Personal attacks are nothing new in politics, but Michigan’s U.S. Senate race has added a new wrinkle: accusing a candidate’s mother of supporting terrorism.

In a debate earlier this month in Grand Rapids, Republican Mike Rogers accused Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s birth mother of working for an organization that helped al-Qaida.

The allegations follow a pattern for Rogers. He’s accused El-Sayed and his family of being linked to Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood, but has not provided evidence.

The Republican former congressman denies it has anything to do with the former Detroit and Wayne County health director being a Muslim.

“It’s not about the way he prays,” Rogers said. “It’s about the way he thinks.”

Do Rogers’ allegations withstand scrutiny? No.

No Ties to al-Qaida

El-Sayed’s parents divorced when he was 3 years old. The Democrat was largely raised in Rochester, Michigan, by his father and stepmother.

The accusation by Republican Mike Rogers is that Abdul El-Sayed’s birth mother, Fatten Elkomy, helped funnel money to a host of terrorist groups while working for a charity in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Elkomy worked as a nurse in a Kenyan orphanage for the humanitarian aid organization Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA-USA) based in Missouri.

It was an offshoot of the Islamic African Relief Agency based in Sudan. Leaders of the latter group – who were also board members of IARA-USA – were later convicted of violating sanctions by funneling money to Iraq through someone thought to be a terrorist.

When that happened, IARA-USA had its assets frozen and aid stopped.

Detroit-based attorney Shereef Akeel worked on behalf of IARA-USA and others like them. He said for the cases he handled, there weren’t direct ties to terrorism.

“I saw violations of tax filings, violations of where aid was distributed in violation of some sanction, like blankets or things of that nature,” Akeel said.

The impact of the frozen assets was devastating for the kids in Kenya. Many children wrote letters to the court explaining how their families could no longer afford schooling and had to go back to scavenging for food.

After several years, the organization ultimately pleaded guilty to violating sanctions on Iraq, transferred its remaining assets to another charity and dissolved.

“Eventually, through this whole process, the funds were unfrozen, and they ended up being … transferred to a humanitarian organization in Africa,” Akeel said.

However, by then IARA-USA had been disbanded.

Barbara McQuade is a University of Michigan Law professor and a former U.S. Attorney. She prosecuted cases similar to the one involving IARA.

She said financial crimes are often easiest to prove because of documentation.

“If you can instead put together a case that's clean on paper because of some financial transaction that is prohibited, whether it's a tax charge or financial support that violates sanctions – that certainly can dismantle a terrorist pipeline of money,” McQuade said.

It should be noted that El-Sayed’s birth mother does not appear in any indictment surrounding this case.

McQuade said it’s unlikely Elkomy, in her role as a nurse, would have known what was happening in a different organization in a different country.

“Just because you work for a particular charity – I don't know, hypothetically the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders, some organization that's doing great work overseas – if you've got some corrupt members at the highest level, it certainly is not an indictment or guilt by association of everybody who works in the organization,” McQuade said.

One of IARA-USA’s biggest champions was Republican former Congressman Mark Siljander of southwest Michigan. He worked as a lobbyist for the charity in the mid-2000s, but later pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and failing to register as a foreign agent.

Siljander spent one year and one day in prison.

The judge in his case said “this is not a case about somebody aiding a terrorist.”

In 2020, President Donald Trump pardoned Siljander.

No Ties to Muslim Brotherhood

There have also been efforts by Mike Rogers and conservative media to link Elkomy – and El-Sayed – to the Muslim Brotherhood while she was living in Egypt in the 1970s.

That mostly comes from three social media posts made by El-Sayed’s half-sister in 2012 and 2013.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in the 1920s, and helped the rise of former Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi following the pro-democracy Arab Spring movement in 2011.

The U.S. Department of Treasury designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization earlier this year.

El-Sayed has repeatedly stated his family has no ties to the group.

“To the best of my knowledge, nobody in my family's been a member of this organization. It's, like, an insane thing to assume,” El-Sayed said.

And yet questions persist.

At a recent El-Sayed campaign stop in Caro the Democrat was again asked to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood by an audience member named Tommy.

El-Sayed did, but the video went viral, because Tommy continuously stopped short of saying why he’s asking the candidate the question.

The whole exchange felt a bit manufactured.

It was.

Independent journalist Marisa Kabas of The Handbasket was the first to report that Tommy Teepell isn’t from Michigan, is the son of a well-known Republican operative, and was working for U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, earlier this year.

Why Link to Terrorism? Fear.

Midterm elections are generally good for the political party not in power.

Democrats have an edge in enthusiasm.

Republican former Congressman Mike Bishop of Michigan served on the Homeland Security subcommittee and said the GOP was looking for an answer to Democrats’ momentum.

“I think there is an enthusiasm gap, and that happens when you've got a president at his midterms,” Bishop said.

Bishop doesn’t think Rogers’ efforts are Islamophobic, but admits something needed to be done to fire up the Republican base.

“I think there is fear and anger out there, and there are folks out there that are stoking that furnace,” Bishop said.

With the high cost of gasoline and diesel fuel and President Donald Trump’s approval ratings at all-time lows, Democrats are feeling confident. But fear and anger could still propel Rogers to victory – or they might leave him short in the Senate race.

Early in-person voting for the 2026 midterm election is now fully underway across Michigan.

That means Michiganders can head to the polls starting this weekend if they're interested in casting their ballots in person before Election Day on Nov. 3. A state constitutional amendment voters overwhelmingly passed in 2022 means precincts across Michigan must make early voting available for at least nine days before Election Day, though some communities have started sooner.

Here's what you need to know about early voting.

What is early voting?

This is the third year Michigan has had early voting for all state and federal elections, after voters passed a 2022 ballot measure that enshrined several new voting rights into the state Constitution.

Those rights include at least nine days of early voting (as well as the ability to be placed on a permanent absentee voter list, prepaid ballot postage and a state-funded ballot tracking notification system, and more).

That means Michiganders now have three ways to vote:

1. Absentee voting, with ballots available up to 40 days before the election;
2. In-person early voting, available statewide Saturday, Oct. 24.
3. In-person on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.

What’s the difference between early voting and absentee?

Both options allow you to cast a vote before Election Day. Early voting is closer to the experience of voting on Election Day. You’ll enter a polling location, check in, be given a ballot, complete that ballot on site, and can then personally put your ballot into the tabulator at your polling place.

Absentee voting gives you the option to vote from home, and absentee ballots are available up to 40 days before an election. You can request an absentee ballot online, in person, or through the mail. Then you can submit it to your local clerk’s office through the mail, at a secure drop box, or a polling site.

The Secretary of State’s office recommends “using the secure drop box or a polling place if you are returning a ballot within two weeks of election day, in order to avoid possible postal delays.”

You can also track your absentee ballot by entering your information here.

When does early voting start in Michigan? 

Statewide early voting will be available for at least nine days: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026 and run through Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (That’s because the early voting period must take place for a minimum of nine consecutive days, ending on the Sunday before an election.)

But communities also have the option of providing additional days of early voting, up to 28 days total.

Where can I vote early? 

You can find your nearest early voting polling location by entering your address here. Your local clerk’s office will also have more information about where to vote early, as well as the hours for those locations.

Do I need an ID? 

