At the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island last week, Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist announced new incentive programs aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and retaining talent in the state. 

“I think this is all about making it easier for people to say yes to living in the state of Michigan, yes to growing in the state of Michigan, yes to succeeding in the state of Michigan,” Gilchrist told WDET. “That’s what I want to do.”

The Make MI Home funding includes $210,000 for housing for new grads looking to start businesses in Detroit; $100,000 for attracting and retaining college students in Flint; and nearly $60,000 for housing and childcare programs in the Traverse City area, among other programs. The grants will also help support building out broadband internet, and making solar energy more accessible to people in Michigan’s urban areas.

“People need to see a future for themselves everywhere — a community they can afford, a home that they can afford, and we have worked to do that and build solutions for that all across the state of Michigan,” Gilchrist said. “But I know that one of the anxieties that parents have all across Michigan, whether you are on the eastern Peninsula or the east side of Detroit where I’m from, parents are worried about their kids growing up, leaving and never coming home.”

Gilchrist says the bottom line of these programs is to ensure Michigan remains competitive.

“We want them to say yes in Michigan, so we can build the things that matter. And so that means one: they have to be confident that our workforce is prepared. They have to be confident that our infrastructure is solid,” he said. “That’s why we’ve made these historic investments.”

Gilchrist has taken a larger role in announcing statewide programs more recently — likely tied to his run for governor.

He is seeking the Democratic nomination in the race along with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. On the Republican side, State Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt and Michigan Congressman John James have also announced their candidacies for governor, while Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan will be running as an independent. 

—WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

New U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra is downplaying the effect of tariffs on the auto industry.

The former Congressman and ex-chair of the Michigan GOP was confirmed to the ambassadorship in early April. 

In an interview with WDET during the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference, Hoekstra said the economy is strong, and that worries about tariffs and a trade war with Canada are overblown.

“They’re not going to have a dramatic impact, OK?” Hoekstra said. “They will have an impact, but it’s not fundamentally going to change this relationship.”

Hoekstra said he thinks there will be a full re-working of the trade agreement between the U.S. and Canada within the next couple years.

He also dismissed concerns about President Donald Trump’s desire to make Canada the 51st state, calling the threat a “sign of affection” — something that has been outright rejected by Canadian leadership and its populace.

“Why they’re offended by such a generous offer, I’m not sure, but they are,” he said. “We have to deal with it, and we will.”

Car trips from Canada into the U.S. have dropped by nearly a third since Trump started the 51st state rhetoric. According to a recent poll from the Association for Canada Studies & Metropolis Institute, a majority of Canadians said it’s no longer safe for them to travel in the U.S.

Still, Michigan is consistently a top destination for Canadians for business and leisure travel, and with the newly constructed Gordie Howe International Bridge set to open by the end of the year, Hoekstra says he expects the relationship between the two countries to improve.

“Canada is our second largest trading partner, 70-80% of what they export comes south. That’s not going to go away,” he said. “If anything, we’ve got a president that is energizing the American economy. We have a prime minister in Canada that wants to try to do the same thing in Canada. And when they’re both successful, we’re going to have an energized North America.”

–WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the White House are looking at pardoning the two men convicted in the 2020 plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the men convicted in the kidnapping plot were victims of “a railroad job.”

Whitmer shared her reaction to the news with WDET’s Russ McNamara at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Thursday, saying she’s not happy that the justice department — and the president — are even considering pardons.

“When the man took a shot at Donald Trump when he was on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, I was one of the first office holders on either side of the aisle to condemn it,” Whitmer said. “Anything short of condemning political violence does a disservice to every American.”

Whitmer has been a frequent visitor to the White House this year, asking for federal aid for this spring’s ice storms and helping to secure a new fighter mission at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

She said she would be “incredibly disappointed” to see the administration take that action, and that she “certainly will be conveying that to the White House.”

The two men seeking pardons — Barry Croft Jr., 49, and Adam Fox, 42 — were convicted in 2022 of conspiracy for their roles in the alleged kidnapping plot, and are serving a 20-year and 16-year prison sentence, respectively.

On securing a semiconductor ‘fab’ in Michigan

Whitmer also spoke about her stated goal of landing a massive microchip factory for Michigan before the end of her term at the start of 2027. She shared that while federal support would be needed to get the project “over the finish line,” she remains optimistic about getting it done before she leaves office.

“With so many pressures right now in our economy around tariffs and all the chaos, diversifying our economy and landing a chip fab — a plant — it’s so important to all the things that we as Americans rely on and want to do in the future, and this is something that I think would be a huge win for Michigan.”

–WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Michigan U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin spent three terms in the U.S. House before running to replace outgoing Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. She bucked the pro-GOP trend to beat Mike Rogers last November for the seat.

WDET’s Russ McNamara caught up with the junior senator at the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference ahead of All Things Considered – Detroit on Wednesday to talk about proposed cuts to Medicaid, supporting EV manufacturing and more.

On planned cuts to Medicaid

Michigan U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin says she is against planned cuts to Medicaid passed by House Republicans.

The legislation — part of a massive spending bill deemed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — is on its way to the Senate next week.

Slotkin says 300,000 Michiganders are at risk of losing their primary insurance if the bill passed as is, adding that work requirements are just another way to keep people off Medicaid.

“They’re making them sign up every six months so that people forget, people get busy and they lapse, and they get off of Medicaid,” she said. “For Michigan, it would have a dramatic impact.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration issued a report earlier this month warning of the potential impact of Medicaid cuts by the federal government.

