only One Possible Legislator (State Rep. Paul Scott) Targeted in November Election Out of Some Two Dozen On-the Ground Campaigns --- Any Other Efforts Can't Qualify for Ballot Till Next February 28, When Michigan GOP is Likely to Schedule Presidential Primary with Big Republican Turnout 

Republicans Still Control Wisconsin Senate, 17-16, but Recalls Aren't Over in Badger State --- Two Democrats Must Withstand Attempts to Recall Them on Tuesday, Aug. 16th

However, the last time Legislature Acted This Early was in 1981, and the Budget Passed That Year wasn't Worth the Paper It Was Written on. Collapsing economy and shrinking revenue forced drastic budget cuts before the fiscal year had even begun! Will it Happen Again This Time? Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican Politicians are hoping NOT!

Cost of Government Was Considered Motive in Slashing Board Size. Total is Now Down to 626 (from 686), a record Low. 24 Counties Cut Board Size, only One (Menominee) Increased its Number of Commissioners

Republicans Rick Johnson, Craig DeRoche and Jase Bolger and Democrat Andy Dillon Each Served Only One Term Before Becoming Speaker; All Other States Pick Speakers with At Least Two Terms Under Their Belts --- and Sometimes Decades of Experience

Most Freshmen in a Decade, and this is the Youngest Legislature in 10 Years; Female Percentage of Representation Drops to 36th Place  in National Rankings --- Lowest in More than Three Decades

Inside Michigan Politics's Latest Survey of the Effectiveness of Lansing Lobbyists (the 6th in the past 23 years) Reveals Who Gets the Job Done and Who Has Some Critics. Three Issues of IMP (Vol. XIII, Nos. 6-8) Detail the Results ...

Democrats Lost a Whopping 82 Seats --- the Reason for the Disparity Between the Two Parties' Results is that Macomb Co. Downsized Its Board from 26 Seats to 13. In Macomb Co., Dems plummeted from Big Majority to Only a 7-6 Edge on the New Panel for 2011-12. "No Party Affiliation" gained four members in 2010 to total of eight ...

2010 Turnout was Comparable to What It Was in the Three Previous Gubernatorial Elections --- 2002, 1998, and 1994, all of which were around 43%-45%

Electorate Wasn't Convinced We Needed a New Constitutional Convention, so Prop 1 Lost 2-1. However, Voters Don't Want Kwame Kilpatrick to Have a Chance to Become the new Marion Barry, so Prop 2 Carried the day, 3-1

Democratic Efforts to Demonize Young Flopped; Democrats Davis and Langford Morris Trailed Badly, and Libertarian Roddis was a Non-Factor

On Nov. 2, Republicans Swept All Eight Seats for the First Time Since 1984, But Democrats Still Control MSU and the SBE, 5-3, and U-M and WSU, 6-2

Obviously, that Means Brian Calley will be the Next Lieutenant Governor, and Also that Ruth Johnson will be the Next Secretary of State and Bill Schuette the Next Attorney General. It was Simply a Bad year for Democrats Everywhere, Not Just in Michigan

House Democrats Dan Scripps, Terry Brown, Judy Nerat All Imperiled --- Senate Republicans Could Net-Gain Four Seats, Reaching Veto-Proof Majority

Tonya Schuitmaker Ahead in 20th state Senate District, Tory Rocca in SD 10, and GOP Challenger Ed McBroom, an Upper Peninsula Dairy Farmer running against a Democratic Incumbent in HD 108, Are All Ahead. These Races Could Be Bellwethers for What Will Happen Nov. 2nd

Republicans Pete Hoekstra and Tom George Received $390,000 and $20,000, respectively, after Being Told by Secretary of State They Shouldn't Expect It --- Legislature Had Raided Gubernatorial Campaign Fund in 2007 to Balance Budget & Never Paid Money Back

With Less Than Six Weeks to Go Before Nov. 2 Election, Republicans Appear in Position to Sweep All Four Constitutional Offices and Perhaps Regain Control of State Supreme Court

Justice Weaver's Resignation May Backfire --- Democrats Produce Two Seemingly Weak Nominees at Their State Convention, and GOP Has Come Up with a Female Named Kelly, plus incumbent Robert Young, who's been Elected Twice Already

Democrats and Phony Party Have Filed an Appeal of Canvassers' Decision in Court --- Regardless of How Issue is Resolved, Backlash to an Obvious 'Dirty Trick' Seems Likely to Help Republicans  

Could Michigan Be Next? All Candidates Regardless of Party Would Run Together for a Particular Office, with Top Two Finishers Qualifying for General Election. It's Possible Most Districts Would Feature a Democrat vs. Democrat in November, or a Republican vs. Republican... 

Current Issue of Inside Michigan Politics Tells How Arcane Practice Known as "Securities Lending" Blew Up in Money Managers' Faces --- Most of it Will Never Be Recovered

51 Candidates Who Filed May 11 for Congress, state Senate, and state House of Representatives Withdrew from Races Only Three Days Later --- and that Doesn't Include Judicial Aspirants!

Democrats Show 12% Drop From a Year Ago; Slightly More People  Say They Identify with GOP (30%) Than Dems (27%), But Most Voters Describe Themselves as Independents (42%)...

