This week’s focus: brand-new polling on the chaotic GOP race for Governor, along with James Craig’s you’ve-gotta-be-kidding write-in campaign, Perry Johnson’s latest court loss, and the state Senate going out of its way to diss LGBTQ+ Michiganders.

Our guest this week is Detroit state Representative Joe Tate, considered the frontrunner for House Democratic Leader in the 2023-24 session. We’ll talk about how Michigan Democrats plan to flip the state House and Senate and give Michigan its first Democrat-run state government since Jim Blanchard’s first term as Governor in 1983—39 years ago!

Representative Tate is a Detroit native. His father was a firefighter for the City of Detroit who gave his life while serving the city, while his mother was a Detroit public school teacher.

His first claim to fame came in athletics as a three-year starter and team captain on the Michigan State football team. In addition to his success on the field, Tate earned a degree in Public Policy and received Academic All-Big Ten honors for his excellence in the classroom. After graduating from MSU, Joe moved on to the National Football League (NFL) where he spent two years playing for three teams.

Tate left his career in athletics and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in the United States Marine Corps. He deployed twice to Afghanistan, first as a Platoon Commander and then as a Company Executive Officer, where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of hundreds of Marines and sailors. After an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps, resumed his education, earning an MBA and Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Planning, both from the University of Michigan.

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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.”