MichMash Politics

State Representative Karen Whitsett, is making waves this week for not running for a fifth term in office. What influenced her decision? This week on MichMash, WDET's Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service's Zach Gorchow discuss her reasons for leaving as well as her career in office.

Then Ben Stupka, executive director of the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan, stops by to talk about road funding with Zach. 

Gov Whitmer delivered her final state of the state where she recounted her tenure and what her focus is for the remainder of her term. This week on MichMash WDET's Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service's Alethia Kasben discuss what stood out to them.

Then, less than 24 hours after her speech, Gov. Whitmer stops by MichMash to explain the main elements of her speech and plans for the remainder of her tenure. 

For the fourth time since the 1960's, Michigan voters will get the chance to hold a convention on whether or not they want to do a complete overhaul on the constitution. This week on MichMash, Gongwer News Service's Alethia Kasben and Zach Gorchow discuss all the things this convention could change to Michigan's constitutional laws.

They are joined by Lynn Liberato who is the author of Michigan Con-Con 11: Women and State Constitution-making in 1961.

As the Gordie Howe International Bridge sets to open this year, President Trump signaled he may stop the opening in a Truth Social post. This week on MichMash, WDET's Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service's Alethia Kasben discuss how lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are reacting to this surprising development. 

Later in the episode, Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press Reporter, discusses the Whitmer administration's final budget.

Sen. Jonathan Lindsey is championing a bipartisan legislation to address medical debt in Michigan. This week on WDET's MichMash, Gongwer News Service's Zach Gorchow sits down with the senator to see what interested him in this issue.

Before that WDET's Cheyna Roth sits down with Zach to go over the latest campaign finance reports for the upcoming election.

There are some major races later this year with multiple candidates vying for positions of governor, representatives, state house and state senate seats, and US congressional seats as well. This week on MichMash Cheyna Roth and Alethia Kasben talk to Kristin Combs, founder of Bright Spark Strategies. They discuss how the Republican party candidates are doing in their respective races. 

Although minor, Gov. Whitmer and President Trump have found common ground this year but recently, at Detroit's auto show, Whitmer addressed her disagreements with Trump's tariff strategy and the ICE presence in Minneapolis. This week on MichMash, WDET's Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service's Alethia Kasben discuss what these statements could mean for future dealings with the Trump administration. 

Then later in the episode, Oakland superintendent Kenneth Gutman, about legislation to ban cell phones in school making its way through the legislature and a lot more.

Although little, Gov. Whitmer and President Trump have found common ground this year but recently, at a Detroit auto show, Whitmer addressed her disagreements with Trump's tariff strategy and the ICE presence in Minneapolis. This week on MichMash WDET's Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service's Alethia Kasben discuss what these statements could mean for future dealings with the Trump administration. 

Then later in the episode, Oakland superintendent Kenneth Gutman, about legislation to ban cell phones in school making its way through the legislature and a lot more.

House Republicans have moved to unilaterally cut up to $645 million from the state budget.  But is that legal?  This week on MichMash, Cheyna Roth and Zach Gorchow talk with Bob Schneider of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan to make sense of it all. Plus a look at changes in the race for governor and Secretary of State.

In this episode:

Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist drops out of the race for governor and into the Secretary of State’s race

The state of the governor’s race

The battle over unilateral budget cuts

Overview

Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist has ended his campaign for governor and has launched an effort to become Michigan’s next Secretary of State instead.  Gongwer’s Zach Gorchow says Gilchrist’s decision shouldn’t come as a surprise.

“He had low name recognition and wasn’t raising anywhere near enough money. Jocelyn Benson, the secretary of state, has been the clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for months, and Gilchrist’s exit doesn’t change anything on the Democratic side.”

The news does have implications for the race for Secretary of State as Gilchrist joins an already crowded Democratic field.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are dealing with a provision in state law that allows a single legislative committee to cancel certain types of spending. House Republicans used this mechanism like never before – to cancel up to $645 million in spending.

Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed suit, saying the legislation allowing the move is unconstitutional.

Bob Schneider of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan tells us the central issue is around the appropriation process for “work projects.”

“A work project is an authorization to carry forward appropriations into a future fiscal year.”

He says the legislature should be thinking ahead on the issue, because the process could be in jeopardy, depending on how courts rule. Schneieder says lawmakers should be saying to themselves,  “How do we get together and fix this so we have a process that works in the future?”

We ended 2025 with a commitment to getting a new economic development plan out of the Legislature halted. This week on MichMash, Cheyna Roth and Alethia Kasben discuss economic development incentives and if they are helping to attract Michigan businesses with Bridge Michigan's business reporter Paula Gardner.