The midterms are less than a month away, and there is one race that hasn’t received as much attention as the others. This week on MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben discuss the race and talk to the candidates running in it.
With such a high-profile midterm election, the race for attorney general has flown under the radar for much of the campaign season. Republican Doug Lloyd, the Eaton County prosecutor, is running against Democrat Eli Savit, the current Washtenaw County prosecutor. Both candidates are facing questions from critics.
Lloyd is being questioned about whether he would be beholden to the Trump administration. He says he has never even met the president.
“I made it clear from day one, when I got into this race, that the attorney general’s responsibility is to protect Michigan’s sovereignty. I’ve never met Donald Trump. You know, I’ve never spoken to Donald Trump. I’ve only seen Donald Trump, you know, on TV like him, most of America.”
Savit is being questioned about whether he would push Washtenaw County’s policies on the whole state. He says he wouldn’t.
“I believe that these types of decisions are appropriately made by local prosecutors, you know, and I’m not running to take Washtenaw County’s policies, statewide. Nor could I, even if I wanted to.”
Michigan’s secretary of state oversees license renewals, car registrations and elections — the voter rolls, the rules clerks follow, and the certification of results. Jocelyn Benson is term-limited. Two candidates are running to replace her.
The Metro’s Robyn Vincent spoke with Forlini about how rare noncitizen voting is and what he’d do as secretary of state.
Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, the Democrat in the race, joins The Metro next week.
Editor’s note: Forlini said noncitizens are turning up for jury duty in Macomb County. People there have claimed not to be citizens to get excused — but whether they are in fact noncitizens is not established.
He also said 96% of Republicans and Democrats voted for his bills in the Legislature. The Metro has not verified that.
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One of the recipients is local entrepreneur Karissma Yve. She says she will use the money to invest in scaling her business.
“We hire from the city right in our community. We are excited to grow both our factory and the work that we’re doing here…I’m really excited and honored to be able to…invest (it) back into the company, but ultimately (it’s) the investment into the people in the community that we’re hiring from.”
The coalition will offer another 300 grants of $1,000 each to assist current and future Detroiters with business projects, down payments, home renovations, rent and relocation assistance.
Additional Headlines for Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026
Free speech survey says Michigan universities don’t make the mark
It found students felt like they can’t speak on controversial topics openly on campus. Data analyst Chapin Lundthal Cleary says university policies, behaviors and student responses were evaluated.
“Our goal is to protect free speech rights, both on and off campus, for all Americans…for instance, (with) the college free speech rankings…students can have a more informed idea of what the speech climate is at schools they’re considering attending.”
The University of Michigan and Central Michigan University got “F” grades for free speech and Wayne State University got a “D.”
Detroit city council member Gabriela Santiago-Romero asks for data center moratorium
A Detroit city councilmember wants an 18-month moratorium on Al data centers while the city figures out how to regulate the facilities.
Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero has asked council attorneys to draft an interim zoning measure that would pause permitting through March 2028.
Detroit city planners are separately developing zoning rules addressing data center infrastructure and environmental impacts.
Mayor Mary Sheffield’s administration says it has effectively paused permits for new principal-use data centers while those regulations are being considered but her office has not formally adopted the moratorium previously requested by council.
20,000 mail-in ballots received by the city less than a month before election
Detroit election officials say about 20,000 absentee ballots have been returned with less than a month remaining before the November election.
The city mailed roughly 100,000 absentee ballots between Sept. 19 and Sept. 24.
Detroit has 38 absentee ballot drop boxes across the city. Election officials say the early return rate is encouraging as they prepare for the Nov. 3 election.
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To some, Nessel’s become one of Michigan’s strongest defenders. To others, she’s gone too far.
A new Michigan law says whoever replaces Nessel in January cannot sue the federal government without permission from state lawmakers. Republican state House Speaker Matt Hall pushed for the law. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed it.
Attorney General Dana Nessel spoke with host Robyn Vincent about the battles she’s fought and why.
She said her office has contested every utility rate hike request since she took office — roughly $4.7 billion saved for ratepayers, by its own count — and that the system is broken anyway.
