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« Activity by Progressive/Democratic-Aligned Groups
Activity by Progressive/Democratic-Aligned Groups in Michigan
Michigan United
November 13, 2020
Black-led Michigan organizations
celebrate historic Black Voter
Mobilization
Michigan broke
2008 voter turnout record thanks
to their groundwork
Last week, people across the nation
rejoiced that a president with racist,
xenophobic, and fascist tendencies was
ousted and Joe Biden was announced as
President-Elect, with Vice
President-Elect Kamala Harris. Without
the work of Black-led grassroots
organizations, Biden would not have
reached the critical threshold of
votes he needed to flip the state.
In Michigan, Black-led organizations
such as Detroit Action, MOSES,
Mothering Justice, Michigan United,
and Michigan Liberation worked to flip
the once red state of Michigan blue.
“Black women voters in Michigan turned
out more than any other demographic
and voted on the issues important to
Black folks - fair wages, affordable
childcare, maternal justice and to let
the Trump administration know their
neglect on these issues would no
longer be tolerated” Eboni
Taylor, Executive Director for
Mothering Justice of Michigan.
“This election wasn’t just about
supporting Biden/Harris vs.
Trump/Pence. It was also about
articulating a compelling vision for
what Black and Brown communities in
Michigan could look like. The win last
Tuesday was a result of Black-Led
organizing and our collective effort
in increasing the number of Black
voters by 86,000 in Wayne County
specifically,” said Branden Snyder,
Executive Director of Detroit Action.
In a normal year, traditional voter
outreach groups would have relied on
traditional techniques such as
in-person canvassing and door-knocking
to reach Detroiters. “At Michigan
United, we utilized a digital
organizing tool to reach out to voters
with whom we had personal connections.
Over 800 of our volunteers used this
tool to make sure their friends and
family voted. This approach allowed us
to reach over 55,000 voters across the
state,” said Ken Whitaker, Director of
Movement Politics at Michigan United.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic that
has affected upwards of 200,000
Detroiters forced these grassroots
organizations to embrace innovation in
more ways than one. Combatting a
pandemic that disproportionately
affected Black Michiganders forced
them to drastically shift their
outreach efforts to social media, mail
pieces, volunteer and paid canvassing
programs, and digital organizing,
these organizations showed up for the
city in unimaginable ways.
Public health was a big issue for our
work in engaging Black voters,
particularly in driving the message
for an investment in public health
infrastructure and access for Black
families,” Ponsella Hardaway,
Executive Director of MOSES. “Because
of the pandemic, we utilized
innovative ways to build relationships
with Black voters. Digital
organizing, social media organizing
were just two of the ways we had to
adjust and it worked.”
“We won on Election Day in part
because we reached out to our people
way before election day and during
this Covid crisis,” said Elishiva
Johnson, Co-Executive Director of
Michigan Liberation. “The
relationships we built were
foundational in then moving Black
voters to the polls on the issues
affecting Black Michiganders.”
• "America Votes Michigan is
based in Lansing and has been in
the state since 2003. America
Votes work there is led by State
Director Patrick Schuh."
https://americavotes.org/state-network/
• Michigan Voices, part of the State Voices network, aims to "engage traditionally underrepresented and marginalized communities (people of color, single women, youth, and low-income individuals) in the democratic process to create a more accessible, inclusive, and representative government."
Tameka Ramsey and Sommer Foster, Co-Executive Directors
https://statevoices.org/state-tables/michigan/
• Michigan is one of twelve states
targeted by SwingLeft as part of its
Super State Strategy.
Michigan
SUPER STATE STRATEGY
Our primary objectives in Michigan are to: 1) win the state’s 16 Electoral College votes and 2) flip control of the Republican-led Michigan State House.