You’ll be asked to show an ID when you check in to vote, but you can still vote even if you don’t have one. (A poll worker will ask you to sign a form that says you didn’t have an ID.)

According to the Secretary of State’s office, the following types of IDs can be used:

• Michigan driver's license or state ID (may be expired)
• Driver's license or state ID issued by another state
• Federal, state or local government-issued photo ID
• U.S. passport
• Military photo ID
• Photo ID from an educational institution
• Tribal photo ID

How do I know if I’m registered to vote? 

You can check your voter registration status here: Michigan.gov/Vote. You can register anytime up to 8 p.m. on Election Day, but the Secretary of State’s office recommends registering as soon as possible.

If you’re not registered to vote, you can still register online, in person, or by mail up to 15 days before the election. Within 14 days of the election, you’ll need to register in person. You can get more details about submitting your registration here.

Midterm elections are approaching in the state of Michigan. While some statewide races, like for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, have garnered national attention, others have comparatively slid under the radar.

In an unusual quirk of electoral politics, voters in Michigan are able to vote for the governing boards of major public universities in statewide elections. Members of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, Michigan State University Board of Trustees, and the Wayne State University Board of Governors serve uncompensated for eight-year terms, and are elected two at a time in staggered, two-year cycles.

As part of a series of candidate profiles for the state’s three publicly elected university boards, Michigan Public sat down with the Democratic and Republican candidates for Wayne State’s Board of Governors to discuss their campaigns, platforms, and hopes for the future of the university.

The Democratic Party’s nominees for the board are Richard Mack and Shereef Akeel. Mack is a union-side labor attorney and a member of the Detroit NAACP’s Board of Directors. Akeel is a civil rights attorney at his own law firm, and a certified public accountant.

The Republican Party’s nominees for the board are Christa Murphy and Andy Anuzis. Murphy is a member of the board of directors of Vibe Credit Union, and said she's previously worked in strategy roles at Samsung, Meta, and General Motors. Anuzis’s background is in public education; he has spent the last five years as the principal of Lincoln-King High School in Detroit.

The candidates from each party are not running as a ticket in the traditional sense. Voters can select up to two candidates for governor, but may also vote for fewer, and are able to vote for two candidates from different political parties if they wish.

Affordability and upward mobility

Wayne State has frequently been ranked as the top university in the state for social mobility, and ensuring that its programs remain affordable is a top concern for all candidates.

The Democratic contenders said they were proud of Wayne State’s various financial aid programs, and would work to continuously improve them to better assist various underserved groups if elected.

“Wayne State has people who are working full time, who are mothers and fathers and people who are trying to get a leg up in life,” Mack said. “And we, as Wayne State, need to make sure that, yes, we're offering an amazing, amazing education. We also need to make sure that the students there are assisted with the academics and other resources that they may need.”

The Republican candidates also expressed support for the university’s tuition programs; Murphy said she even benefitted from financial aid during her time as a Wayne State undergraduate. The pair also wants to focus on fiscal accountability and looking for wasteful spending to cut.

“One of the things that I bring to the table in terms of previous board service is the tough decision making,” Murphy said. “Every institution has limited resources. We look at the resources. We look at the outcome that we're looking to drive.”

Academic success

Closely tied to the subject of financial aid is the academic success of Wayne State students. The university’s six-year graduation rate has rapidly improved over the last decade and a half, going from 26% in 2011 to around 60% today.

“What often happens now (is) students who just aren't able to finish because they are $1,500 short, or they didn't get their Pell Grant, or they didn't get the full amount of the grant that they thought they were going to get. All sorts of life issues come into play,” Mack said.

The Republican candidates do not disagree with this perspective. “Investing in mentorship, scholarships and those kinds of things are very important,” Anuzis said. As an educator he also hopes to take a look at several of Wayne State’s academic programs that he thinks “could be models that should be amplified.”

Anuzis is particularly fond of Math Corps, an academic mentoring program for students in Detroit Public Schools run by Wayne State. He said the program benefits the local community and helps prepare students for college.

“College success starts with middle school success, high school success,” Anuzis said. “And I'd love to see Wayne State do more of what Math Corps does.”

The Democratic candidates are also looking for ways to enhance Wayne State’s impact across Michigan and the Detroit metro area, particularly when it comes to healthcare.

“There's a lot of underserved areas, specifically regarding medical treatment,” Akeel said. “So I think exploring that and trying to expand on an outreach program to provide medical service using Wayne State's wonderful medical university to help the underserved areas, provide medical treatment, I think that would be good.”

Free speech and civil rights

The Republican candidates have made a point of campaigning on the issue of defending free speech, which they believe is not sufficiently respected around campus.

“I've talked to several students at Wayne State University recently,” Anuzis said. “I wouldn't say that it is like open censorship, but there's a soft censorship. People don't feel free to speak their mind in the classroom. And we need to fix that.”

While Anuzis and Murphy believe Wayne State could improve its free speech record, they are not particularly sympathetic to student protesters. The pair believes that demonstrations should not take place if they disrupt students’ academic health, an issue Murphy said she had personal experience with during her time at the university.

“I remember a particular moment sitting in differential equations class at Wayne State University, and there was a protest going on outside the window,” Murphy said. “And I remember thinking, it's not that I disagree with you, but can you please be quiet?”

The Democratic candidates are also concerned about the state of free speech and other rights on campus, though they believe the threat mostly originates from the Trump administration. They believe that as lawyers they will be able to help defend Wayne State from any legal threats it may face from the federal government.

“They say lawyers are the foot soldiers of the Constitution, and we're going to be there to make sure that every student has their proper due process and has their rights respected,” Akeel said. “And that's not just for students, it's for faculty, for union workers.”

Institutional stability

Wayne State has experienced significantly less administrative turmoil than U of M or MSU have over the last several years, though it has not been entirely calm either. The university’s current president, Richard Bierschbach, was only recently appointed to the position after the resignation of former President Kimberly Espy resigned last year following strife with campus protesters and leadership turnover at the university’s medical school.

All candidates said they were excited about Bierschbach’s presidency, and would work to keep the board’s meetings productive. The Democratic candidates both emphasized fostering a culture of mutual respect and compromise.

“The way that we relate to folk on the board has got to be on a position of respect and a position of going through ideas, but also making sure you understand why the ideas are held,” Mack said. “One of the things that I really pride myself on as a union negotiator is a pragmatic approach.”

The Republican candidates echoed this sentiment. Anuzis further suggested delegating as much of Wayne State’s day-to-day operations to relevant experts at the university.

“Our job is not to micromanage,” Anuzis said. “It's not to create programs. It's not to show up on day one with the 10-point plan swinging in the wind, saying, look, I've got all this figured out. I think our job is to be prudent managers of the resources of the university.”

A recent court ruling in a lease dispute could profoundly change Michigan contract law, according to the lawyer for the landlords in the case.

An Oakland County man and his old landlords sued one another over rent and a security deposit for a home that allegedly wasn’t up to par.

Both parties agreed the landlords didn’t have a permit to lease the space. Because of that, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel unanimously found the lease was invalid from the beginning.

“Because renting and occupying the unit was undeniably 'central to the parties’ agreement,' the entire contract is void ab initio,” Judge Mark Boonstra wrote on behalf of the court.

By finding the lease itself invalid, the court ruled the breach of contract claims also didn’t matter.

