As polls and political pundits work to predict the still evolving presidential race, an expert in Michigan says if the vote is close, one group “could potentially decide the state.”

Erick Gonzalez Jeunke is a political analyst specializing in Latinx politics at Michigan State University. In an interview with the Michigan Public Radio Network, he said the state’s 400,000 eligible Latinos voters could hold the key to winning in Michigan, if the campaigns reach out to them.

Listen: Political analyst says Michigan Latino voters ‘could potentially decide the state’

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michelle Jokisch Polo, WKAR News: In 2020 Joe Biden won the presidential election in Michigan by fewer than 200,000 votes. With more than 300,000 eligible Latino voters in Michigan, this group could prove vital in the state. How are parties engaging this voting bloc?

Erick Gonzalez Jeunke: I haven’t seen a lot of engagement for specifically this voting block. What that means is what they should have been doing and what I haven’t seen a lot of, but a lot of this happens behind the scenes, obviously, are registration drives. One of the gaps for Latino voters nationally, and then of course here in Michigan, is not just turning out to vote, but being registered to vote. A large part of that gap — about 70% of eligible voters — are even registered to vote. And so that’s part of the big gap. I mean, this is one of the lingering things, if you account for that, once you just look at registered voters, Latinos turn out at about the same rates as other groups, but the gap is really in getting individuals registered to vote. So that requires a lot of work, that requires the parties caring about these voters. Now when we get into this part of the season, a lot of the parties both nationally and here in Michigan, either leave that up to other groups, or they say, ‘look, we have limited resources. We can’t go out and mobilize people who aren’t registered.’ So a lot of that work takes place in the years and months that lead up to these elections.

MJP: This time around, it seems that there may have been fewer young democrats showing up to vote like they did in 2020, in the state primary election. Why do you think this is and tell us about the young Latino vote in November?

EGJ: I think it’s probably due to a not very competitive set of federal races, and then earlier in the year, a not very competitive presidential primary. But it’s also just an enthusiasm gap. We’re right in the middle of seeing this change with the change at the top of the ticket from Biden to Harris. I was just looking at some national polling data today, and what’s happening here in the Midwest and in Michigan is that Harris has seemed to have activated — particularly younger voters’ — enthusiasm about this race. So paying attention, getting excited, and that excitement turns into actual voting. It can turn into knocking on doors. It can turn into working for the campaign. So it’s still a little bit early to see what the overall effect of this is, but the early signs indicate that a change at the top of the ticket may reverse some of this lack of enthusiasm that we saw in the primaries, and particularly for younger Latinos.

MJP: How important do you think the Latino voting bloc is for the state’s general election?

EGJ: It depends how close the race is. It could potentially decide the state, and yet that depends on if the parties do the work to mobilize and get Latinos who aren’t registered, registered to get folks to turn out. So unfortunately, we won’t know until after the election. And it comes down to how close is Michigan actually going to be? It’s looking a lot less close than it did a month ago. But things could change, and we could go back to a really close race, if I had to put money on it right now, that it’s probably not going to be as close as we thought it was a month ago. But if it’s close, the Latino vote could be really, really important, and the Democratic and  Republican parties could say, ‘boy, we really should have done more work to mobilize Latino voters in Michigan, because we could have taken it.’ And I think both parties would say the same thing about Pennsylvania andWisconsin.

Use the media player above to hear the full interview with Erick Gonzalez Jeunke, political analyst specializing in Latinx politics at Michigan State University.

Judgmental looks and invasive questions at the grocery store checkout are common experiences for some people in Michigan who receive food assistance benefits. That’s according to a new report from the University of Michigan, which found that the stigma associated with receiving government assistance can lead some individuals to forgo purchasing groceries or seeking help.

“Discrimination and stigma related to the use of food assistance programs was incredibly pervasive,” said Feeding MI Families report lead Kate Bauer. “And one of the primary barriers to people fully using the food assistance that’s available to them.”

Drawing from the experiences of 1,300 people across the state, the study found that many people do not want to be seen using an electronic benefit transfer card (EBT).

“The EBT card that holds food stamps in Michigan, the bridge card, is bright orange and over and over, parents are like, ‘Oh my god, I pull out this bright orange card, and I’m so embarrassed,’” explained Bauer.

Even though recipients can use their EBT card to purchase food from online retailers, Bauer says study participants preferred to go to the grocery store because they have the option to select items they want.

“They would say: ‘I love grocery shopping. I want to do it with my children. I want to go in and see the produce and be able to pick the freshest items,’” said Bauer.

Some participants recounted experiencing discrimination during their interactions with caseworkers at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

“I’ve lost jobs because I’ve needed to take time off to take a child to the hospital for a procedure, and then my caseworker tells me, ‘You didn’t try hard enough.’ It hurts,” stated participant Deanna Riggs in the report.

Despite the presence of Double Up Food Bucks , a state program that offers $2 for every $1 spent on fresh fruits and vegetables, the study reveals many struggle to find stores that accept the benefits.

Bauer says she heard from a mother who would drive around to multiple stores looking for fresh food at an affordable price.

“She doesn’t want to spend the only time she has with her kids, driving store to store, an hour in each direction,” she said. “She wants to be able to go to her local store. She wants to be able to buy local produce.”

Even though food assistance benefits can be used to purchase any type of edible items, the study found that food benefits don’t necessarily increase for individuals with specific dietary needs.

“Specifically, many parents talked about the food allergies, intolerances and dietary needs of their family members,” the Feeding MI Families report stated. “They described how these specific dietary requirements were expensive, rarely accommodated for by the charitable food system and sometimes not covered by food benefits program.”

With food prices and housing costs rising over the past year and pandemic relief benefits ending, the study found that the proportion of Michiganders experiencing food insecurity is now higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Michigan, more than 1.3 million people rely on government benefits to afford groceries.

More than a year after state lawmakers eliminated the five-year waiting requirement for certain immigrants to qualify for Medicaid, the state is now opening coverage for immigrants who are under the age of 21 and pregnant.

The Michigan Legislature allocated $6.4 million from the 2023-2024 general fund to get rid of the five year eligibility waiting period for legal residents joining dozens of other states across the country in providing the benefits.

States have had the option to waive the five-year waiting period since 2009 through the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act.

“There might be people who have maybe previously thought they weren’t eligible for benefits, it might be a good time to go and see if they’re able to sign up, and their local offices should be able to get them signed up if they’re lawfully residing,” said Elinor Jordan, supervising attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the coverage extends to lawfully residing children and pregnant women, including green card holders, immigrant survivors of battery or extreme cruelty and their family members, as well as those with temporary protected status.

Public policy experts estimate the expansion could benefit nearly 10,000 people statewide.

“This policy change would bring Michigan closer to covering all children—and providing affordable, quality care to thousands more children in our state—while aligning our state law with that of most other states,” stated Simon Marshall-Shah, policy analyst at the Michigan League for Public Policy, in a 2021 analysis of the policy.

The change also includes postpartum coverage for up to a year for qualifying recipients. Before the expansion, legally residing pregnant individuals were eligible for Medicaid coverage for emergency services, including some prenatal and postnatal care.

Jordan says the move makes coverage much more comprehensive while also preventing medical debt for some people.

“We often work with clients, who are lawful residents and are contributing so much but have this crushing medical debt,” she said. “It can really take away from their productivity and their ability to full engage in their communities.”

Eligible Medicaid recipients can apply for the program directly on the state’s health department website.