There were a lot of defining political moments in 2025 that made the year stand out.

This week on MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben discuss some major stories and look ahead to 2026.

In this episode

• MichMash hosts’ top political moments of 2025
• The state of major races heading into 2026.
• What stories should we look out for in 2026?

Overview

Pluribus News politics journalist Reid Wilson said “Michigan is the ‘we matter’ state,” on MichMash last month. Zach echoes this, pointing out how things like the senate race has made “Michigan the epicenter of politics in the midterms in 2026.”  

Zach also spoke about the dynamics of the candidates.

“We’ve got the first legit Democratic primary for U.S. Senate since 1994. Three really strong, viable candidates. But then we’ve got on the Republican side, it appears they’ve consolidated support behind Mike Rogers. And for the most part, he’s just going to be waiting to see who emerges as the Democrat.” 

Beyond elections, Zach also has his eye on the Michigan legislature. He thinks recent inertia will continue because of Speaker Matt Hall’s intention to not get involved what he described as “small things”.

And although there was an agreement after the budget was decided to focus on economic development, Alethia said those plans may be falling apart. “I think the House and Senate could come together and put together [the] top wants of both. It’s just a question of…is there the willingness to get that done, especially if this is more of a Governor Gretchen Whitmer priority and less of a legislative priority?” 

The Michigan legislature will come back to session by mid January 2026.  

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