Attorney Ari Lehman represents the landlords in the case. He said that opens a whole legal can of worms, especially for people acting unethically.

“What would a court now do if somebody doesn’t have a landlords’ license or the right requirements and signs a lease with somebody?” Lehman asked rhetorically, “He would get their first months’ rent, a month and a half security deposit and say, ‘Sorry, not a valid contract.’”

Lehman questioned whether, if leases without proper permits were deemed illegal, tenants under them would be considered trespassers under the new precedent.

In regard to the security deposit in the case, the Court of Appeals found the tenant didn’t have any duty to pay it in the first place. And, without lease conditions guiding the agreement, the landlords therefore didn’t have any responsibility to pay it back under the Michigan Landlord-Tenant Act.

“The lease was void ab initio, so there was no enforceable rental agreement to establish any rights or obligations with respect to the security deposit. Nor does the Landlord-Tenant Act govern the parties’ rights in this situation because it 'applies only to security deposits held pursuant to leases,'” Boonstra said.

However, the ruling did leave the door open for the tenant to recoup some of his money by claiming "unjust enrichment" against his former landlords.

Lehman said that’s also worrying, since unjust enrichment claims don't usually apply to illegal activities.

“I don’t think you can come to court and sue for unjust enrichment if you pay for drugs and don’t get your drugs. You’re engaging in illegal activity. It’s not just the contract’s bad. You don’t have a claim for unjust enrichment either,” Lehman said.

Overall, Lehman accuses the court of overstepping its power.

The rental property was in West Bloomfield Township, where the penalty for renting without a certificate of compliance is a civil fine. Lehman argued using the statute to invalidate a lease agreement altogether went too far.

“This is clearly the courts interfering with a legislature’s ability to craft a rule and craft a specific remedy for that rule and keep it in proportion,” he said.

The appellate judges returned the case to the circuit court for further proceedings.

A healthy dose of salt may not sound like a particularly healthy choice. For many of us, it just sounds like a lot of salt. That's because "healthy" has come to mean more than just being in good physical shape.

So, how did a word associated with good health come to describe something substantial or sizable?

"Healthy" dates to the late 1400s, when it referred to being in good physical condition. By the late 1500s, it could also describe good mental or spiritual health. Then, speakers starting using "healthy" to describe an appetite, one that indicated someone was in good health.

That's how other things that were robust or sizable became "healthy."

That shift is evident in expressions like a "healthy dose of skepticism" or a "healthy respect for the law." Depending on the context, "healthy" can mean something appropriate or fitting, or it can suggest a considerable amount. Not every healthy dose is necessarily healthy in the literal sense.

The word "wellness" has undergone its own evolution. Although it dates back to the 1600s, its meaning broadened in the 1950s to encompass not just the absence of illness, but positive physical, mental and spiritual health. For more on "wellness," "healthy," and other words we use to talk about well-being, listen to the audio above.

Today on Stateside, a conversation with Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.

Stateside has made numerous interview requests to the Rogers campaign that have gone unanswered over the past several months. The offer remains open, and he is welcome to join us on the show next week.

Plus, Tapology, a Flint-based dance organization, celebrates its 25th anniversary this season. Frances Bradley, the program's artistic director, discussed the work behind introducing generations of dancers to the traditions of Black American tap dance.

Then, one canoe paddler's unique paddle collection, and his philosophy around gift-giving. This essay comes to us from the Points North podcast.

Finally, a conversation with Eli Savit, the Democratic candidate for Michigan attorney general. Find our interview with Republican candidate Doug Lloyd here.

GUESTS ON TODAY'S SHOW:

• Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate
• Frances Bradley, acting CEO and artistic director of Tapology
• Darren Bush, writer, hospice chaplain, owner of Rutabaga Paddlesports in Madison, Wisconsin
• Eli Savit, prosecuting attorney for Washtenaw County, Democratic candidate for Michigan attorney general

Detroit has long been a Democratic stronghold. But as Michigan's U.S. Senate race enters its final stretch, both campaigns are putting in significant effort in the city, hoping to boost turnout and persuade undecided voters.

Former President Barack Obama is set to campaign in Detroit this weekend for Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who faces Republican Mike Rogers in a hard-fought race.

On Stateside, Michigan Public Radio Network Capitol Correspondent Colin Jackson said the question isn't whether Detroit will vote Democratic. Instead, it's more about small shifts in voter support and turnout.

"We're not on the precipice of any big change," Jackson said. "But in a tight race, any chipping away at a base can make a difference."

El-Sayed is a familiar name in some Detroit circles. He served as Detroit's health director and later led public health efforts in Wayne County. But Jackson said that experience doesn't necessarily translate into broad voter recognition.

"The public health official of your city or your county is not the most public official you think about," he said. "Most people can't name their state representative or state senator, and those people are on the ballot."

El-Sayed's campaign has centered on the slogan "money out of politics, money in your pocket," as well as support for policies such as Medicare for All. Jackson said those themes appear to appeal to many voters, particularly younger voters looking for change.

"When I talk to people around Wayne State, a lot of the folks seem like they're receptive, especially among the college community who just want to see change in politics," he said.

Still, polling suggests some hesitation among Black voters, even as large majorities continue to favor Democratic control of the Senate. Jackson pointed to several possible explanations, including Republican attacks attempting to tie El-Sayed to socialism, and enduring tensions between Detroit's Black and Arab American communities.

"There has been some historic tension, especially in Detroit, between the Black community and its Arab American community," Jackson said. "I think there's a danger for some folks to tie El-Sayed to that broader tension."

Meanwhile, Republicans are continuing efforts to broaden their reach in the city. Rogers recently opened a campaign office on Detroit's Avenue of Fashion, a highly visible commercial corridor on the city's northwest side.

"It's not often you see Republicans putting office resources in the city," Jackson said. "I think that's a statement."

As always, turnout remains one of the biggest variables. Jackson said interest and involvement, notably among younger Black voters, could play an outsized role in affecting the outcome.

"It's about finding ways to reach folks in ways where they understand how an election affects their life," he said.

Obama's visit comes as early voting gets underway in Michigan. President Donald Trump is also expected to campaign in the state this weekend. Jackson said the overlapping visits highlight Michigan's importance in national politics.

"I think this more speaks to the importance of Michigan and the importance of turning out the vote than it does showing that Democrats could be in trouble," Jackson said.

Listen to the full conversation above.

The manufacturing company Gelman Sciences will be required to take new steps to address its slowly expanding plume of groundwater contamination in and around Ann Arbor, under an agreement reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

On Friday, the EPA announced an administrative settlement agreement with Gelman Sciences LLC. Under the agreement, the company will take steps to track and reduce the spread of the so-called “Gelman plume,” as well as evaluate plans for cleanup.

The Gelman plume is a body of groundwater contaminated by the chemical 1,4-dioxane. The plume stretches roughly 3 to 4 square miles underground, just west of the Huron River, and "has migrated into aquifers that supply drinking water," the EPA said.

1,4-dioxane is “likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” according to the EPA. Although little is known about the specific impacts to human health, studies on animals show the chemical can cause liver and kidney damage.

The plume was first discovered in 1986 on the site of Gelman’s medical filter manufacturing facility, nearly 20 years after Gelman began dumping contaminated wastewater on the site.

