McMorrow's beer tour aims to reach new voters
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State Sen. Mallory McMorrow at Detroit's Atwater Brewery & Tap House. Photo: Joe Guillen/Axios
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow is tapping into her enthusiasm for beer with a series of campaign events at breweries across the state.
The big picture: Her affinity goes back to bartending in college at Notre Dame — "a very heavy drinking school," she told Axios just before an hourlong event last week at Atwater Brewery & Tap House near the Detroit Riverfront.
Zoom in: With a glass of beer by her side, McMorrow faced questions from about 75 attendees about federal budget cuts, student loan forgiveness, the "manosphere" and other topics.
Catch up quick: McMorrow, a Democrat from Royal Oak, is among several candidates in the hypercompetitive 2026 race to succeed Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township), whose sudden retirement in January shook up the state's political landscape.
Between the lines: Meeting at local breweries has helped McMorrow reach younger voters and families who might be turned off or intimidated by traditional, partisan campaign events that can feel like an echo chamber, she says.
- "I love how creative the industry is. ... Just popping into a brewery gives you a really good taste of the locals, and it's where they hang out."
Driving the news: The tour kicked off last month with four stops in 24 hours at breweries in Ferndale, Ypsilanti, Flint and Warren.
- The latest: Her next stop is Saturday at noon at HOMES Campus in Ann Arbor.
State of play: Last week at Atwater, McMorrow toured the production facilities and posed for photos with general manager J.R. Bohn before her event.
The other side: Many in the crowd cheered her criticisms of "masked ICE agents" and federal cuts impacting medical research, and her support for universal paid leave.
Yes, but: The potential voters didn't applaud all of her answers.
- Tim Polonkey, of Ortonville, said it was his first-ever political event. He said he didn't think McMorrow fully answered his question about reaching out to younger men in vocational fields with her anecdote about visiting a local union hall.
- "She talked about being there, but she didn't talk about relationships that she built with those young men," Polonkey said. "But as she described, and fairly, this is early in her campaign, and I think she can develop that."