Yesterday had some good news and bad news, based on primary results in Michigan.
Several of my preferred candidates lost, in particular the woman I backed for MI-54, Anne Brown; the woman I backed for Ypsi City Council, Jennifer Symanns; and folks in a few other local races. Sadly, from my point of view, a millage to retire a debt held by Ypsilanti also lost — by a mere 39 votes. That one hurts, especially because it’ll impinge on services soon. I’m not pleased about that at all.
But we had a bumper crop of Democratic Precinct Delegates in Washtenaw County, possibly as many as 60 people showing up at their polling places yesterday to run as write-ins. Now, we don’t know yet whether all of them will have had their paperwork in order. Still, we are likely to have filled at least half of our Democratic allocation this cycle, and perhaps as much as two-thirds—a big jump from the one-third we had last cycle. Yay us!
For those of you who did run as Precinct Delegates, how did you do? Were you unopposed or did you have to beat back the competition? What other news would you like to share about elections in your area? Please do note Charles Gaba’s post from earlier today, announcing his (uncontested) primary win for the Democratic nomination to a seat on the Oakland County Commission. Also, please check out David Nir’s post announcing the support of Daily Kos Elections for Paul Clements, running for the US House in MI-6 (against Fred Upton. Boo hiss!) Both of those posts have links through which you can make campaign donations, a key factor for every successful candidate.
There will be meetings across the state on Saturday the 13th to fill a number of Michigan Democratic Party positions—county and district-based events. Let’s try to keep each other apprised of how things continue to develop as the 2016 campaign season kicks into a higher gear.
Please consider this also your first save-the-date notice for a meetup in West Michigan Kos area—that is, in Paul Clements’ district. We’re aiming for the afternoon of Saturday, August 27th, and we’re scheming to connect this to a canvass/call effort for Paul as well. Stay tuned, and please let me know if you’re interested and able to attend.
Please help us build this weekly Michigan thread so that it includes any information relevant to turning MI Blue again that you would like me to highlight. MI contributors are always welcome! You can reach me through kosmail at peregrine kate. Or say hi through email here: peregrinekate@gmail.com And please follow me on Twitter @peregrinekate
Please feel free to drop in on ANY State Open Thread! So far, we have these regulars:
Colorado: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Mountain
Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern [though likely to change to Thursdays]
North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern