Activity by Progressive/Democratic Aligned Groups in Michigan in the 2020 Presidential Campaign

Michigan « 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.

https://swingleft.org/p/michigan
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.

Priorities USA
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.

Priorities Michigan’s growing team will include:

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.