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MichMash: Duggan weighs in on citizens-only voting, speaks about gubernatorial campaign

✇WDET 101.9 FM
Hernz Laguerre

Michigan voters may get a ballot proposal changing the way they are verified to vote. This week on WDET’s MichMash, Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben discuss what this ballot would require. Later, candidate for Michigan governor Mike Duggan joins the discussion.

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode

  • What is in the citizens-only ballot proposal?
  • How is former mayor Mike Duggan connecting with voters during his gubernatorial campaign?

If the citizens-only voting ballot initiative is passed, the Secretary of State is required to verify all 8.5 million voters in Michigan are U.S. citizens—which all voters already do. This proposal would require both old and new voters to verify with additional requirements involving social security, valid driver’s license number, or identification on absentee ballot.

Earlier this month the citizens-only voting ballot group Americans for Citizens Voting turned in the 750,000 signatures they would need to the state ahead of the deadline. If the signatures are verified, the proposal will appear on the ballot.

Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says this ballot would create another barrier for those looking to vote. “I think anything that makes mail in balloting a bigger problem is wrong. Anything that makes voting harder, I wouldn’t be supportive of.”

There are reports that the Michigan Department of State may verify the votes by April.

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The post MichMash: Duggan weighs in on citizens-only voting, speaks about gubernatorial campaign appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

The Metro: Ann Arbor’s bid to dump DTE and go public

✇WDET 101.9 FM
Robyn Vincent

If you live in southeast Michigan, chances are you have a DTE story — the kind where your food spoiled during an outage, your pipes froze while you waited for power, or the number on your energy bill last month spurred disbelief.

The data backs up that frustration. According to a report from the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, the state ranked last in 2023 for average time to restore power after an outage, taking roughly 12 hours per incident —more than double that of any neighboring state.

Energy rates, meanwhile, continue to climb. DTE Energy has filed four rate increase requests with the Michigan Public Service Commission in five years. In 2024, the company cut power to approximately 150,000 customers for nonpayment, according to a report from the Center for Biological Diversity. That same year, DTE paid more than $607 million in dividends to shareholders while its profits surged 41%.

Now, a grassroots effort in Ann Arbor is trying to change the equation.

The group Ann Arbor for Public Power has launched a petition drive to put a question on the November 2026 ballot: whether to establish a governing board for a future city-owned electric utility. The group needs approximately 6,500 signatures to qualify for the ballot.

What happens next

If approved by voters, the measure would not immediately purchase DTE’s infrastructure. Instead, it would create a nine-member public utility board to lay the groundwork for an eventual transition away from the investor-owned utility. A separate vote would be required in the future to authorize the actual acquisition of DTE’s poles and wires.

Michigan already has roughly 40 municipal utilities in cities like Lansing, Traverse City, Holland, and Wyandotte. But none of them were formed by acquiring infrastructure from a private utility. Ann Arbor would be the first city in the state to attempt it. Organizers believe success there could open the door for other Michigan cities, including Detroit, to follow.

Sean Higgins, president of Ann Arbor for Public Power, joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss why his group believes public ownership is the path to cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable energy for Ann Arbor residents.

DTE Energy has not responded to WDET’s request for comment about this effort.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

 

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

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More stories from The Metro

The post The Metro: Ann Arbor’s bid to dump DTE and go public appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

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