Tuesday’s primary election has set the stage for competitive races in November. Democrats and Republicans picked their candidates for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat and other positions down ballot.
WKAR Assistant News Director and Editor Eli Newman and Politics and Civics Reporter Arjun Thakkar sat down to recap what happened on Election Day.
Interview Highlights
On voter turnout estimates for the primary
State election officials are estimating that we'll see about 2 million ballots returned from this August primary. And of that 2 million, about 1.2 million are absentee ballots. Those are the ballots that people have returned via the mail or through early voting, and has really become a feature of our election cycle since the 2020 election, where the pandemic really stalled a lot of that in person voting.
On the U.S. Senate race results
On the Democratic side, voters nominated Elissa Slotkin, who currently represents mid-Michigan in Congress, in the House of Representatives. Republicans nominated Mike Rogers. They were projected as the frontrunners in the races, and it really wasn't necessarily a competitive primary ... We expect it to be a lot more competitive and a lot more expensive race heading into November. And it's also worth noting, this is really a race that could determine control of the US Senate.
On local proposals to watch out for in November
Over in Eaton County, there's a proposal heading before voters that would allow for an increase in property tax levies, and that's meant to address a projected budget deficit and potentially avoid cuts in services like public safety ... and in East Lansing, there's a proposal coming before voters that was initiated by citizens, by voters, to amend the city charter. You know, supporters of the proposal say it would ... prohibit the city from having restrictions on house guests."
Interview Transcript
Arjun Thakkar: So election night has come and gone, and now it's election morning, the morning after, and we've both been monitoring election results here. What have you found in terms of voter turnout here in Michigan for the August primary?
Eli Newman: Yeah, we've been up for several hours watching these results come in, and they are still coming in. I don't think we'll have a full idea of the final turnout until the end of the day today. State election officials are estimating that we'll see about 2 million ballots returned from this August primary. And of that 2 million, about 1.2 million are absentee ballots. Those are the ballots that people have returned via the mail or through early voting, and has really become a feature of our election cycle since the 2020 election, where the pandemic really stalled a lot of that in-person voting. And Election Officials like Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, are saying this is like a new feature of our elections. So we're not quite at the 2.5 million ballots that were cast in 2020, but we're expected to surpass the 2016 August primary results of 1.4 million [ballots]. Now, of course, we didn't have a competitive US Senate race back then. That might be impacting some of the turnout. Arjun, that's something that you've been looking at. So, can you tell us what's going on exactly with Michigan's open US Senate seat? Who is the Republican that's going to be on the ballot, and who's going to be at the Democrat?
AT: Sure, yeah, as you mentioned, yeah, this is a, you know, an open US Senate seat. Incumbent Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow is not seeking another term. So on the Democratic side, voters nominated Elissa Slotkin, who currently represents mid-Michigan in Congress, in the House of Representatives. Republicans nominated Mike Rogers. So, they were projected as the frontrunners in the races, and it really wasn't necessarily a competitive primary. I spoke with the political expert, and, you know, we saw the polls close, and this race be called pretty quickly. And it seemed, from what we've heard, that it seemed like there was relative unity around both of these candidates, both getting more than two thirds of the vote in both of their races. We expect it to be a lot more competitive and a lot more expensive race heading into November. And it's also worth noting, this is really a race that could determine control of the US Senate.
EN: Yeah, so a lot of eyes are on Congress in the November election, and of course, the real big ticket item with the presidential candidates. Now, of course, we have, like these big federal offices that we are looking at. But Arjun, you're our local civics and politics reporter. What should we be looking for in our local ballots, in our local issues come November?
AT: Right, yeah. As we always hear, you know, the road to the presidency and Congress definitely does run through Michigan. So one part of that is we will definitely be following the seventh congressional district and the race to replace, you know, Elissa Slotkin currently hold the seat. So there's Democratic and Republican candidates running there, and it's expected to be one of the most competitive seats and races in the country for the House.
Beyond that, in terms of local election items, we've got a couple proposals that I'll definitely be following as we head into November.
Over in Eaton County, there's a proposal heading before voters that would allow for an increase in property tax levies, and that's meant to address a projected budget deficit and potentially avoid cuts in services like public safety. So that's over in Eaton County, and in East Lansing, there's a proposal coming before voters that was initiated by citizens, by voters, to amend the city charter. You know, supporters of the proposal say it would not allow the city and prohibit the city from having restrictions on house guests, while opponents say that it would undo the city's rental restriction [districts].
So we'll definitely be following those and continuing to report out what we see on those proposals.
EN: And you can follow our coverage on the air here or online@wkar.org For WKAR news. I'm Eli Newman.
AT: I'm Arjun Thakkar.
