Welcome to 2024! The dust is still settling from last week's mid-term elections (especially among the shell-shocked GOP), but Donald Trump's inevitable campaign is now official ... greeted by the New York Post headline "Florida Man Makes Announcement" and burying the story on page 26 .

Closer to home, Gretchen Whitmer surprised many by making it clear she has no Presidential ambitions. Also this week:

7 policies Whitmer, Michigan Democratic lawmakers will push

Democrats big midterm win overshadows loss of Black voices - mlive.com

Macomb Democrats steamed about national party snubbing Marlinga

Michigan's midterm after redistricting: what results showed

US Supreme Court dismisses appeal in Michigan redistricting lawsuit

Women, LGBTQ lawmakers to have larger representation in Michigan’s upcoming legislature - mlive.com

Analysis: Parents rights school board campaigns lost most Michigan races | Bridge Michigan

Michigan GOP memo blames Tudor Dixon's performance for lost majorities

Trump loyalist Matthew DePerno running to be Michigan GOP chair | Bridge Michigan

Michigan GOP party chair race: James Craig out, Matthew DePerno in

‘Canary in the Coal Mine’: Did Elissa Slotkin’s Win Reveal Trumpism’s Self-Defeating Toxicity? - POLITICO

Joining the conversation this week is the newly named state Senate President Pro Tem, Jeremy Moss. Moss is completing his first term after serving for four years in the state House. He grew up in Southfield and attended Michigan State University where he participated in several student-led humanitarian aid missions in the US and around the globe, twice traveling to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to assist with cleanup efforts and spending time abroad in Uruguay to build housing in among the most impoverished areas of South America.

Moss’s political career began 11 years ago with a successful run for a seat on the Southfield City Council where became the youngest-ever elected official in the city’s history at age 25. In the state House he worked across the aisle to pass ten bills that would open up government records to public scrutiny by subjecting the governor’s office and state legislature to the principles of the Freedom of Information Act.

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This week's podcast is underwritten by Practical Political Consulting and EPIC-MRA. We thank them for supporting "A Republic, If You Can Keep It."