Latest news with #LansingChamberofCommerce
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Duggan supports ranked choice voting initiative in Michigan
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said Thursday he supports a ballot initiative to bring ranked choice voting to Michigan. Duggan, a former Democrat who is running for governor as an Independent, said that our current electoral system rewards division. Under ranked choice voting, voters would rank their preference of candidates from first choice on. The candidate with the fewest first choice votes would be eliminated, and those ballots redistributed to the marked second choice, until a candidate has earned at least 50% of the first choice votes. Is ranked-choice voting the next election reform for Michigan? Advocates say the system would incentivize candidates to focus on issues where they agree, since they would want to be placed highly in a voter's ranking even if they are not that voter's first choice. Duggan, who addressed the Lansing Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, said he wrote his senior thesis in 1980 on why presidential primaries should be conducted using ranked choice voting. 'Apparently, I was ahead of my time,' Duggan said. Rank MI Vote has been laying the groundwork for a potential 2026 ballot proposal to amend the state constitution and introduce ranked choice voting in Michigan. While the proposal wouldn't take effect until after the next gubernatorial election, he said he's focused on delivering a positive message anyway. 'I don't run against anybody,' Duggan said. 'I don't run negative ads on the other people.' 'Whoever the Democratic and Republican nominees are, I'll debate them when the time comes, but my campaign isn't going to be telling you why the Republicans and Democrats are awful,' Duggan said. 'My campaign is going to be why Michigan will be better if we pull together.' Duggan said polling indicates voters are open to an independent candidate for governor, feeling like neither of the major parties has their best interests in mind. He said that's largely a result of dysfunction in the state Capitol, pointing to a lawsuit Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) filed to force the state House, which is now controlled by Republicans, to transmit bills that had been passed while the chamber was controlled by Democrats to the governor for executive action. 'I'm going to run a campaign where I'm not going to demonize anybody,' Duggan said. 'I'm going to tell people in Michigan what I plan to do, and the people will make a choice whether they want a change or whether they're happy with the way things are going.' Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to reporters after an event with the Lansing Economic Club in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
USA Today
06-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Mike Duggan at MSU: Lansing's New Vision project is as serious as his independent run for governor
Hear this story AI-assisted summary Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, running as an independent, outlined his gubernatorial campaign at a Lansing Chamber of Commerce event. Duggan praised Lansing's development projects and called for a collaborative approach to governance, moving beyond partisan divides. EAST LANSING — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan praised some of Lansing's development projects as he sketched out his independent gubernatorial campaign at a Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday. Duggan said his campaign as an independent candidate is widely seen as a longshot, not much different than his first Detroit mayoral election when, as a white man, he sought to lead a city with 83% Black residents. He said people can test out his theory themselves: Ask their friends if they are happy with the two parties' options. "Two-thirds of the people in every room I'm in say: 'We've been looking for change,'" Duggan said, speaking at the Kellogg Center on the Michigan State University campus. "If I listened to people tell me what couldn't be done, I wouldn't have run." He said his trick during his first mayoral run was simple: Let people invite him into their homes and he'd talk to a small number of people, and he did that hundreds of times. Duggan spoke to a crowded room of chamber members as part of the chamber's Lansing Economic Club 2025 Kickoff event. The longtime Democrat said revitalizing Detroit required stepping out of Democrat-Republican fights and political battles and that's what he aimed to bring to Michigan as governor. Duggan praised the more than $300 million New Vision Lansing project in Lansing, saying Lansing Mayor Andy Schor and his team have been doing the kind of development work that the rest of Michigan should model. Duggan paused a moment and said he was unsure if people in the room supported the New Vision project, but he did. People in the room gave a round of applause at that point. Schor, a Democrat seeking his third term this year, said he is focused on his own race and not on whether Duggan would affect Democrats in the governor's race. "Mike is a fellow mayor," Schor said, noting the two have worked together through the United States Conference of Mayors. "We get a lot of things done as mayors." Duggan was asked after his speech about work from home policies and whether he would have closed schools during the pandemic. He largely avoided answering, saying he was focused on the future and hadn't looked into individual state departments. "People work better when they're on site and can collaborate," he said. "But there are IT talent and creative talent that can do their job from home. I gotta believe, and I haven't asked Mayor Andy Schor about this, but I gotta believe the mayor of Lansing would be happy if they got back in the office." He said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has appropriately raised the auto industry struggles to the administration of President Donald Trump. "We're trying to handle it in a calm and thoughtful way and so far, at least, Detroit has not been affected," Duggan said about threatened tariffs. Whitmer is term-limited and the state will elect a new governor in 2026. Duggan was the first major candidate to announce. He's since been joined state Senate Majority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat. And Genessee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, a Democrat who Duggan said is a friend, is likely to enter the race. "He's a serious candidate," Duggan said. "He's not a slouch, he's going make this race a lot more interesting than you think." Several other potential candidates have yet to announce intentions. The Chamber wanted to bring Duggan because he's an energetic speaker and so members can hear first hand from a governor's candidate, said Steve Jupinga, senior vice president for public affairs for the Chamber. He said Duggan also spoke to the chamber about a decade ago. Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@ or 517-267-0415