Since its discovery, the plume has continued to spread, raising concerns that it may eventually reach the Huron River and enter Barton Pond, the source of 85% of Ann Arbor’s drinking water.

In March, the EPA added the Gelman Plume to the Superfund National Priorities List, paving the way for additional EPA oversight, including the new settlement agreement.

Under the agreement, Gelman will be required to:

• Take steps to slow the plume's spread toward the Huron River by increasing groundwater extraction and treatment on the eastern edge of the plume
• Increase monitoring to better define the eastern edge of the plume 
• Excavate contaminated soil from an area of the former Gelman facility
• Conduct a feasibility study to evaluate the extent of contamination and potential remediation efforts.
• Fund the hiring of an independent expert to help explain technical information about the site conditions and potential actions to the community. 

The Gelman plume is also managed under a 1992 court-supervised consent judgement between Gelman and the state of Michigan. That judgement required the company to manage the spread of 1,4-dioxane on the site, without assuming liability for the contamination. Local advocates have said that agreement doesn’t do nearly enough.

Rebecca Esselman, executive director at the Huron River Watershed Council, said she was encouraged by the announcement of the federal settlement, although she had not yet been able to review all the details of the 100-page agreement.

But, Esselman said, “what we know about groundwater contaminations like this is there's no cleaning it up 100%. And that is a legacy that we'll have to live with in perpetuity in the Huron River.”

The Gelman plume will need “an aggressive cleanup,” Esselman said. “And residents and local governments have waited too long and the risks are too high for anything shy of that.”

Michigan Public's Tracy Samilton contributed reporting

Midterm elections are approaching in the state of Michigan. While some statewide races, like for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, have garnered national attention, others have comparatively slid under the radar.

In an unusual quirk of electoral politics, voters in Michigan are able to vote for the governing boards of major public universities in statewide elections. Members of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, Michigan State University Board of Trustees, and the Wayne State University Board of Governors serve uncompensated for eight-year terms, and are elected two at a time in staggered, two-year cycles.

As part of a series of candidate profiles for the state’s three publicly elected university boards, Michigan Public sat down with the Democratic and Republican candidates for MSU’s Board of Trustees to discuss their campaigns, platforms, and hopes for the future of the university.

The Democratic Party has nominated incumbent trustees Kelly Tebay Zemke and Brianna Scott for reelection. Tebay Zemke is the director of government and external relations for the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Scott is an attorney, operating her own firm out of Muskegon, and is the current chair of the board.

The Republican Party has nominated Roger Victory and Julie Maday as its candidates for the board. Victory is a farmer from Hudsonville who has served as a state Senator since 2019. Maday is a former member of the Novi City Council. She ran for trustee in 2024, and lost by less than 5,000 votes.

The candidates from each party are not running as a ticket in the traditional sense. Voters can select up to two candidates for trustee, but may also vote for fewer, and are able to vote for two candidates from different political parties if they wish.

Divisiveness and Ethics on the MSU Board

This year’s board election takes place in the shadow of several years of infighting among the current board. This culminated in May, when MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz nearly left his post for Clemson University despite a $1 million pay raise, citing frustration with the board’s division. He decided to stay after receiving support from MSU community members and donors, but the saga has nevertheless damaged public confidence in the trustees.

“As a board, we've done a lot of introspection on what we feel our role is,” Scott said. “I think at least the majority of the board feels the same on what our role is and our responsibilities. And for those that don't, we now have implemented a process in which we can hold people accountable.”

That process is a revised code of ethics, which emphasizes loyalty to the university and bans trustees from dissenting against majority board decisions after they have been made. Current trustees Rema Vassar and Mike Balow have refused to sign the code, and are joined by the two Republican candidates, who believe it is overly restrictive.

“This goes too far,” Maday said. “This is an infringement on free speech. A duty of loyalty is not why we are elected to this board.”

“Our job is to make sure that Michigan State is going to survive for another hundred years,” Tebay Zemke said. “Continuing to undermine the administration and the president, who we have entrusted to do their job, is not helpful to the university.”

Affordability and Funding

Scott and Tebay Zemke are both campaigning on the Spartan Tuition Advantage, which covers the tuition of in-state students from families making $75,000 a year or less. The program was implemented during their term, as was a multiyear tuition freeze in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think we did a lot,” Tebay Zemke said. “But I think obviously there's a lot more that needs to be done in that space, too. I'm hoping we can increase that cap for families, but then also include living spaces as well.”

Maday and Victory are more focused on stemming MSU’s current $12 million budget deficit, which officials said largely originates from cuts in state appropriations passed by the Republican-led state House of Representatives over the summer.

The Republican candidates argue that MSU must cut wasteful spending and work to align with the priorities of state legislators.

“I have good working relationships with legislators,” Victory said. “I understand what their perspective is. And if Michigan State is not in line with its role, the legislators are going to say, ‘why are we funding MSU?’”

Scott describes this approach as “not acceptable.” The Democratic candidates instead want to lobby the Legislature to reform state university funding to a per-student basis, similar to K-12 education, and aggressively advocate in favor of MSU more generally. In lieu of a sympathetic state House, they hope to substantially grow MSU’s endowment by pursuing donor funds.

The candidates also seek to highlight a variety of other issues. Drawing on his farming background, Victory feels very strongly about MSU’s role as a leader in state agriculture, and wants to increase its involvement in food research and programs like 4-H.

“When you go to the supermarket, you're buying that fresh produce, and you want to make sure it's safe for your family consumption,” Victory said. “MSU is behind that, and we’ve got to make sure that they continue to step up to that and bring on those opportunities.”

Culture Wars

The two Democratic candidates initially campaigned in 2018 on a platform of reforming MSU’s response to sexual assault in the wake of scandal surrounding the arrest of Larry Nassar, a convicted serial sex offender who abused hundreds while working as a physician at MSU.

The board continues to face criticism for its handling of sexual assault reporting, and was sued by Nassar survivors in 2023 due to its handling of documents pertaining to his case, but Tebay Zemke is proud of the reforms that have been implemented during her tenure.

“We've made a lot of improvements in the office that houses the reporting for relationship violence and sexual misconduct,” Tebay Zemke said. “There's still more work to be done, but I'm really proud of some of the things that we were able to accomplish.”

Maday has highlighted conservative culture war talking points in her campaign. She opposes "cancel culture" and wants to keep transgender women from participating in women’s sports at MSU, a subject she thinks is under-discussed at the university.

“I'm not going to lie, I don't have the solution for how we deal with trans athletes,” Maday said. “But I think the reason we don't have a solution is because nobody wants to talk about it.”

There were zero transgender athletes in any of MSU’s varsity programs this summer when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bans on transgender athlete bans at public schools and colleges are constitutional.

The incumbent trustees are proud of the various buildings and amenities that have been built on campus during their tenure. Scott is particularly proud of the university’s new multicultural center, which opened last year.

“It is a beautiful building,” Scott said. “It looks like a green Rubik's cube in the center of campus, and it is the heartbeat on campus. It's always full of students.”

By halftime during Michigan’s game against Penn State Saturday, Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham had seen enough.

He pulled his starting quarterback, Bryce Underwood, and put in freshman Tommy Carr. The Wolverines won. Carr is widely expected to start this weekend.

What will that mean in the long term for Underwood and his multi-million-dollar name, image, and likeness deal?

