State Senator Jeff Irwin warned citizens that Ypsilanti schools have spotted ICE conducting raids in the area, including bus stops. In the social media post made late last night, he urges the public...

Lansing — Michigan Democratic leaders said their party must focus on achieving positive results for working families and on making new efforts to listen to voters across the battleground state in order to rebound from its loss in last year's presidential election. Less than three years ago, in 2022, Democrats collected a set of historic victories in Michigan, securing control of the state Legislature for the first time in four decades. Now, however, the party is trying to figure out how to respond to Republican Donald Trump's win in the presidential race in November, the loss of power in the state House, problematic polling results and a handful of longtime, high-ranking Democratic elected officials whose terms are coming to an end. The approaching crossroads comes amid calls to change the party's strategy and with 19 months remaining before Michigan voters will elect a new governor, a new U.S. senator, a new attorney general and a new secretary of state in 2026. In next year's election, Democrats' 2022 wins could be wiped away by further under-performance with key voting blocs, like what occurred in 2024, or their power within state government could be solidified with a new round of Democratic executives elected. The Detroit News asked 11 prominent Michigan Democrats — many of whom will be on the ballot next year — about the path forward for their party. In one interview, Curtis Hertel, who was elected chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party in February, said Democrats are facing an "unprecedented" election in 2026. "The Democratic Party has always been the party of working families," Hertel told The Detroit News of the future direction. "I think we have a responsibility to get back to that message." Like other members of the party, Hertel said Democrats need to continue working on issues such as wages, housing affordability, Social Security and Medicare. Those are topics that affect people at their kitchen tables every day, he said. Hertel's comments were echoed by many prominent Democrats, including three politicians who are already seeking the party's nomination for governor next year. The party's path forward must include "working incessantly to improve the economic well-being and mobility of every one of our state’s residents," said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of Detroit. "We are in a moment where political leaders with moral courage are of short supply," Benson added. "We, as Democrats, must show the state we support and elect leaders who who are willing to be courageous and lead with bold decisions that will improve the lives of every Michigander." Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson of Fenton said the party needs to "show results and rely on common sense." "As a party, if we don’t pivot and adapt to what the voters have told us, we will continue to have more painful lessons," Swanson said. "The Democratic Party is not just a party of opposition, our platform is much bigger and reaches people at a personal level." Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II of Detroit said Democrats "must be focused on results." "Democrats must show people that we will fight for results and that anyone or anything that blocks things getting better for everyone must be eliminated," Gilchrist said. More: Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist looks to defy Michigan history in bid for governor Seats at the table A focus on "kitchen table" issues was a hallmark of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's two successful campaigns for governor in 2018 and 2022. Because of term limits, Whitmer, who's been the most influential Michigan Democrat in the state in recent years, can't run again in 2026. Likewise former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, who was first elected to the chamber in 2000, declined to seek reelection in 2024, leading to Democrat Elissa Slotkin's narrow win over Republican Mike Rogers last fall. Lavora Barnes, who had chaired the Michigan Democratic Party since 2019, announced in November that she wouldn't seek a fourth term. And in January, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, revealed he wouldn't run again in 2026. The developments have set the Michigan Democratic Party up for a leadership overhaul ahead of next year's high stakes election. The party's future tactics will likely be set, in large part, by primary voters in August 2026 as they pick nominees for governor and U.S. Senate. Next year will mark the first time in at least a century that Michigan will have races without incumbents for governor and U.S. Senate on the ballot in the same year, according to the Michigan political newsletter Gongwer News Service. Also, state voters will elect a new attorney general and a new secretary of state in November 2026 because Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel can't run again due to term limits. And every seat in the state Legislature will be on the ballot. "Everything is up for grabs," said Michigan pollster Richard Czuba, founder of the Glengariff Group, of the coming election. Michigan Democrats suffered a narrow defeat in the 2024 presidential race because voters were suspicious of them for hiding information about former President Joe Biden's health and because of concerns about inflation and the economy, Czuba said. In Glengariff Group polling for The Detroit News before the Nov. 5 election, Michigan voters ranked jobs and the economy as the most important issue and a plurality said they thought Trump would handle the economy better than Democrat Kamala Harris. Trump went on to win the race in Michigan by 1.4 percentage points, 49.7%-48.3%. Michigan's elections are usually about the economy, Czuba said. There have been exceptions, such as 2022, when abortion rights became a dominant topic after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and let the states set abortion policy. He noted that Democrat Jim Blanchard won a governor's race in 1982 with a campaign focus on what he described as the three main issues: "jobs, jobs, jobs." "For Democrats moving forward, it's about the damn economy," Czuba said. Jamie Roe, a Republican political consultant from blue collar Macomb County, said parts of the Democratic coalition have been fraying. The party's leaders claim to be "the defenders of democracy," but Whitmer has declined to call a special election to fill a vacant state Senate seat for three months, he said, a move that preserves a narrow 19-18 Democratic majority. The lesson for Michigan Democrats from 2024 should have been the rejection of the party's "ultra-progressive wing," the GOP consultant contended. "They just clearly haven't learned the lesson at all yet, because their leading contenders for these statewide nominations are all ultra progressives who are out of step with the people of our state," Roe said. More: Gov. Whitmer's office mum on key Michigan Senate special election A 'positive message' National polling, including surveys by NBC News and CNN, has found voters' favorability rating of the Democratic Party to be at record lows. But state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, who recently wrote a book titled "Hate Won't Win: Find Your Power and Leave This Place Better Than You Found It," said