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In this episode:

• Meet the new candidates vying for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat 
• How the Keep MI Kids Tobacco Free Alliance is pushing to prevent underage access to tobacco

Michigan’s U.S. Senate race is expanding with new candidates announcing recently, as well as some potential candidates testing out the waters. This week on MichMash, host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow discuss the current state of the race and who is most likely to ultimately occupy the seat.   

Plus, we sit down with Dr. Brittany Tayler of the Keep MI Kids Tobacco Free Alliance to discuss the recent push for the “Protect MI Kids” bill package, which would require a retail license to sell tobacco products, prohibit flavored tobacco sales, increase tobacco taxes and repeal laws that punish kids.  

Dr. Tayler shared that there is barely a barrier for youth to get their hands on cigarettes. But she says it’s not necessarily the retail industry’s fault.

“I’m sure the vast majority of our retailers are abiding by the law and not selling to minors, but it only takes one bad store,” she said. “We don’t have a way to monitor this and there isn’t a large penalty… There is not a lot of reason to not sell to youth.”

Dr. Tayler said that her organization has done a lot of outreach efforts to political leaders in Michigan to gain support. State Republicans have been slow to support the cause, but Dr. Tayler said there is at least one Republican member of the legislature who has shown support. The bills passed in the Senate with all Democratic support last legislative session.