For more on that and a look at other sports news, Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon joined host Doug Tribou on Morning Edition.

Doug Tribou: The Michigan offense did nothing in the first half against Penn State. The Nittany Lions did slightly more than nothing and went into halftime with a 3-0 lead. Tommy Carr entered in the second half and gave the Wolverines enough of a spark to win 21-18.

Whittingham hasn’t announced the starting quarterback for Saturday’s tough matchup against the defending national champions, Indiana. But if Carr does start — as many observers expect he will — do you like that switch?

JUB: Well, there's only so much data to go on here. One half for Tommy Carr. However, Doug, even despite my limited math skills, I'm certain that 21 is more than zero. And that's how many points each quarterback had.

DT: [Laughs] Carry the one ...

JUB: Bear with me here, Doug. I'll pull this one off yet. [Laughs] And so, I mean, hats off to Tommy Carr, obviously, as far as that goes. The catch is they're playing a very good Indiana team. They are the returning national champs, let's not forget, and only had one — narrow — loss to Ohio State [this season] who's also a phenomenal team.

The bad news for Michigan fans is you have very little idea what Tommy Carr can and cannot do. The good news for Michigan fans is Indiana also has very little idea what Tommy Carr can or can't do. He's the wild card, so I'm almost certain he's going to be starting this weekend.

DT: And by not announcing it, Kyle Whittingham does force Indiana to sort of game plan for both.

JUB: And trust me when I tell you that does matter. I've been in these film rooms, by the way. That means the poor Indiana staff has got to watch 20 or 30 hours of each quarterback, which means you're going to waste half a week watching a quarterback who's not going to play. So they're playing a game on the Indiana coaches.

DT: Quarterback Bryce Underwood has an NIL — that’s name, image, likeness — deal that pays him about $3 million a year. There were questions last season about whether to start Underwood as a true freshman. He did start.

Now there are questions about what happens in the long term if he’s no longer the starter. Pressure to start high-profile players is nothing new, but how is NIL money affecting those dynamics?

JUB: Well, we can only guess insofar as we're not part of those conversations. However, when Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, drops $12 million for a new quarterback, one assumes that there's some pressure to play the guy. And one also assumes when you bench him, perhaps for this weekend, somebody in that building is probably going to call Larry Ellison and explain why. That's a new era.

So how is it going to affect things going forward? Who knows? But it's not as simple as it used to be.

DT: And then you have the transfer portal. So the question of how long Underwood himself would be willing to sit back is at play in a different way. And then I don't know the logistics of his NIL deal. We don't know what the the legal paperwork involved there is because those deals are not fully public.

JUB: I guarantee you there's a contract in this situation. You don't drop $12 million for the heck of it. And the question is: all right, does Bryce Underwood eat it, basically, and become Tommy Carr's backup for a year or two making $3 million a year? Or does he transfer and risk losing that money? So this, again, affects things. The ripples of this are tremendous.

DT: And another interesting wrinkle in all of this is that ...

JUB: Why not, Doug?

DT: [Laughs] Tommy Carr is the grandson of former University of Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr. So, sort of a legacy recruit in the mix of all of this.

JUB: Very true. And his brother — let's make it even more complicated — C.J. Carr, also from Saline, [Michigan], is now the starting quarterback at Notre Dame. So a lot going on here.

DT: Lots of Carrs [Laughs].

Two weeks ago, Michigan State lost in overtime to Illinois. Last week, the Spartans lost by three points to Northwestern. The Wildcats are ranked 24th in the nation. You noted that MSU coach Pat Fitzgerald has his team trending in the right direction in tough Big Ten games. The problem is the competition keeps getting tougher.

On Saturday, the Spartans will be in Pasadena, California to face UCLA — currently ranked 9th in the country. What does MSU need to do to break its five-game losing streak?

JUB: They need to recruit better players between here and Saturday, which is illegal [Laughs]. That's my diagnosis. Pat Fitzgerald's doing the best with what he has, as we've noted before. They're getting better and better and better. And here's the worst part. They can get better and better every week and still not get a win because that's where they started and that's where they're going to be headed.

So play better football, get a break somewhere along the way. They're going to win some games somewhere. But really what you're trying to do is get ready for next season.

DT: In the NFL, the Lions are coming off a bye week and headed into a division rivalry game against the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field in Detroit. It’s far too early for “must-win” declarations, but this game should tell us something about where the Lions stand in the NFC North, one of the NFL’s toughest divisions.

JUB: It's brutal. And 3-2 gets you last place. That's how brutal that is. Look, I mean, it does sound silly talking about must-win games, but it kind of is. And they're playing well. But man, as I've said before, their defensive secondary, the four guys in the back who guard receivers, are simply not very good. And I bet the Green Bay Packers know this.

DT: [Laughs] In the NBA, the Pistons got the honor of playing in the very first game of the regular season and got a win over the Boston Celtics. The victory felt very similar to a number of games last season. Detroit fell way behind then went on a 23-0 run to come back and eventually win. How high should the hopes be in Detroit this season?

JUB: You know, I feel like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown when I say, "High hopes! Honest!" Tigers fans, Red Wings fans, may not be happy with that diagnosis, that prediction. But it should be very high. They're expected to win their division. They are expected to have another long run in the NBA playoffs. And they've bolstered their lineup in a way that other teams have not. So I hate to say it, Pistons fans, but I think you should have very high hopes.

Editor's note: Some quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can play the full audio of the interview near the top of this page.

The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.

Do Michigan's electoral pivots from red to blue leave you feeling sea-sick? You're not alone. We got a listener question from Liese in Ann Arbor who wants to know why we're like this:

“So I've been here [in Michigan] almost 40 years. And I have always been strangely fascinated with the fact, like you never know what's going to happen in the state of Michigan around certain policies or politics. Progressive in some of the policies, conservative in strange ways. Why is that?”

The unbearable political swing of Michigan!

Not all red, not all blue.

Just purple.

Michigan has long been the place you’ll find really strong feelings all along the political spectrum.

Free market auto executives AND union activists. Black Panthers AND Michigan militias. Vietnam veterans AND anti-war hippies. Orville Hubbard AND Malcolm X.

That politically purple tendency also means Michigan is often a bellwether state, choosing the person who would be president.

But even in doing so, Michigan has ping-ponged between Republican and Democratic interests.

We chose Trump and Obama.

George H.W. Bush and Clinton.

And we cannot forget that THIS is the home of the so-called Reagan Democrats who helped propel a former California governor to a decisive victory as he appealed to union autoworkers who were concerned about the economy.

As Michigan goes, so too goes the country. Right? Except we voted for Al Gore. Who lost.

And John Kerry, who lost.

And it seemed like maybe Michigan was becoming part of a Blue Wall for Democrats…??

And then came Trump, then Biden, then Trump again!

Like Liese said – it’s enough to make your head spin.

So is there an answer for why we lean back and forth?

David Dulio, is a political science professor at Oakland University in Oakland County — a purplish place that’s gone through some color changes in the past few decades. He says there are a few things to keep in mind about Michigan’s unpredictability in national politics.

1. Many analysts and some Democratic campaigns have taken Michigan for granted because Michigan chose a Democrat for president from 1992 - 2012. That left Democrats vulnerable to a swing toward President Trump.
   
