Michigan Republicans and Democrats exchanged barbs Monday over Chinese investment in the U.S. — and in Michigan in particular.

Michigan Republicans accused prominent state Democrats of providing a “safe zone” for companies fronting for the Chinese Communist party.

The criticism is tied to recent projects involving companies planning manufacturing investments in Michigan.

The main criticism involves a planned electric vehicle battery plant near Big Rapids. The company behind the project, Gotion, is a U.S.-based subsidiary of a Chinese company. The articles of association of the parent company say it must “carry out party activities in accordance with the constitution of the Communist party of China,” but a spokesperson for the company has said there’s distance between the Chinese government and the company’s business decisions.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former congressman Mike Rogers accused his Democratic opponent, Representative Elissa Slotkin, of playing a role in attracting the project to west Michigan.

“I can tell you as a member of Congress for those seven terms, never once — never once — did I see an elected official sign a non-disclosure agreement for any issue, let alone a company that is tied to the communist party of China,” said Rogers.

A spokesman for Democratic Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin called Rogers’ allegations a “false attack,” insisting Slotkin has never signed any agreement involving a project connected to the Chinese government.

Slotkin has introduced legislation giving the federal government additional authority to investigate Chinese-backed business dealings in the United States.

Democrats counter that Republicans are trying to distract from Rogers’ own history of working with U.S. companies that have partnered with Chinese businesses.

Rogers worked as a security advisor for AT&T and a risk analyst for Nokia (a Finnish company) while those companies had loose ties to the Chinese telecom company Huawei.

Rogers has defended his business dealings since leaving Congress, insisting his record shows he has long fought against Chinese intellectual property theft and other threats to the U.S.

Rogers and Slotkin are running to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow.

Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat could prove pivotal for deciding which party will control the Senate.

The Michigan Democratic Party is facing a lawsuit over the race for its University of Michigan Board of Regents nomination.

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The race was decided at the party’s Aug. 24 nominating convention in Lansing.

According to official party results, civil rights attorney Huwaida Arraf lost her bid for the party’s nomination for the U of M Board of Regents.

But Arraf said there were irregularities she’d like explained. She said her lawsuit is because party leaders haven’t provided election data she’s been asking for.

“If there’s something [that] happened that we don’t understand, then just tell us,” Arraf told reporters during a press call Thursday.

Arraf’s claims include that more people voted in the race than were credentialed and that the party barred her campaign from observing the vote tabulation process during the August convention.

One source of confusion was the party’s weighted voting system in which “each county’s (or portion thereof) delegates within a multi-county Congressional District Convention, caucus, or meeting, or at the State Convention, have a voting strength proportional to the number of Democratic voters from that county (or portion) at the last General Election relative to the total number of Democratic voters in the District or the state, regardless of how many delegates are present at the convention, caucus, or meeting.”

A press release sent by Arraf’s campaign earlier this week included screenshots that the campaign said show email exchanges with party chair Lavora Barnes listing out raw vote totals and weight equivalent.

In her lawsuit, Arraf is asking Michigan’s 30th Circuit Court in Ingham County to bar the race results from being finalized to the general election ballot until “a full and transparent investigation or audit of the University of Michigan Regents vote-counting process” takes place.

In a statement, a Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson said, “We are waiting to review the complaint filed with the Ingham County Clerk and look forward to following the proper legal process.”

Arraf had entered the race later than her two opponents, whom were already serving on the board and seeking renomination. She came in with support of pro-Palestinian activists.

While talking to reporters, Arraf acknowledged she very well may have lost the race. But she accused the party of sending the wrong message to her supporters by not being transparent.

“Encouraging young people, encouraging minorities, encouraging historically disenfranchised people to get involved in the voting process, what we hear over and over and over again is, ‘What does it matter? My vote doesn’t count anyway.’ And this is exactly the message that they’re getting now,” Arraf said.

According to court records, Ingham County Judge James Jamo has sent a first hearing in the case for Friday at 9 a.m.

Reporting by Colin Jackson, MPRN

Other headlines for Friday, Sept. 6, 2024:

•  The city of Detroit is now accepting applications from senior citizen homeowners who wish to apply for a discount on their Solid Waste Fee for their home.
• This Sunday will be the last day to check out the Michigan Science Center’s “Above and Beyond” exhibition offering a 360-degree view of Earth in Orbit.
• The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners is seeking applications for the BOPC Youth Advisory Panel. Applications are due Sept. 30.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Michigan Democrats are seeking a messaging reset with party leaders holding events around the state as Vice President Kamala Harris is poised to be their party’s presidential candidate.

Earlier statewide polls showed President Joe Biden struggling following a poor debate performance last month against former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. That was before the assassination attempt on Trump and before Biden bowed out of the race for president. Michigan Democrats are anxious now to turn the page.

“I think, as President Biden said, it was time to pass the torch to the next generation. I, for one, as a Gen X-er, would be thrilled to see myself and my generation represented in the White House,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “Kamala Harris is the perfect transition candidate.”

At an event in Lansing, Nessel said Harris will bring a fresh perspective to the job of being a candidate and, if elected, to being president.

“She’ll have a lot of policies in common with President Biden, but, you know, I guess, she will have her own agenda, as well,” she said.

State Representative Kara Hope (D-Holt) said she is already seeing a shift.

“There’s work to do, for sure,” she said. “But we’re moving in the right direction, especially with certain constituencies – young people, people of color, we’re making gains there already and I think that bodes well for November.”

The stakes are not only Michigan’s 15 electoral votes, but the top of the ticket will also affect close congressional races, a competitive race for an open U.S. Senate seat, and Democrats’ control of the Michigan House of Representatives.

“Keeping the majority in the state House is going to be very pivotal,” said state Senator Sam Singh (D-East Lansing). “And I think the decisions that were made over the weekend and the fact that the party and the delegates have all come around Vice President Harris is going to really bode well here in Michigan for those that are running for Congress as well as keeping the House in Democratic control.”

Republicans say the change at the top of the ticket will not change their strategy in Michigan – a critical swing state that went for Trump in his 2016 race against former U.S. Senator and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton then flipped to Biden in 2020.

“Dangerously liberal Kamala Harris is responsible for every struggle Michiganders have faced over the last three and a half years,” said Michigan Trump campaign spokesperson Victoria LaCivita. “Her policies led to skyrocketing inflation, inability to afford gas and groceries, violent crime at the hands of illegal immigrants, and a California-elitist obsession with electric vehicles.”

Trump is the official GOP nominee following the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee earlier this month. Harris must still be formally nominated at the Democratic National Convention next month in Chicago.