Zoe Clark
Political DirectorZoe Clark is Michigan Public's Political Director. In this role, Clark guides coverage of the state Capitol, elections, and policy debates. Her passion for understanding and explaining politics led Michigan Public to create the position in 2022 for the first time in station history. She offers regular on-air political analysis and hosts the November election-focused edition of Stateside on Fridays.
She co-hosted, with Michigan Public Radio Network's Senior Capitol Correspondent Rick Pluta, It’s Just Politics, a weekly look at Michigan politics. Clark regularly appears on WKAR’s Off the Record, WDIV’s Flashpoint and offers political analysis on NPR, PBS, and CNN.
Clark is an award-winning journalist, including the prestigious Peabody for overseeing the station’s first nationally distributed podcast Believed.
Clark previously was the station’s Program Director and is the founder and former Executive Producer of Stateside. She began at the station by producing Jack Lessenberry’s daily interviews and essays, and producing Michigan Radio’s Morning Edition.
Clark began her collegiate studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She holds degrees in Communication Studies and Political Science from the University of Michigan and lives in Ann Arbor, where she was born and raised.
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There is an empty state Senate seat in Michigan's thumb region. No one currently represents the district because Governor Gretchen Whitmer has not yet called a special election. Some Republicans are saying she's playing politics with the 35th state Senate District. -
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan delivers his 12th and final state of the city address as he prepares for his 2026 independent bid for Michigan Governor. Duggan joins It’s Just Politics; plus, the politics surrounding an open Michigan Senate seat. -
It’s the 11-year anniversary of a federal judge ruling that Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. But, the issue of gay marriage is back in Lansing as a Republican lawmaker calls on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ruling that made same-sex marriage legal nationwide. Plus, an update on the nine bills the Michigan House continues to hold. -
Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel says more lawsuits against the Trump administration could be coming. Plus, Nessel looks back on the 11th anniversary this week of her lawsuit in Michigan that helped to make the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. -
Michigan House Republicans adopted a resolution this week to continue to hold onto nine bills from the last legislative term. Is the state Capitol getting closer toward its own constitutional crisis? Plus, Governor Gretchen Whitmer meets with President Donald Trump in D.C. -
Michigan’s Democratic Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist announces he’s running for governor in 2026; plus, Republicans in the Michigan House shock Democrats with the introduction - and quick passage - of a $20 billion dollar budget in Lansing. -
State House Republicans without advance notice on Thursday muscled through a $20 billion dollar bare-bones budget, touching off a rancorous floor fight and setting up a showdown with the Senate Democratic majority. Plus, Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist preps for a gubernatorial announcement. -
President Donald Trump delivered the first address of his second term to a Joint Session of Congress. Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and Republican Congressman Tom Barrett join Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta on this week’s It’s Just Politics for their response to the speech and the Democratic response from Michigan’s Senator Elissa Slotkin. -
Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivered her seventh State of the State address this week and tacked to the political center; plus, a judge rules in the state Legislature’s nine bills case, and Michigan U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin will deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s address to the nation next week. -
A Republican state Representative says Michigan lawmakers aren’t working nearly enough and that Lansing is corrupt. He’s introduced a resolution to make the state Legislature part-time. Representative Jim DeSana joins Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta on this week’s It’s Just Politics.