Vincent asked how she squares that fight with a governor of her own party who appoints the commissioners approving those rates, and Nessel she would not have made Whitmer’s appointments to the Michigan Public Service Commission, and that the governor could have reappointed former Commissioner Alessandra Carreon, who Nessel said sometimes deferred to her office’s arguments.
Carreon’s successor, Commissioner Shaquila Myers, was “well known — I’ll just say it — to be in the pocket of DTE,” Nessel said. She added that during Myers’ time as chief of staff to then-House Speaker Joe Tate, bills the utilities opposed “would somehow end up” quashed.
The Metro sought comment from the Public Service Commission and from the governor’s office.
Governor Whitmer’s chief of staff, Zack Pohl, said in a statement: “Shaquila Myers is one of the sharpest policy minds in the state, and she has dedicated her entire career to public service. She is a person of high integrity who is respected on both sides of the aisle.”
The Public Service Commission said in a statement that over more than 20 years in public service, Myers has been chief of staff to the lieutenant governor, a senior adviser to the governor and chief of staff to the speaker of the House. “During her time in the latter role, Michigan enacted a sweeping package of legislation that puts Michigan on a path toward 100% clean energy by 2040,” the statement said. “As she has from the beginning of her time on the MPSC, Commissioner Myers asks to be judged by her work at the Commission, including contributing to Michigan’s best affordability ranking in a decade and to enacting some of the nation’s strongest protections to prevent customers from having to bear any costs associated with data centers. She aims to continue that work during the coming years on the Commission.”
Nessel disputes that last point. In the same interview, she said that under the commission’s approval of power contracts for a Google data center in Van Buren Township, “the ratepayers are absolutely not protected at all.”
After the interview, the commission offered to make Chair Dan Scripps and Commissioner Myers available to appear on WDET. The Metro has invited Myers.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with statements from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office and the Michigan Public Service Commission.
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Hamtramck’s last mayoral election is still disputed.
A judge has ordered that the 37 absentee ballots found in the former city clerk’s office must be counted, despite a year-long legal battle. The candidates are former Hamtramck city council member Muhith Mahmood and current Hamtramck Mayor Adam Alharbi.
Forgotten Harvest hopes for 1 million pounds of food before year’s end
Forgotten Harvest is hoping to harvest 1 million lbs of food by the end of the year to feed people in need.
Lori Setera is the assistant farm manager at the Forgotten Harvest Farms in Fenton, Michigan. She says a pound of food is equal to a meal.
“Our food here goes farmers market style, just how you see it here in these crates. A lot of our brick-and-mortar pantry partners don’t have the equipment or the space to store these giant crates. Because of that, a lot of it ends up in mobile pantries.”
The farm supplements nutritious foods the organization distributes. They grow about 20 different crops such as cabbage, corn, broccoli, and peppers.
Around 3,000 volunteers are needed annually to help plant, weed and harvest food. Forgotten Harvest Farms still needs more volunteers to meet their goal this year.
The National Institutes of Health defines race-based medicine as “treating race as a biological or genetic trait rather than a social construct.” This leads to misdiagnoses and poor health care outcomes for minority patients—especially for those in the Black community.
The collaborative is made up of international clinicians, legislators, industry leaders and community members working toward ending race-based medicine through education, research and advocacy.
Panelists at the virtual summit will discuss how bias shapes health care and public health in an age of artificial intelligence.
They will talk about how technology can help identify bias and potentially prevent harm.
The “Held to the Light: Race, Code & Consequence in the Age of AI” event takes place Oct. 29 from 3 – 5 p.m.Register for the event here.
Collaborative to End Race-Based Medicine Detroit flyer for Oct. 29, 2026 event.
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
State and local leaders announced a new waterway cleanup project in Detroit. The “Reclaim the Rivers” initiative will put close to $90 million toward removing toxic sediment, restoring fish habitat and public works projects along the Detroit and Kalamazoo rivers.
The money comes from settlements with polluters. It could attract federal and private funding. Detroit City Councilman Scott Benson says some of the cleanup has already started. He says the extra funding will help make more of the river usable.