she doesn't want the party to throw out all of its strategies. The campaign against Trump was often anchored in negativity, McMorrow said. But Democrats have to be selling a "positive message" about their accomplishments and goals, she said. As an example, McMorrow said many voters heard Democrats' 2024 campaign lines about "defending democracy" as defending the government's status quo. "For way too many people, the status quo is not working," she said. McMorrow is one of the Michigan Democrats viewed as a potential U.S. Senate candidate for the seat Peters is vacating. Michigan Democrats haven't had a competitive U.S. Senate primary race since 1994. That year, U.S. Rep. Bob Carr of East Lansing got 24% of the vote to defeat five other candidates and win the Democratic nomination. The second-place finisher was then state Sen. Lana Pollack of Ann Arbor at 23%. Carr lost to Republican Spencer Abraham in the general election — the last time a Republican won a U.S. Senate race in Michigan. Since then, Democratic leaders have generally coalesced around their Senate candidates or an incumbent hasn't faced a challenge. Many Democrats are expecting the 2026 race to be competitive with a field of potential candidates exploring campaigns. Competitive primaries, along with the energy they bring, aren't necessarily a bad thing, Hertel said. "There are a lot of Democrats that are looking to be energized," Hertel said. 'Won't cut it' U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and former candidate for governor Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor are also eying the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. Stevens, who worked in former President Barack Obama's administration, first won her U.S. House seat in a battleground race in 2018. Of the party's future, Stevens said manufacturing businesses live and die by how they answer one question: "What have I done for my customers today?" The path forward for Democrats, legislatively and electorally, is answering that question for voters about Republicans' actions on the stock market, inflation, Social Security and Medicare, Stevens said. "To be clear, this isn’t simple and will require all of us getting in the arena and fighting like hell," Stevens said. "But if we focus on the deliverables that matter to voters, we win — in the policy arena and at the ballot box." The fourth-term representative said when she first ran for Congress, she displayed a banner on her office wall that read, "It’s the manufacturing economy, stupid." "In Michigan, our party wins when we focus on the manufacturing economy," Stevens said. "We lose when we get distracted by elitist fights and cerebral disagreements that voters have never cared for and never will." As for El-Sayed, he won the endorsement of self-styled democratic socialist U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont during his 2018 campaign for governor and ultimately finished second behind Whitmer in the August 2018 Democratic primary with 30% of the vote. He's now Wayne County's health director. When Trump first got elected in 2016, Democrats talked about "resisting" the Republican's agenda, El-Sayed said. But resisting Trump wasn't enough, he said. The question should be "what are we fighting for?" El-Sayed said. "And I think Democrats, in every single way and at every single opportunity, need to be fighting for the rights and opportunities of working people, for their earnings, their health care, their housing, their kids’ schools and their communities," he added. Democrats need to stand up to "the billionaires, oligarchs and corporations that have driven up costs, rigged the tax code in their favor, gutted unions and put profits over people's health," El-Sayed said. "But to stand up to them, you have to stop taking their money to fund your campaigns first," he added. "We also have to stop being mealy-mouthed about what we want to do for folks. "The policies we fight for should deliver directly, immediately and clearly for folks — half-measures won’t cut it." U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor, who chairs House Democrats’ messaging arm, said her party needs to do a better job of listening to people and understanding what they want Democrats to deliver on. Dingell predicted Trump would win Michigan in 2016 and said the issues that were important to people in 2016 haven’t changed since then, including the impact of free trade agreements and jobs that went overseas, bringing steel manufacturing back to the U.S. and other supply-chain issues involving things like pharmaceuticals. “We need to talk about the issues that matter to people every single day and not let Republicans jam us on cultural issues,” Dingell said. “These aren’t just economic security issues but national security issues.” 'Toughen up' State Rep. Betsy Coffia of Traverse City was among the bright spots for Michigan House Democrats in the 2024 election. Coffia won her swing district House seat in northern Michigan by 4 percentage points in November, 52%-48%, over Republican Lisa Trombley as Republicans regained control of the House by flipping four seats. Democrats need to be "serious about people centered politics," Coffia said. Anything less is just not convincing and durable, she argued. "The voters need to feel viscerally that when Democrats are actually in trifecta, that we make their lives better in dramatic ways," Coffia said, referring to when the party controls the governor's office, state House and state Senate. "Everything from standing up to health insurance and Pharma giants and corporate landlords to DTE accountability, and everything in between, and if there are Dems running who are afraid to take those hard votes, they need to not run for the job." More: DTE Energy-linked nonprofit quietly gave $100,000 to House speaker fund amid outage anger Sen. Jeremy Moss of Southfield, who is part of the leadership team in the Democratic-controlled state Senate, said Democrats have the right priorities but need "to toughen up and show we have the fight in us." Moss, who's gay, noted that in February, he personally confronted Republican state Rep. Josh Schriver of Oxford at a press conference where Schriver was touting a resolution in opposition to gay marriage. "We can’t be afraid to act in bold ways to stand up for our policies and confront harmful ones — especially with looming Republican threats to Social Security, Medicare, the Department of Education and much more," Moss said. Jonathan Kinloch, who's chairman of 13th Congressional District Democratic Party and a Wayne County commissioner, said Democrats need to focus on policies affecting working families and spend less time on some social issues that are connecting with only a small segment of the population. "People are hurting. They were hurting in 2024. And they're still hurting now," Kinloch said. "We've got to talk about how we intend on putting more money in people's pockets and keeping more money in their pockets." The party also took Black voters for granted in 2024, he said. Asked if he's worried about the coming turnover in key elected positions for Michigan Democrats, Kinloch said the party will ultimately be fine. "I trust the people will always get it right," he said. [email protected] Staff Writer Melissa Nann Burke contributed. This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan Democrats vow to focus on 'results' in bid to bounce back from 2024 losses

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