2. There are certain political topics that neither party owns, and a big one is the state of the economy. Michigan voters are very sensitive to issues of the economy, and whichever candidate speaks and performs best on that issue will curry favor in Michigan.
   
3. A key, bellwether demographic in Michigan is educated white women. As a voting bloc, this group has shifted in recent years and been a sign of Michigan’s shifting politics. This is particularly true in crucial counties such as Oakland and Kent. 
   

From Dulio’s perspective, the swingy-ness isn’t nausea inducing. For him, it’s part of the intrigue and fun of political seasons to have national attention and campaigns pour into our state.

“If we were like New York or Oklahoma, what fun would that be?” he said. “There'd be no television ads. There would be no digital ads. We wouldn't be inundated with candidate visits. I mean, we are a competitive state here in Michigan, and that brings so much with it. It's so wonderful.”

Michigan’s 2026 election is closing in on a milestone.

986,189, or 13.3% of active registered Michigan voters have already cast ballots, according to the Michigan Secretary of State office. 

983,101 have voted by absentee ballot.

3,088 have voted early in-person.

But early in-person voting is ramping up this weekend.

As the momentum builds toward November 3, the Democratic and Republican parties are bringing in the big guns.

Former President Barack Obama will be in Detroit Saturday to rally Democrats.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump will lend his stature to Republican candidates Sunday in Port Huron.

There are many high profile races and questions on the ballot.

But nationally, it’s the race to fill Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat that’s getting most of the attention.

Democratic nominee Abdul El Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers are locked in a tight race that many determine which party holds control of the U.S. Senate.

Michigan’s attorney general is the state’s top law enforcement official and representative in court.

The person elected to that role on Nov. 3 will spend the next four years making decisions about when to sue the federal government, argue against utility rate increases, issue opinions about legislation or prosecute large and small offenses.

Current Attorney General Dana Nessel is term limited, so Michiganders have six new choices for this role on their ballot.

Michigan Public requested interviews with each candidate. Only three are lawyers recognized by the state bar. Here’s what they had to say about how they would approach the job:

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The attorney general has the power to issue binding legal opinions on state agencies and spending. When the Republican-led state House unilaterally canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in state spending early this year, current Attorney General Nessel pushed back with an opinion that said the cuts were unconstitutional.

The House GOP responded with a lawsuit, which ultimately ended in a settlement.

A bill was later introduced to limit the attorney general’s power in issuing opinions. It passed the House, but has not moved for months in the Democrat-led state Senate.

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Current Attorney General Nessel frequently files testimonies against utility rate increases being considered by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC). Lately, she’s been getting involved in data center cases, too. Most recently, she argued the MPSC unlawfully approved special contracts for the Oracle and OpenAI data center in Saline Township.

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Non-attorney candidates for Michigan attorney general

State law says the attorney general is expected to appear in court on behalf of the state, but does not explicitly say the AG must be a member of the bar.

But, the law does require anyone who calls themselves an “attorney” or “lawyer” to be a bar member. And, University of Detroit Mercy Law Professor Aman McLeod points to a 1937 ruling in which the Michigan Supreme Court said that rule implicitly applies to anyone holding the title of attorney general.

Still, two candidates argue they should be able to take office without having ever practiced law as members of the bar. Here’s what they said about that and how they would approach the job of attorney general:

Libertarian Party candidate Jason Dye argued that a requirement to be a member of the bar as attorney general violates the U.S. constitution. He said he would get “rid of the bar association” and said his experience running the We The People News website prepared him to manage a team of attorneys. 

Dye is “1000% against” data centers and Flock license plate cameras. He suggested forming a militia in response to data center development, though he did not specify what that militia would do. Dye said he would review lawsuits filed by the current attorney general against the Trump administration and maintain any suits that have merit.

Green Party candidate Jeff Polonowski argued that he did not need to be an attorney, because he would just have to manage the state’s lawyers. When asked how his experience as a chemist and Otsego Township planning commissioner prepared him to manage a team of attorneys, he said “that would be a hard one to explain.” Though, he notes he has been involved in some zoning lawsuits. When asked why he’d run for attorney general as opposed to state offices that don’t involve litigation, he said, “I was asked to lend my name to the ballot.”

Polonowski said he would prioritize human trafficking prevention if elected. He said the task of regulating data centers should be left to the legislature and local officials, but the attorney general should support efforts to enforce local and state regulations.

U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate John Ludtke, who is also not a member of the bar, did not respond to requests for an interview in time for publication. 

I had the idea for today's cartoon before the viral "Tommy" video hit social media. And then when I saw the video, I thought, "Well, Abdul El-Sayed kind of already made my point."

But, two things. One, it's a really good point (and not everybody necessarily knows about the video). Two, I couldn't come up with a better idea.

Americans certainly don't own religious intolerance. It is a universal human fault. But as it happens, being a refuge for those who have experienced religious intolerance is a critical part of our country's origin story -- it is literally foundational to how we intended our country operate.

So what El-Sayed is experiencing as a Muslim is, sadly, nothing new. Many others have gone through it. What is critical now is that we don't reward it.

Editor's note: John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.

Residents told Michigan Republicans about their environmental concerns during a community talk in St. Clair Shores Thursday.

Lake St. Clair, a source of drinking water for many Michigan communities, made up a major topic of conversation. Pollution, invasive species, and sewer overflow came up as some of the biggest points of concern.

Republican gubernatorial nominee John James said if elected, he’d be willing to spend money on the issue.

“It is otherworldly to force the best people in the world, Michiganders, to drink from a toilet bowl. Lake St. Clair is a treasure. It is a crown jewel of Michigan. We’re going to start treating it that way,” James said.

Some ideas that came up for paying for the work included cutting back state spending in other places and having bottled water companies pay more for their use of the Great Lakes.

Public officials and area residents suggested Macomb County, which is home to five sewer flow outfalls, has already begun working on cutting back on wastewater entering the lake.

Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller pointed to construction outside the restaurant where the event took place as evidence of that work.

“You had a hard time getting here today. But I hope you really make sure that you do come to all these businesses here because everybody is really sort of sucking it up,” Miller said. “What’s happening here, we’re putting a big pipe down.”

Miller said there are already plans to remove chunks of a toxic algae species referred to as “muck” as part of a study. However, she expects it to grow back. Miller and other advocates for the lake’s health blame waste from Oakland County as a contributor to the problem.

Macomb County resident Mike Gutow runs a group called Save Lake St. Clair. He called it “massive” to hear James’ support.

“We have literally for decades not acknowledged there’s been a problem here at all. Everybody knows it’s happening but, hey, but how do you actually solve a problem? Acknowledge you actually have a problem. You acknowledge it, you can go after funding, you have funding, you make things happen, you put people to work, that’s how the world evolves,” Gutow said.

The policymakers said they want the state to take a bigger lead in addressing issues facing the state’s waterways and wetlands. Rather than expanding the size of government, however, the Republicans said they wanted to do it by being more efficient.

James’ running mate, State Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Twp) gave the state’s management of phragmites, also known as the common reed, as an example. He argued the state wasn’t doing enough to prevent its takeover of marshes.

Meanwhile, DeBoyer said the state was overzealous when it came to other environmental enforcement.