“Now that we have our federal and state partners coming in with the resources to be able to help, you can see what the results are and how families are flocking. As we clean up and expose more spaces to recreational uses, it allows more families to come down and enjoy our riverfront.”
Wayne County commissioners unanimously support Google data center initiatives
Wayne County commissioners are unanimously supporting a package of community benefits and tax incentive for a proposed Google data center in Van Buren Township.
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans had vetoed the incentives arguing Google proposing the massive date center gave officials too little time to analyze impact on the environment. Equal Opportunity Housing Commissioner Allen Wilson voted for the tax breaks in part, he says, to show “solidarity among his fellow members.”
“No disrespect to Chief Executive Evans. I think he does a great job for the county. At the end of the day, we have got to make a determination. We have to stand strong as a commission. If we don’t stand strong as a commission, folks (will) keep stepping on you.”
For his part, County Executive Evans says he will work with the commission on the data center plan going forward. Van Buren Township officials are scheduled to consider the final site plan for the center in about two weeks.
You’ll be able to see Detroit’s own Fresh the Clownsss who brings a blend of Detroit Jit dancing and high-energy clowning. The show starts tonight at 7 p.m.
Additional performances taking place in October can be found here.
Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
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WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
All across the country, states are trying to alleviate the pressure at the pump with a gasoline or diesel tax suspension. Will Michigan be next? This week on WDET’s MichMash, Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben discuss the latest news and the potential of relief for Michigan drivers.
Then later in the episode we have Republican political consultant, Jason Roe, give his outlook on the 2026 midterm elections.
Roe said the despite what the polls say, he doesn’t believe the election will be a bad day for Republicans. “When it comes to these polls, you’re getting a sample of the enthusiasm from Democrats. I do think there are weighting problems. You have to take it in context.”
For about a year, Mayor Mary Sheffield has seemed to be riding high. To get elected, she mounted an impressive campaign, taking 77 % of the vote. Once in office, she hit the ground running.
The mayor has created new anti-poverty and community safety departments. Many have commented on her leadership skills, balancing confidence and intellect with openness, and a willingness to listen.
That was true during the summer, when a number of kids were participating in “teen takeovers.” The police department imposed a curfew, but Sheffield also took the time to listen to teens, to ask them what it was that they needed and wanted from their city.
Now, the mayor’s office is under scrutiny.
Sheffield’s ex-boyfriend, Marvin Walker, says when she was council president, she took $200,000 in kickbacks from city real estate deals. She denies that.
Walker also had private photographs of the two of them. A Detroit activist posted them on Facebook. Sheffield calls it harassment.
Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison called the two men and asked them to take the photos down. Weeks later, police seized one man’s phone. The city’s Inspector General is now investigating the chief of police.
Those are a lot of details. So what do we actually know?
Detroit Free Press investigative reporter Violet Ikonomova has been looking into this. She spoke with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent.
The Metro invited Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield onto the show. Her office has not responded.
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. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro onApple Podcasts,Spotify,YouTube, orNPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
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In Michigan, it’s never a bad idea to boost your relationship with auto workers — or ties to the auto industry.
Republican Mike Rogers spent 14 years in Congress, but before that he was an FBI agent and worked on cars.
“I started out in a car factory building Chrysler LeBaron convertibles. It’s a really good car. I love that car,” Rogers told reporters in Madison Heights this week.
Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Mike Rogers campaigns in Michigan in September 2026
Rogers worked in a non-union shop in the early 1980s making modifications to already-assembled cars.
His opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, is more white collar. He holds medical and public health degrees. However, he has blue collar backing — specifically, the United Auto Workers union.
In an interview with Michigan Public Radio, UAW President Shawn Fain explained why El-Sayed is the choice for the union’s nearly 1 million current and retired members.
“We’ve got to elect people that give a damn about workers, and not billionaires and corporate-class people,” Fain said. “I mean, and unfortunately, our political system has been hijacked by the richest people in the world.”
Michigan’s U.S. Senate race could help decide the balance of power in Washington D.C. next year. The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and Canada is just simmering under the surface.
Tariffs aren’t always the bad guy
Fain doesn’t outwardly dislike certain taxes on imports.
