Blog Posts by Grassroots Midwest

All events in International Relations have unintended consequences, including the results of elections. In recent weeks, we have had our eyes on Eastern Europe, as the Russian Federation launched the largest scale invasion of a sovereign European country since World...

Last November voters in Michigan passed two ballot initiatives, Proposals 2 & 3, that changed several areas of state election law and were effectively intended to boost voter participation in elections going forward.  Some of the items were already state law, but...

Earlier this year, in June and August, Grassroots Midwest took a look at several municipalities that were gearing up for mayoral and city council races and provided some brief analyses of some races. With the elections behind us now, here is another quick look at...

In last week’s blog post, Grassroots Midwest took a look at two House districts that Democrats must win to take the Majority in the House. In Part 2 of this series, this week we continue our look at 2020 and ask: Can House Democrats win a majority in the Michigan...

Over the next two blog posts, Grassroots Midwest will take a look at the prospects of whether or not House Democrats have what it takes to flip the majority in the Michigan House of Representatives.  Part 1 is here: With a little over a year to go before the next...

Governor Whitmer and the 100th Michigan Legislature have been in office for nine months, and together they don’t have many major legislative accomplishments to show for it. Divided government always provides challenges as well as opportunities, but it is remarkable...

Back in June, Grassroots Midwest took a look at several municipalities that were gearing up for mayoral and city council races on the August primary ballot. With the primary now behind us, let’s take a quick look at who made it and provide an early analysis of what we...

“the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”, United State Constitution, Amendment 1   When most Americans read those words in the 1st Amendment to our constitution, they think about a rally - for a...

Several large communities throughout the state will go to the polls again this August and September to pick municipal leaders. Many of these local elected officials become members of the legislature as state lawmakers reach their constitutional term limit, making...

Scandals happen in politics. For those of us who work in the political environment, an expectation develops that every so often something untoward will come to light. Federal indictments, on the other hand, are quite a bit more unusual, although not unheard of. The...

In 2018, Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved Proposal 3, allowing absentee voting without any restrictions. As a result, any registered voter can join the permanent Absentee Voter list, which was once reserved for those 60 and older. This is a potential...

In a surprise move last month, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals unanimously ordered Michigan to draw new legislative district maps by August 1st. Considering the state is already mandated to redraw its legislative districts in time for the 2022 election...

The world has changed in terms of how we communicate with one another. Twenty years ago, nearly everyone owned a landline. As cell phones became more affordable and texting became more popular, many people, especially those under the age of 40, stopped using...

As we approach 2020, the hottest topic is President Trump’s reelection odds in Michigan.  While most polling has him down in Michigan and nationally, one can’t take polling as gospel, as that was the overwhelming consensus last cycle. Considering Trump only had a 21%...

I hear it all the time, and you probably do too: ‘I want to make a difference, but I don’t know where to start.’ It’s a common refrain, and mostly the answers people get are unsatisfying. Attending a rally or writing a check to a political cause you care about may...

We get asked all the time: “What’s grassroots?” We’d better have a good answer, since it’s right in our firm’s name! Let’s start with what grassroots isn’t. There are lots of firms in state capitals that engage in what’s referred to as lobbying or direct advocacy....

Following up on my analysis from Part 1 of our 2018 lookback, we’re going to look at turnout statistics for the 2018 general elections by county, compared to prior turnout numbers, to give you a better idea of what happened in the elections as the 2020 presidential...

Now that the smoke has cleared from the last election, we’ve all had time to process what happened, think about what could’ve been different, and start prognosticating what to expect in 2020. The realignment is real, and in the 14 years I’ve worked in politics, I...

2018 was a great year for Grassroots Midwest, and a year of extraordinary changes in Michigan politics and government. 2019 promises to be even more exciting, with key local elections, new leaders at the state and local level working on their agendas, and preparations...

I'm sorry you lost the election. Just because you didn’t get that sweet cushy chair in the big marble mansion doesn’t mean you still can’t make all those votes count. It’s time to ditch those sweatpants and get back to work. “But where do I go from here?” you may...

By Lance Engels | Halloween is quickly approaching and for (most of) us who are procrastinators, you might be scrambling for the perfect last minute costume. In this year’s circus of a presidential election, no one should hold back when it comes to creating the...