Candidates in some of Michigan’s biggest races for governor and Congress are getting boosts from some well-known political figures ahead of the Aug. 4 primary. With Election Day just days away, do those endorsements actually matter, and how much influence do they have on voters?
WKAR Politics Reporter Andrew Roth spoke with local Morning Edition host Melorie Begay about what he found when it comes to the value of endorsements.
Interview Transcript
Melorie Begay: Michigan elections for Congress and governor are heating up with just days before Election Day. To shore up support for their campaigns, candidates have secured some big names endorsements.
WKAR’s Politics Reporter Andrew Roth looked into how valuable these stamps of approval are for the candidates. He joins me now. Thanks for being here, Andrew.
Andrew Roth: Always happy to join you, Melorie.
Begay: Before we get into it, I want to recap some of the biggest names that have given their support in these races. Andrew, what endorsements stand out to you?
Roth: Well, probably the biggest endorsement is President Donald Trump's endorsement of Congressman John James in the Republican primary for governor. Obviously, it didn't completely clear the field, Perry Johnson is still challenging John James, but it did cause some shifts in that race.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer endorsed Congresswoman Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate over Abdul El-Sayed, former Wayne County Health Director, that was certainly a big endorsement.
And then U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin endorsed Matt Maasdam, a former Navy SEAL in the 7th Congressional District Democratic primary, over his opponents, former Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and climate organizer William Lawrence. So, those are really big endorsements that all of those campaigns certainly were seeking out.
Begay: In your reporting, you spoke with political scientist Matt Grossman about the value of some of these endorsements. What did he have to say?
Roth: Yeah, that's right. So, one of the things that I've been wondering about with these endorsements is what the value of it is. Is the effort to win over voters who might be undecided? Is it to energize your base of existing supporters and get out the vote? Is it a fundraising effort?
Like you mentioned, I talked to political scientist Matt Grossman about it, and he says the value is really an informational signal to voters. Any one endorsement by itself might not have a ton of power, but taken as a whole, it can really show consolidation of support behind different candidates, and especially for different factions of the party, right?
So, within the Democratic primary, you might have more moderate endorsements like Gov. Whitmer, and then you might have more progressive endorsements like Senator Bernie Sanders or Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who you know has campaigned with Abdul El-Sayed, and so these informational signals, taken as a whole, are really kind of where the value is.
Begay: Over the course of this campaign season, we've seen some public backlash over some high-profile figures who have backed certain candidates over others. I'm curious if there's a risk for either those making the endorsement or those on the receiving end?
Roth: I've talked to some voters who were at campaign events for Abdul El-Sayed after Gov. Whitmer endorsed Congresswoman Stevens, and you know, they expressed some disappointment with Gov. Whitmer, actually. So rather than that endorsement making them rethink their opinion on the U.S. Senate race, they sort of judged the governor for endorsing the candidate who they didn't like.
And in the 7th Congressional District Primary, Elissa Slotkin endorsed Matt Maasdam who doesn't necessarily have as many labor endorsements from labor unions as Bridget Brink does. One thing Matt Grossman said is that this could backfire because it sort of stops that consolidation of support behind either of the two moderate candidates, which could create a lane for the progressive candidate who has more consolidation to come in and win that primary.
Begay: So, do endorsements sway decisions?
Roth: That's a great question. I think especially as we get later into the game, there's not necessarily a ton of truly undecided voters left, but there are definitely some impacts from these endorsements. When President Trump endorsed John James for governor, for example, it led to Aric Nesbitt ending his campaign.
Nesbitt had run ads saying President Trump was absolutely right about everything, and when the president comes out and endorses your opponent, it makes it a little bit difficult to continue your campaign. So they certainly can have an impact, it's just several different levels of impact to it.
Begay: All right. Well, I suppose we'll see how these endorsements play out next Tuesday. Andrew Roth is our politics reporter. Thanks for being here, Andrew.
Roth: Thank you for having me.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