In the state House, we are currently targeting seven districts—five GOP-held seats and two Democratic holds. Geographically, our targets are distributed across the state but the majority surround the Detroit metro area. Four GOP incumbents in target districts are being term-limited out of office, giving Democrats an opportunity to flip the chamber in 2020 and protect the integrity of the Michigan’s independent redistricting process in 2021.
By the numbers:
4 Seats needed to flip the state house
16 Electoral College votes
Our Targets:
State House: HD-19, HD-38, HD-39, HD-45, HD-61, HD-71, HD-104
What's at stake
7% decline in overall union membership since 2013: Since Michigan became the 24th right-to-work state in 2013—allowing union workers to opt out of paying dues—membership has declined significantly, especially among the Wolverine State’s 14 largest unions. Despite Democratic opposition, Michigan’s GOP majority passed a right-to-work law as a way to curb the influence of labor groups.
11,300 potential PFAS-contaminated sites across Michigan: Michigan’s lack of safe drinking water doesn’t end with Flint, where more than 100,000 residents have been exposed to lead—including 9,000 children younger than six. Michigan is experiencing its biggest environmental crisis in 40 years with toxic PFAS contamination in sites across the state.
50th in the nation for school funding growth: A lack of adequate state funding for schools is leaving Michigan students behind. The state has consistently ranked last in the country for growth in students’ proficiency scores, and recent increases to the state’s education budget have been so small as to be rendered insignificant after accounting for inflation.
• Michigan was one of four states where Priorities USA established an on-the-ground presence from July 2019 to July 1, 2020.
July 18, 2019
Priorities USA Launches Priorities Michigan
Today, Priorities USA is launching Priorities Michigan, one of the four entities in its new battleground state communications program. The program, which will combine press and digital communications operations to push back against Trump’s false narratives, comes as part of Priorities USA’s previously announced $100 million investment in key states including Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.The in-state Michigan team will work with local organizations to collect and capture stories from people and families who have felt the negative impact of living under Trump’s economy. The team will distribute content to voters on the platforms where they get their news and information. This will include creating original content for social media and amplifying stories and data across local media outlets. Work on the ground will also support and inform Priorities’ national work and paid media program, informing messaging and creative.
“Trump may try to brag about how the economy’s great and everyone’s prospering, but here in Michigan, voters know that couldn’t be further from the truth. The reality is Michigan workers are losing their jobs, health care costs are rising, and paying the monthly bills is a challenge,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA.“Trump has shown time and time again that he’s not looking out for Michigan families. He’s only looking out for corporate profits; his tax break for auto manufacturers that turn around and lay off their workers is only one example. Michigan will be a crucial state in 2020, and our team will be on the front lines telling the real stories caused by Trump’s policies, not Trump’s lies.”
Trump’s broken promises are hurting Michigan workers.
- Since taking office, Trump promised that he’d bring auto industry jobs back, but General Motors has laid off over 2,000 Michigan auto workers in the past year despite getting a $157 million tax break from Trump’s policies.
- Over a quarter of Michigan households aren’t able to afford basic necessities, and Trump’s economic plans are only making matters worse.
- Michigan farmers are caught in the crossfire of Trump’s trade war.
- Trump’s sabotage of the Affordable Care Act has caused health care premiums to increase by nearly $1,600, while also endangering health care coverage for as many as 4.1 million Michiganders.
Zack Smith, serving as Content Producer. Zack will collect personal stories about the harmful impacts of Trump’s policies and work with local partners to reach voters with these stories. Before joining Priorities, Zack was a Communications Organizer with For Our Future Michigan, and prior to that, he worked as an adjunct professor at several Michigan colleges and prisons. He got his start in politics on the 2008 Obama campaign as a field organizer.
This program comes as part of Priorities USA’s transition into the 2020 presidential cycle. This also includes a new program to provide partners with in-depth modeling, targeting, and opinion research for digital, TV, mail and field programs; continued efforts to train progressive operatives in understanding, planning, and executing digital campaigns; as well as a strong focus on both persuading moveable voters and mobilizing the Democratic base.