This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA

While assorted Republicans are getting booked, arraigned, found liable for slander and generally spending millions on defense attorneys, Joe Biden and Gretchen Whitmer are talking about “what’s next.” For Biden – what’s next is a battle with pharmaceutical companies over prices; for Whitmer – an ambitious agenda for a fall legislative session where she has the smallest possible majorities in both chambers.

Michigan’s new congressional and legislative maps, in effect for just one election cycle, face a growing challenge in federal court. Onetime Congressman Mike Rogers apparently will get into Michigan’s U.S. Senate race, but first he has to move back to Michigan from Florida and register to vote; Rogers may be joined in the race by another former congressman – Peter Meijer – who is “exploring” a candidacy. And the broken Michigan GOP gets another national profile (in the New York Times) … and it ain’t pretty.

We’re joined this week by a Michigan legislator who – through no fault of her own – has become a national symbol of the growing political power of suburban moms: Senator Mallory McMorrow. McMorrow gained sudden national attention as a result of her ardent support of policies protecting reproductive rights. She became an overnight sensation for a floor speech standing up against false, bigoted, homophobic attacks on her and her colleagues.

Her legislative focus also includes empowering local communities, and making Michigan a business- and family-friendly state. Senator McMorrow is the Senate Majority Whip and serving her second term in the Michigan Senate. She has a deep affinity for the automotive industry after working for more than a decade in product design, media and advertising with companies like Mazda, Mattel, Gawker Media, Hearst and other global brands. Since becoming a state Senator she has won victories on policy changes such as ending Michigan’s tampon tax, helping struggling businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, and protecting certain individuals (including domestic violence survivors) by creating an address confidentiality program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial design from the University of Notre Dame.

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