“How they treat someone who might run a driveway through an eighth of an acre wetland as opposed to letting our own state assets turn into a wasteland, to me, there’s a conflict there that doesn’t seem to jive,” DeBoyer said.

James and DeBoyer are facing Democratic nominee Jocleyn Benson and her running mate, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids).

Benson’s platform for improving the environment involves replacing aging pipelines and cracking down on polluters to protect our waters.

The ACLU of Michigan said a coalition of voting rights groups is fully prepared for potential midterm election interference.

That's as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel responded to a U.S. Justice Department announcement that it will be sending federal election monitors to seven cities in Michigan, including Detroit.

Officials said they have been practicing how to react if there are reports of unlawful election interference.

"We've gamed out nearly 25 potential scenarios and have rapid response strategies that we'll urgently deploy to ensure that our elections are protected and that our democracy remains intact," said Jessica Ayoub, the ACLU's deputy political director, who also manages the 100 voting rights groups involved in the Michigan Election Protection Program.

Ayoub said she wouldn't reveal all the 25 scenarios, but one they're prepared for is a county board of canvassers refusing to certify results — as nearly happened in Wayne County in 2020.

"Canvassers double-check the math. They do not police our elections," Ayoub said. "If any county canvas board does not follow the law, we have plans in place to address this immediately. And canvassers who defy the law also face potential criminal liability."

For her part, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said federal Department of Justice monitors are a standard part of Michigan's election process.

"We anticipate they will comport with state and federal law just as they did in this year’s August Primary," Nessel said in a statement. "But make no mistake, my office stands ready to hold accountable those who attempt to unlawfully interfere with or intimidate Michigan voters or election workers, regardless of who they may be.”

The scope of the DOJ's election monitoring does not appear to be standard, however. Reuters reported on Thursday that the DOJ’s plans to deploy about 1,000 monitors in all 50 states on Election Day was roughly triple the number in the last midterm election, making the deployment the largest observation effort in the department’s history.

In Michigan, federal officers will observe the election process in Detroit, East Lansing, Flint, Grand Rapids, Hamtramck, Lansing, and Warren, the DOJ said.

Like any other poll watcher, DOJ monitors cannot speak with voters, touch election equipment or ballots, or interfere with the administration of the election, state officials said.

Chris Thomas, Michigan's former elections director, and now a consultant for the city of Detroit Elections Division, said Detroit has worked diligently to make sure what happened in 2020 can't happen again.

During the count in that election in Huntington Place, an angry crowd of people wanting to monitor the count banged on the windows, demanding entry and shouting "Stop the count!" despite officials announcing the room had reached its capacity limit.

After the count was submitted to the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, the two Republican canvassers tried to use a mismatch in some precincts between registered voters in the poll books and actual votes cast, as a pretext for initially refusing to certify the votes cast by Detroiters.

"All the nonsense raised was just that: nonsense," Thomas said. "But after these false claims and disruptions that ensued in 2020, we have added more protocols to [avoid unbalanced counts] to inoculate against those trying to sow doubt against our elections. We increased security measures to deter disruption, to prevent unauthorized people from entering the central count board in Huntington Place."

"Election officials across the state have adopted similar protocols to secure the election," said Thomas.

Early voting begins statewide on Saturday, and runs through Sunday, November 1. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.

The online registration deadline has passed, but unregistered voters in Michigan can also register in person within 14 days of an election, and on Election Day, by visiting their local clerk's office.

As a real estate agent, Tish Mallory is used to crisscrossing the country roads of Seville Township in mid-Michigan’s Gratiot County looking to match homes with buyers.

But this summer, she drove those same roads looking for something more elusive: someone, anyone, willing to run for township clerk, a job that pays $12,960 a year and often comes with a fair amount of abuse from residents.

“I asked several people who said ‘no,’” before the deadline to get names on the November ballot, said Mallory, the rural township’s supervisor.

“We have an appointed clerk now who I had to beg,” Mallory said. “‘Please, I need a clerk!’”

A Bridge Michigan analysis of ballots in communities across Michigan found at least 478 elected races with no candidate or too few candidates running — threatening to leave close to 1-in-10 offices vacant out of the more than 5,400 local elected positions on the ballot throughout Michigan Nov. 3.

Those unwanted jobs range from library boards that decide what books to purchase and put on shelves to school boards that help set education policy to village presidents to township supervisors. The openings are spread across the state but hit rural communities particularly hard. Local school board positions are by far the office most frequently going unfilled, making up close to a third of the positions lacking candidates.

City, township and village boards can appoint individuals to vacant positions after the election if there were no candidates. If boards are unable to fill those positions, the vacancies return to the ballot in the next regularly scheduled election.

It’s not just a Michigan problem. One study found 10,000 open seats in which there were no candidates across the nation in 2024.

Experts say it’s a growing but little-recognized problem. While top-of-the-ticket races such as governor and US senator get lots of attention and candidates, Michigan’s local communities struggle to find people willing to shoulder the typically part-time, low-paid jobs that keep water flowing and roads repaved.

Three out of four townships and villages report having more difficulty filling mandatory elected positions, according to a recent University of Michigan survey of community leaders. Animosity toward national politics has seeped into town halls, where trust in government is making public service jobs less attractive, said Stephanie Leiser, director of U-M’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy, which conducted the survey.

“Who wants to sign up for a low-paying job where you’re officially working 12 hours (a week) but it’s more like a full-time job,” Leiser said. “And by the way your neighbors may hate you.”

Those vacancies matter, because many of the positions directly impact daily quality of life, from collecting taxes to running elections, Leiser said.

“We want smart, motivated people in these jobs,” she said. “If you’re just begging people to take positions, you’re probably not going to get the most qualified person.”

There are at least 14,500 elected local government positions in Michigan townships, villages, cities and school boards. The majority are part-time, with those in small, rural areas often paid under $10,000 a year.

Trustees in smaller townships can make as little as $50 a meeting. Many school and library boards are unpaid.

Bridge collected online samples of ballots in every community across the state to compile a list of races in which no one is running. The list includes races in which there are not enough candidates to fill multiple available positions — for example, if only two candidates are running for three open school board posts.

The analysis found 145 school board posts without candidates, 151 village board posts and 29 library board positions.

Many openings are critical to the operations of local communities. The city of Laingsburg in Shiawassee County has no one running for mayor. Neither does Arenac County’s city of Omer, which also has two city council member posts that are vacant.

Fifteen of Michigan’s 252 villages have no candidates for village president, including New Lothrop Village in Shiawassee County.

“What are we going to do?” asked Karen Maksimchuck, who has been the clerk of New Lothrop for 39 years. The village of 565 people also has a board post for which no one is running. By law, the president and board members must be residents of the village.

“Our previous mayor moved Up North. My husband is filling in (as village president), but he’s already done his two years.”

Maksimchuck said the village board will “advertise in the local paper after the election” to solicit applications for the post so the board can appoint someone.

No one is going to do it for the $1,800 annual salary, the clerk said.

“I don’t think (the trouble finding candidates) has anything to do with the pay,” Maksimchuck said. “I think some people don’t want to get involved.”

There are 10 township clerk openings on Michigan ballots for which no one is running. One vacancy is in 745-resident Bridgehampton Township in Sanilac County.

Township clerks manage elections, but it’s become harder to recruit and retain township clerks since changes to the state constitution mandated additional days of voting, said Bridgehampton Township Supervisor Leo Sonck.