During the 2024 campaign, now-President Donald Trump promised many times to never make cuts to Medicaid and Medicare.

On giving consumers a choice about EVs

The U.S. Senate recently voted to remove California’s ability to set EV and emission standards, thwarting the state’s goal of phasing out gas-powered vehicles by 2035.

Slotkin was the only Democrat who voted with Republicans on pushing back against California’s EV mandate, saying she believes in giving consumers a choice.

“I made a very important pledge to voters here that I don’t support a mandate,” she said. “I want to build the next generation of EVs, but I don’t want to mandate. I don’t believe in that.”

Michigan’s other U.S. Senator, Gary Peters, voted against the measure.

Slotkin says she is upset Congressional Republicans are rolling back incentives for people to purchase EVs, but that doesn’t mean we should be creating a mandate that is “above and beyond anything like consumer demand” without the infrastructure to support it.

WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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The Black Church – and their leaders – are woven deep into Detroit politics. Pastors were instrumental in unifying congregations and public support during the civil rights movement.

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) are among those who have made the jump from the pulpit to Congress. So political aspirations for spiritual leaders is not uncommon.

In Detroit, the city is looking for a new mayor. There are a dozen people in the running. Among those vying for the job is Reverend Solomon Kinloch Jr. of Triumph Church – which boasts 40-thousand members across Detroit, Flint and Southfield.

1:1 with Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. 

In an interview with Detroit Public Radio’s Russ McNamara, Kinloch lays out what he thinks the city needs out of its next mayor.

Rev. Solomon Kinloch: We are at a point right now where we don’t just need an executive and an administrator. We need a unifier, but more importantly, we need a builder. And that’s what I’ve been doing for 27 years as a community leader.

Russ McNamara: Do you see the job of mayor as similar to your current job?

SK: Dr Frederick Sampson, who was a pastor of another generation right here in the city of Detroit, used to say that the church’s address is a compilation of multiple addresses. And so it’s not that people are beaming out of another place to come to this place. They comprise and they populate this place. So it gives me a unique capacity every weekend and every day during the week, when we meet to hear the intimate concerns of people. And one of the concerns Russ that people have, they have a distrust of institutional politicians. They want government to just work good. And we got to get back to making sure that government is working good for the people it’s supposed to work good for

RM: So, what is the best way to kind of build these coalitions and build Detroit up?

SK: I believe we got tremendous stakeholders and resources, but also relationships in the city of Detroit, I believe, bringing together our residents, bringing together our Black presidents, bringing together our union leaders, bringing together for lot philanthropical leaders, bringing together also our corporate leaders, coming together (with) activists and advocates, coming together in a round table, and not having people Lord their will or their agenda on us, but convening a table where people can collectively be a part of their own destiny and their design.

RM: Attendance has been dropping fairly steadily over the past several decades, especially among younger folks. Politicians, of which you now are, dream of courting the younger vote. What have you done in your own congregation about reaching out to youth?

“Church is not just interested in worshiping on the weekend, but doing the work for the betterment of people every day during the week.”
– Rev. Solomon Kinlock

SK: People want to be a part of something that’s doing something because you can do good. And so one of the things that we have sought to do is partner, not just our worship on the weekend, but also giving people an opportunity where they can participate in the building of their community. The fabric of my whole life is woven together by that thread of commonality. I came from the New Bethel Baptist Church where my pastor was the Reverend Robert Smith, Jr, who currently serves there. Aretha Franklin’s father, C.L. Franklin was his predecessor, and all we know how to do is not to use the pulpit as a pedestal to promote a person, but we were taught that the pulpit is a platform to lift an entire community of people. And I believe that when people see that, particularly young people, see that. Church is not just interested in worshiping on the weekend, but doing the work for the betterment of people every day during the week. They want to be a part of that.

RM: You don’t have any plans to step down from your current position.

SK: I will, as mayor, continue to preach on the weekend, but the day to day operations are already being managed by a tremendous executive team.

RM: Your announcement was well attended at the Fox Theater. How do you plan to walk that tightrope so your congregation is uplifting the Lord and not the person who happens to be running for mayor?

SK: Triumph church is 105 years of age. They understand that is bigger than me, is bigger than all of us. We have a responsibility in our present age in order to live in a way where we leave a better world when we leave it than the way we walked into it. And the church was there long before I showed up. It was more than 70 years long before I showed up. We want to make sure with this moment that it is there long after we’re gone.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has abruptly dropped all charges against seven pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during an on-campus demonstration last year.

The felony charges alleged that the protesters were obstructing and resisting arrest as police were breaking up a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Michigan Diag. 

Nessel was reportedly asked by members of the University of Michigan Board of Regents to investigate the protesters after local prosecutors decided not to press charges.

Civil rights attorney Amir Makled says it never made sense for the AG to get involved in the first place. Citing concerns of potential bias, Makled asked the judge in the case to urge the state end the prosecution.

“It is a little surprising that on the eve of a motion to disqualify the attorney general’s office that the defense filed, the AG decides to just drop the case entirely,” he said.

In a statement, Nessel denied allegations of bias and criticized the pace of the judge handling the case – calling the matter a “circus-like atmosphere.”

Nevertheless, Makled says dismissing the case was the right move.

“We hope this sends a clear message to institutions across the state and the nation that protest is not a crime and dissent is not disorder,” he said.

Nessel — who is Jewish — says her involvement in the case was not evidence of bias and called the accusation “baseless and absurd.”