“We support strategic targeted tariffs. Blanket tariffs on everything under the sun, or tariffs just to force a country to do something for political reasons? That makes no sense whatsoever,” Fain said.
“And the 50% on Canada, we don’t agree with that. Like Canada is not the problem.”
The Trump administration has placed 50% tariffs on $27.6 billion in Canadian goods and materials. The Canadian government has responded with equal levies.
A strained relationship
Marchers at this month’s Labor Day Parade in Detroit weren’t happy about the tariffs or how we’re treating our closest trade partner. Retired tool and dye man Stan Geis was one of many who carried a sign emblazoned with images of an American flag and the Canadian maple leaf.
The message: “Solidarity. We stand with our neighbor.”
“I liked when we had the trade across the border … with men working in our country from Canada (going) back and forth. It was good. Now it just stinks.”
Sign at the Labor Day Parade.
That’s not to say the relationship between the UAW and the workers of UNIFOR — the Canadian auto workers union — hasn’t hit some potholes.
John D’Agnolo is the president of UNIFOR Local 200 across the border in Windsor. Southern Ontario is home to factories of several major automakers.
He says American autoworkers sometimes have the wrong idea.
“They think that we’re taking from them when we’re not.”
D’Agnolo has just wrapped up a grueling two weeks in contract negotiations with automaker Stellantis.
They’re not going well. Stellantis aims to sell an idled Jeep plant in Brampton, Ontario, to an armored car company.
D’Agnolo said the inconsistent tariffs are making the bargaining process more difficult.
“The challenge with these tariffs and not knowing what you’re going to get from day to day,” D’Agnolo said. “Companies are not going to invest in new programs.”
Uncertainty in Canada
Windsorites get all the Michigan political ads from Detroit-area TV stations. D’Agnolo said the current political climate is only fueling anxiety.
“You have to turn off the TV because you don’t want to hear it because it becomes your life. It becomes now you got mental issues because you’re worried,” D’Agnolo said.
“So yeah, it’s horrible right now.”
Opposite sides
In the U.S. Senate race, the two main party candidates are on opposite sides of the trade war.
El-Sayed doesn’t like that President Trump picked a fight with Canada.
“There’s a way that tariffs could be used to actually protect jobs. This ain’t it. Like all things Donald Trump, it is chaotic, ham-fisted, self-serving,” El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed points out that his Republican opponent was an advocate for free trade until this latest round of tariffs.
For his part, Rogers told C-SPAN this week he plans to collaborate with Trump in a way El-Sayed will not.
“I will go back to work with the president on tariffs that are working and work with the president on tariffs that are not working,” Rogers said.
“You know, my opponent, all he wants to do is fight with Trump.”
Cost of tariffs
A conservative free market organization, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation — says President Trump’s tariffs are costing Michigan households an extra $5,600 per year.
That’s the third-highest in the nation behind California and Texas.
Steve Grigorian heads the influential Detroit Economic Club. He thinks that could play a role in the election.
“We’re business people, but we go to the grocery store, we go to fill up our gas tank. So it’s definitely top of mind. I think it will definitely be top of mind as people go to the polls”
Ballots for the November election were sent out this week. Election Day is less than six weeks away.
One of the most watched races across the country is in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. That area includes Lansing, East Lansing, and the farm counties and exurbs around them, out to Livingston County and the edge of Oakland County.
Republican Congressman Tom Barrett won the seat two years ago by less than four points, and both parties think it could decide who has a majority in the House of Representatives. Barrett’s opponent is progressive Democrat Will Lawrence. The Metro spoke with him last week.
Barrett spent 22 years in the Army. He was deployed to Iraq and Guantánamo Bay, and served nearly a decade in the state legislature before going to Washington.
Over the weekend, President Trump rejected an Iranian offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The war has continued, and so has the increasing cost of gas prices.
Congressman Barrett joined The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent to discuss where his positions overlap — and don’t — with President Trump’s, and what his plans are if he’s able to keep his seat.
In the conversation, Congressman Tom Barrett said that over 10 million undocumented immigrants flooded across our border when then-President Joe Biden was in office.