“It’s a lot more work (than in the past),” Sonck said. The clerk post pays $11,000 a year. “Even if we wanted to add extra compensation, we can’t.

“There’s been a heavy turnover of clerks in the last four years, because of the extra work,” Sonck said. “There were a lot of veteran clerks who said, ‘I’m done.’”

Ingallston Township, near the Wisconsin border in Menominee County, is one of four townships with no one running for treasurer, a position responsible for tax collection and banking.

“We’ve been looking for a treasurer since I started two years ago,” said Ingallston Supervisor Dan Bartell. “It’s a really good position for somebody that’s retired and can be part-time, work from home, earn a few extra bucks. But generally, people don’t like to deal with the public. There’s a lot of demanding people out there who expect things to happen yesterday.”

Michael Siegrist, clerk of Canton Charter Township, the second highest-populated township in the state with about 99,000 residents, said he believes the struggles to find candidates for local offices can be traced to a general decline in public service.

“Volunteerism is down everywhere, from Elks Clubs, Rotary, Kiwanis,” said Siegrist, who serves as president of the Michigan Municipal Clerk Association. “There’s some fraying of community ties.”

For example, the Jaycees, which bills itself as a leadership training and civic organization, has suffered membership declines of over 10% annually across the country in recent years. Those organizations used to serve as feeder systems for public service, Siegrist said.

“Civics as a value has been more challenged,” Siegrist said. “And institutions don’t have the same value or respect as they used to.

Several bills that could make it easier to fill local government jobs are getting little traction in Lansing.

One set of bills would appropriate $3.5 million to provide “back office” help with finance, human resources and information technology, easing the strain on clerks and treasurers. Another would allow townships to hire someone who is certified to run elections from outside the township if the clerk position is vacant.

“Most of these positions are over and above the employment that people have,” Siegrist said. “The load on our individuals in our society has gotten heavier, and that makes it more difficult.”

Faced with candidate shortages, some townships are working around the law to appoint deputy clerks and treasurers who aren’t required to be community residents. Without the same residential requirement, many villages have switched from elected to employee clerks and treasurers, and shrinking councils to the legal minimum of five members.

Meanwhile, in Seville Township, Supervisor Mallory is already looking for someone who’d be willing to run for township clerk in 2028

“It’s hard,” she said. “Somebody’s gotta do it.”

___

This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

Major party nominees for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat outlined their contrasting visions Tuesday in front of the Detroit Economic Club.

The forum covered topics that illuminated widely divergent plans from Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, especially on healthcare and taxes.

But some areas drew agreement from both candidates.

On tariffs, Rogers and El-Sayed agreed President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada has been hurting the state’s economy. Yet, both criticized free trade agreements as taking away manufacturing jobs.

When it came to growing Michigan’s economy and workforce, Rogers outlined a vision that involved cutting taxes and integrating skilled trades more in education.

“If you look at wages for new college graduates versus wages for the skilled trades, man, skilled trades is winning that fight all day long,” Rogers said.

Tying his trade education advocacy into his affordable housing plan, Rogers said the state could address its shortages by getting “a little creative.”

Rogers used Detroit as an example, where he wants to combine all vacant lots in the city into a revamped land bank.

“You allow builders to bid on those lots. Let’s get it pre-approved for the city council. I’ve already been talking with city council members here in the city of Detroit,” Rogers said. “You’d have a much cleaner, less regulatory burden to build that house.”

He suggested students could get involved with that new construction as apprentices.

On housing, El-Sayed agreed red tape was getting in the way of new costs. He also suggested further regulating short-term rental companies like Airbnb and Vrbo that have been blamed for taking some housing units off the market.

For the broader economy, El-Sayed said he wanted changes to make sure everyone can benefit, rather than the wealthy.

To illustrate his point, El-Sayed asked the audience to raise their hand if they had an Apple or Samsung phone. When the overwhelming majority did, he said that showed big companies have been squeezing competition from the marketplace.

“We need to actually start standing up to monopolies and oligopolies and start regulating them so we can get back to a system where there is competitiveness in a market,” El-Sayed said.

In terms of supporting small businesses, El-Sayed said he favored cutting employer-side payroll taxes.

“In an era where AI is coming, we don’t want to penalize businesses for hiring actual people. That’s what the employer side business tax does. We should be investing a lot more in small business growth,” El-Sayed said.

El-Sayed has previously supported getting rid of the cap on payroll taxes to support social safety-net programs. Above a certain income level, employees and employers no longer pay Social Security payroll taxes on additional earnings. El-Sayed said removing that cap is part of getting high-income earners to pay “their fair share.”

One of the clearest differences between the candidates involved healthcare. El-Sayed pushed his signature “Medicare for All” plan. He compared current healthcare premiums to a “tax.”

“If I could give you 25% cheaper, more durable coverage and you happen to pay that through the federal government, who by the way you happen to vote for rather than an insurance company headed by a CEO you have no say over, which do you choose?” El-Sayed said.

Rogers, however, said price transparency is a better way to lower costs. He argued Medicare relies too much on private insurance to create wholesale changes to the current system.

“This is a huge problem if we do this because people haven’t thought about the consequences. So let’s do something different before we break the whole thing,” Rogers said.

While each candidate spoke for roughly the same period of time and answered the same questions, neither shared the stage together Tuesday. They’ll face off head-to-head for their second televised debate Wednesday on WXYZ-TV Detroit.

Michigan Democrats are rallying behind state attorney general candidate Eli Savit over his support of “Red Flag” and Extreme Risk Protection Order laws.

The regulations allow civil courts to temporarily prevent people found to be at risk of harming themselves or others from possessing or buying guns.

Speaking on a Zoom call with other gun regulation advocates, Savit said he is in favor of the laws.

“I support these laws that prevent tragedies that prevent death in the first place,” Savit said.

His Republican opponent, Doug Lloyd, says on the Michigan GOP website the laws should be repealed, citing due process concerns.

Red flag laws "can strip individuals of a fundamental constitutional right without adequate notice, meaningful opportunity to be heard, or proper safeguards,” Lloyd wrote. “Public safety and constitutional rights are not mutually exclusive, but any law that restricts a core liberty must meet the highest legal standards.”

Michigan State Senator Stephanie Chang, speaking in support of Savit, said the laws are needed to curb domestic violence.

“ERPOs are specifically focused on removing the firearm from the situation, but we also know that having a firearm in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely that the victim will die,” Chang said.

Ronan McDonough is a University of Michigan student and a survivor of the 2021 Oxford High School shooting that killed four students and injured seven others. He said he still has trouble being around fireworks – especially on the Fourth of July. He said repealing extreme risk protection orders would be a mistake.

“Restricting someone's ability to issue an ERPO is dangerous,” McDonough said. “When we talk about repealing ERPOs, we are placing the removal of these safeguards ahead of survivors like me and communities like mine.”

Lloyd, the current Eaton County prosecutor, is also in favor of “constitutional carry.” That term is favored by gun-rights advocates who want to eliminate concealed carry permitting and other regulations surrounding the use and handling of firearms.

“Responsible citizens should not be forced to navigate confusing and inconsistent permitting schemes simply to exercise a right that is already guaranteed by the Constitution,” Lloyd wrote.