Axios Detroit

August 05, 2024
👋🏼 Morning, it's Sam. Today's special-edition newsletter will get you up to speed with tomorrow's primary across the state.
- We'll be back in your inbox as usual on Election Day.
⛈️ Today's weather: Chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
Today's newsletter is 790 words — a 3-minute read. Edited by Delano Massey and copy edited by Cindy Orosco-Wright.
1 big thing: What you need to know before Election Day
Tomorrow is Election Day across Michigan.
Why it matters: Since Detroiters vote overwhelmingly for Democrats, the August primary races across the city are typically more competitive than the November general elections.
State of play: View a sample ballot on the Secretary of State's website, where you can find information on your polling place and nearest drop box.
- Remember when filling out a ballot in primary elections, voters must choose one party to vote for in the partisan sections of the ballot. In the November general election, voters can vote for candidates in either party.
What they're saying: The city of Detroit expects 13%-18% overall turnout, with around 45,000 absentee ballots expected to be cast out of the 70,000 requested.
U.S. Senate: The winner of the November general election will replace Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who is retiring.
- The Democratic slate features U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and businessman Hill Harper.
- The Republican primary includes former congressmen Mike Rogers and Justin Amash, and Sherry O'Donnell, whose opposition to COVID-19 mandates inspired her start in politics. Sandy Pensler, who dropped out to endorse Rogers, will appear on the ballot.
Michigan House: The Legislature's Democratic majority is at stake in November as candidates are running for Michigan's 110 House seats. The state Senate isn't on the ballot until 2026.
U.S. House: Several races in Michigan's 13 House districts will be competitive. Here's how to find your representative.
- Detroit's 13th District House seat held by incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar is being challenged by attorney Shakira Lynn Hawkins and Detroit City Council member Mary Waters, endorsed by Mayor Mike Duggan.
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib has no Democratic challenger in the 12th District, which includes parts of Detroit, Dearborn, Southfield and western Wayne County.
3rd District Court: Nicole Leighanne Castka, John Larkin and Adrienne G. Scruggs are running to join the state's largest district court.
- Learn more about the 3rd District Court judge race from Outlier.
Read the full story to see the state House races we're watching
2. Thanedar faces Duggan-backed Waters for Congress seat
Two Democrats, attorney Shakira Lynn Hawkins and Detroit City Council member Mary Waters, are challenging incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar for Detroit's 13th District U.S. House seat.
- The winner is likely to be elected in November.
Catch up quick: Thanedar snapped Detroit's 70-year streak of Black representation in Congress after defeating a loaded field of Black candidates. Detroit's political establishment appeared to be lining up behind former state Rep. Adam Hollier before a signature fraud scandal ended his campaign.
- While Waters' endorsement from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was viewed as a credibility bump, Thanedar also won high-profile endorsements from U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the National Education Association.
Follow the money: Thanedar, a millionaire businessman, is far outspending Hawkins and Waters. Campaign finance records show he's loaned his campaign $4.8 million with more than $5 million cash on hand as of the most recent reporting period.
- Waters has raised more than $111,000, with about $20,000 in her war chest.
Friction point: The Waters campaign accused Thanedar of being behind a TV ad purchased by the dark money group Blue Wave Action that criticized Waters for her 2010 misdemeanor guilty plea for filing a false tax return.
- Thanedar denied involvement in the ad.
The other side: Republican Martell Bivings is the lone Republican candidate. He'll face the winner of tomorrow's primary in November.
Zoom in: The 13th District includes parts of Detroit and Dearborn Heights, Hamtramck, Highland Park, the Grosse Pointes, Melvindale, Lincoln Park, Romulus, Southgate, Taylor, Wayne, River Rouge and Wyandotte.
3. The Grapevine: You heard it here
🙃 Thousands of ballots are thrown out each primary when voters do something called "crossover voting," where they vote for candidates from different parties on the same ballot. Learn how not to be one of them. (Bridge Michigan)
🪧 One candidate is crying foul in a yard-sign controversy between the Warren city clerk and longtime former Mayor Jim Fouts, who's challenging incumbent Rep. Mike McFall in Michigan's 14th District House race. (WXYZ)
4. Ballot question asks Detroiters to renew library tax
The ballot question called Proposal L asks voters to renew an expiring millage to support the Detroit Public Library.
The intrigue: Approving the proposal would continue the current millage rate at 3.9943 mills for another 10 years (about $3.99 for every $1,000 of taxable value), meaning owners of homes worth $100,000 would pay about $200 per year.
- The current millage expires in July 2025.
Why it matters: The library receives more than 80% of its funding through property taxes.
What they're saying: "We'd pretty much be out of business if the millage isn't renewed," Detroit Public Library chief financial officer Antonio Brown told Outlier.
- "We'd have to start shutting down branches because we wouldn't have the funds to operate," Brown said.
Our picks:
📚 Joe is reading "Presumed Innocent."
🙈 Annalise has been corrected by her mother — she insinuated last week in the newsletter that she'd never been to Bruce Peninsula National Park. She's actually been there, she was just too young to remember.
👍🏼 Sam is glad to be back in Detroit. Chicago is nice, but the Red Line during Lolla makes you want to get rid of public transportation.
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