Research from the conservative Cato Institute estimates that the net increase in the undocumented immigrant population during the Biden administration was closer to about 5.5 million people. That’s because millions of people were expelled, deported or returned to their home country or Mexico before President Donald Trump took office.
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. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro onApple Podcasts,Spotify,YouTube, orNPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
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Chaos. That’s the trend line in the auto sector of our economy. A war in Iran has raised gas prices. A Trump administration antagonistic to electric vehicles has reshaped the auto industry, causing Stellantis, General Motors and Ford to lose a combined $52 billion as they’ve shifted away from their electric investments.
And through it all, the Trump administration has enacted tariffs. Recently, they’ve gotten steeper.
In August, America enacted new tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel. Canada responded with tariffs on many US goods, including those aforementioned products.
What do these trends mean for auto companies and auto workers? How are customers affected? And, how are both parties trying to adapt to rapidly changing policies?
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. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro onApple Podcasts,Spotify,YouTube, orNPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
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Many have an opinion about Detroit’s Renaissance Center.
Some view it as ugly, detached from the city, and with General Motors having moved out, they believe it should be redeveloped.
And then there are people who like the RenCen. They see its tallest towers as an emblem of the city. They’re often the same people who argue that pouring public money into its redevelopment will detract from other priorities — things like schools, public transit, and housing that teachers and nurses can afford.
This question — whether a large public-private project is worth it for the public — has come into sharper focus. That’s because GM and Bedrock are now asking for just under $550 million to subsidize the redevelopment of the RenCen. That’s up from about $350 million when they first announced the plan.
Jared Fleisher is the CEO of Bedrock. He spoke about the plan with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent. Later, Anne Goulet joined the conversation. She is the principal of two firms, ARGitct and Anne R Goulet Architecture and Design.
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. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro onApple Podcasts,Spotify,YouTube, orNPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
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A Metro Times review of records found multiple cases involving sexual offenses or allegations during Lloyd’s tenure that ended with reduced charges, probation, no jail time, or no prosecution
Control of the Michigan Legislature is on the line in this year’s midterm elections. As part of WDET’s weekly series, Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben discuss 10 races they believe could flip from one party to another. They are joined by Gongwer Assistant Editor Elena Durnbaugh, who covers the state House.
One of the topics heading into this election is whether the national political environment will affect local results. Durnbaugh says that if it does, local politicians will need to respond accordingly.
“…the national environment, where we have a situation where we have a Republican president who is deeply unpopular. It’s a midterm. People are looking for change that means that if you’re a Republican in a seat, you’re going to have to work harder to keep it.”
Durnbaugh said politicians’ voting records and what they have done while in control of the Legislature could also push voters one way or another.
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Mike Rogers is calling for relief at the pump despite a record that includes raising Michigan’s gas tax, questioning tax suspensions and backing the Iran war that has driven fuel prices higher.
Huizenga is being praised for backing a stock-trading ban, but records show years of individual stock ownership and congressional actions involving a company whose shares he held.
Newly uncovered record shows Mike Rogers repeatedly opposed efforts to establish, advance, or fund medical care for people sickened after the Sept. 11 attacks.
With only a couple of months left until the midterms, Michigan’s gubernatorial candidates are trying to build support in their bids to become the state’s next governor. This week on WDET’s MichMash, Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben discuss how this race for governor differs from previous ones.
They are joined by Andrea Bitely, founder of the public relations firm Bitely Communications.
The race drawing the most attention in Michigan so far is the U.S. Senate race between Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers. As for the gubernatorial race between Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and U.S. Rep. John James, Bitely says it isn’t garnering the same level of attention.
“The gubernatorial race is potentially the most boring gubernatorial race in the history of gubernatorial races.”
Bitely continued by saying that after Mayor Mike Duggan dropped out, the race lost some of its interest for her.
“I think it got a lot more boring on May 21st [2026]. But maybe that’s just the the Duggan campaign staffer in me coming out.”
May 21 was the day Duggan dropped out of the race for governor.
Bitely concluded that to draw more attention to the gubernatorial race and their respective campaigns, the candidates need more rallies and events, along with a resounding message that sticks with voters.
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