Alma Wheeler Smith Drops Her Candidacy for Dem Nomination The Day Before May 11 Filing Deadline

Big Question: Was His Exit Voluntary, or Was He Pushed? Dick and Betsy DeVos Immediately Endorse 29-year-old state Rep. Justin Amash (R-Grand Rapids)

It's Not too Late to Get in the Race --- Remember, Geoffrey Fieger Didn't Announce He was Running in 1998 Till Spring

Mark Schauer (D-MI 7) and Gary Peters (D-MI 9) Appear to Have Toed the Line for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi --- But is that What Their Constituents Want From Them? IMP issue of Feb. 8th Has Some Answers ...

Governor Breaks Her Annual Speech to the Legislature into Three Sections --- Get the Bad News Out of the Way the Previous Week and Consign the Grim Budget Numbers to February 11th --- then Concentrate on Delivering an Upbeat Talk in your SoS, Centered on a Recitation of Your Accomplishments, Few Though They May Be ...

Republican Scott Brown Pulls Off Upset in Massachusetts, Health Care Reform Imperiled, Supreme Court Unleashes Corporate Campaign Juggernaut More Likely to Help GOP, Liberal Air America Talk Radio Declares Bankruptcy & Goes Off Air, Gretchen Whitmer Folds Tent on Attorney General Race, & No Plausible Democratic Candidate for Governor Yet!

Republican Contest Appears Frozen in Place Over Past Six Months; Dem Race Now Appears to be between a Flawed Potential Giant and Up to a Half-Dozen Pygmies (While Others Weigh Entering the Fray) ...

Alma Wheeler Smith (D-S. Lyon), Coleman A. Young, II (D-Detroit), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) Share Top Billing as "Most Liberal' Based on 36 Key Roll Calls --- see Dec. 28th issue of Inside Michigan Politics

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Flint's Mayor Don Williamson Declared a Year Ago He Was Running for Governor, but then was forced to resign just before a scheduled recall election last February. Could Bernero be next? Their records are similar ...

She Tells Television's "Off the Record" Panel that He Sold Out House Democrats on the FY 2010 Budget and that She Wouldn't Run on the Same Ticket with him for Governor Next Year

Pugh says it's a "new day" in Detroit with new mayor Dave Bing and a majority of freshmen on incoming Motown city council

Governor's Inside Game, Never Strong, Deteriorates Even More as Legislators Tune Her Out

Senate Has Already Rejected EO, House May be Next with 15 Democrats Poised to Overturn It along with All 43 Republicans

IMP/PPC automated surveys also relatively accurate in predicting order of finish in Detroit city council race, except that Charles Pugh managed to withstand negative publicity about his personal finances better than seemed to be the case a week before the Nov. 3 Vote

Republican Nofs's Win in a district that had been Democratic expands GOP lead in Senate to 22-16

Governor Grudgingly Signs Higher Education Bill without Vetoing Line Items for Cooperative Extension Service and Agriculture Experimental Stations

Democrats Made Gains in 2008, but more than Two-Thirds of Township Supervisors, Clerks, Treasurers and Trustees Indentify with GOP

But Bernero Stopped Removal of Snow from Bridge Over Grand River, Forcing Pedestrians to Walk in Heavy Traffic on Waverly Road

Incumbent Mayor Hanging onto Dwindling Lead with a Week Left Before Nov. 3 Election

Embattled Mayor  shouts at host Rob South: "If you want to make some accusation, go ahead! ... What are you talking about?!"

Granholm Demands "Revenue Enhancements" in Anticipation of FY 2010 Budget Shortfall That is Sure to Come; She's Betting that Legislature's Knees Will Buckle

He hopes it will help him outflank Republican nominee for open state Senate seat when they square off next year

Incumbent Mayor Who Champions Himself as World-Class Debater Chickens Out of TV Match with Challenger Carol Wood Because of Fears that the Truth About His 527 Will Be Exposed

Granholm Enfuriates Senate Majority Leader Bishop; They're Eyeball-to-Eyeball --- Who will Blink First?

Her Executive Order Weakens state Agriculture Commission, May Lead to Legislature Overturning Her Action

Current Issue of Inside Michigan Politics Gives Complete District-by-District Rundown of What Will Happen

If Republican Nominee Mike Nofs wins, it could Enable GOP to hold onto Control of the Michigan Senate for the Next Five Years

Only Three Sitting Councilmembers May Survive Nov. 3 Voting

Latest IMP/Grebner Robo-Call Poll Shows Incumbents Watson & Tinsley-Talabi in Trouble

But Most Michiganders Claim They Won't Leave State No Matter How Bleak the Economy

Voters aren't that worried about threat posed to environment by drilling for oil on public lands

"Concealed Carry" law shouldn't be altered to allow weapons where large numbers of students are located

IMP/MRG Poll Finds Lieutenant Governor Increases His Poll Numbers Over Democratic Opponents Since Last Spring

IMP/MRG Poll Finds Him Losing to All Top-Tier Republican Candidates, Beating Only Snyder (By 8 points, with a Quarter of the Electorate Undecided)

New IMP/MRG Poll Says He Would Lose, But He might Help John Cherry

Bouchard trails in Third Place, George & Snyder Bring Up the Rear

Higher academia is still abuzz over meddling by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and influential Democratic law-makers in a union election at Central Michigan University this past spring.

In the most recent panel of robo-calls taken Sept. 10, list broker Mark Grebner of
East Lansing-based Practical Political Consulting found that a
shake-up is in the offing, with a fierce fight for the final four council seats