The Students First kiss of death

State Representative Maureen Stapleton had received the UAW endorsement for the newly drawn 6th House district seat as a Democrat. However, thanks to a “kiss of death” endorsement by Michelle Rhee’s anti-teacher, pro-charter schools group Students First, they have withdrawn their endorsement and are throwing their support behind Rashida Tlaib, instead.

Details after the jump.

Dude, you are NO Democrat

In my piece last week about fake Democrats, non-Democrats running as Democrats in Michigan, I declined to characterize Cody Bailey as a fake Democrat. However, the more I have dug into his campaign in Michigan’s 11th State House District, the more I have become convinced that he is, indeed, a solid Republican, running as a Democrat in the 11th District simply because a Democrat is more likely to win. In my opinion, the clear choice for progressives in that district is his opponent David Knezek.

My justification for this change after the jump.

Dude, you ain’t no Democrat

I have updated this post to include more information about Cody Bailey. I hemmed and hawed over whether or not to include him in the “fake Dems” category. In the end, I did not. I have, however, included additional information about why he MAY be, why I think so, and why he’s a bad choice for Michigan.

There are two FOUR FIVE people running for office who Democrats should watch out for when they vote in the primary next Tuesday. One of them, Bill Roberts, is a LarouchePAC candidate who wants to impeach President Obama. Another is Jim Fink, running for circuit court judge in Washtenaw county on the nonpartisan ballot but who has been attempting to cuddle up to Democrats for months now. Husband and wife Susie and John Hughes from Muskegon are numbers three and four and Mike Eller, a John Bircher from Ypsilanti is the fifth.

All the gory details after the jump.

A campaign for us all

Facing a well-financed establishment Democrat, Trevor Thomas has mounted a spirited campaign in Michigan’s 3rd Congressional district. While Steve Pestka has been racking up endorsements from an array of long-time Democrats in our state, Thomas himself has earned a string of solid endorsements of his own, proving his progressive bona fides.

Today, the National Organization for Women (NOW) will announce their endorsement, as well.

His latest television ad and much more after the jump.

Help a bloggah out?

It has come to my attention that there are a number of Republicans running as fake Democrats across the state. I’m not talking about conservadems or Blue Dog Democrats, conservative Democrats that are “Democrats in Name Only” (DINOs.) I’m talking about dyed-in-the-wool Republicans pretending to be Democrats.

I already have identified a small handful but I need your help finding the rest. I want to publish this piece no later than Wednesday so time is of the essence. I need proof that these people are, in fact, Republicans. It could be information from their website, emails they’ve sent, Facebook page screenshots. Whatever you have, I’m asking you to send it along.

This post is going to be a bit of a reverse-voters guide; an attempt to identify as many of these liars as possible and expose them for who they are so that people don’t accidentally vote for them, particularly in next week’s primary.

So, if you know of a fake Dem in Michigan, I’d like to hear from you. You can contact me by clicking HERE.

Thanks.

– Chris

What, you didn’t think we’d notice?

I received emails and phone calls this afternoon from Representatives Lisa Brown and Barb Byrum letting me know that Senate Republicans snuck in a last-minute notice that they will take up the anti-Choice H.B. 5711 tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. The hearing will take place at 10:00am in Room 110, Farnum Building, 125 W. Allegan, Lansing.

Details after the jump.

GOPocrisy!

Michigan Democrat Rep. Barb Byrum who was banned from speaking last month by House Speaker Jase Bolger, called a “child” and described as having thrown a “temper tantrum” and disrupting the decorum of the House of Representatives, posted a great little piece on her Facebook page recently.

Check it out after the jump.

Drunk with power, House Republicans continue to silence their opposition

Yesterday the Michigan Legislature met for one day before reconvening again on August 15th. This occasion brought several protests to the Capitol, mainly from groups supporting women’s rights and disgusted with the way female legislators are being treated by their Republican colleagues.

After the jump, details about the protests and interviews with Matt Wall from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and Democratic Representative Barb Byrum talking about the delivery of 115,000 petition signatures to House Speaker Jase Bolger demanding an apology for his treatment of Rep. Byrum and her colleague Rep. Lisa Brown as well as Rep. Byrum’s account of being prevented from speaking on the floor of the House again yesterday.

Still think the War on Women isn’t real???

Michigan House Representative Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga) was prevented from speaking on the House floor today by Republican leadership. She and other Democrats asked to speak on a package of pay equity bills that would address income inequality in Michigan.

They were rebuffed.

More after the jump.

Via Progress Michigan:

Women Take Over the Capitol to Rally and Lobby Legislators on Wednesday

Hundreds of women will meet at the Capitol to share their vision for a better Michigan for women and make their voices heard with Michigan legislators.

Details after the jump.

Get on the Bus!

In March of this year, Mark Bernstein, candidate for regent of the University of Michigan, was endorsed by the Michigan Democratic Party at their 2012 Endorsement Convention. I have met and talked at length with Mark and I’m thrilled that he’s our candidate this year. He’s a solid progressive with a big heart and a strong interest in helping keep college costs down for Michigan students.

Mark’s team recently purchased a 20-year old school bus from the South Redford Public School District, painted it up with his campaign logo & graphics and set out on a statewide “Make College Affordable Tour”. After the jump is a video his team put together about the process and about Mark’s tour, an Eclectablog exclusive!