This Week in Michigan Politics, Jack Lessenberry and Christina Shockley talk about the same-sex marriage trial in Michigan, the new Dingell race for Congress and President Obama’s announcement of a new manufacturing hub in metro Detroit.
Same-sex marriage trial
Opening arguments were held yesterday in the trial challenging the ban on same-sex marriage in Michigan. The case involves a lesbian couple who want to jointly adopt three special needs foster children they are raising together.
Lessenberry says there’s been a more accepting shift in attitudes towards same sex-marriage in recent years and “it would be hard to hard to find a more compelling same-sex couple.”
A third Dingell to fill the congressional seat?
Michigan Congressman John Dingell announced his retirement this week. He's the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history. He was first elected in 1955, when he took over the House seat vacated by his father. Now Debbie Dingell, his wife, is going to run.
Lessenberry says this is Debbie Dingell’s race to lose. She sits on the Wayne State Board of Governors, she’s been a philanthropist and a fundraiser. She’s also a descendant of the Fisher family, who helped start General Motors.
“The Dingell name is a big name in this district and anyone who challenges her is going to have a formidable opponent,” Lessenberry says.
President Obama announces manufacturing hub near Detroit
Yesterday, President Obama announced the creation of two Pentagon-led manufacturing hubs. One is in Chicago, and the other is in Canton, in southeast Michigan.
Lessenberry is skeptical about how many jobs the manufacturing hubs will create in the region. However, he says “We are going to have to have new manufacturing techniques if we are going to be competitive in the 21st century and beyond and this is a step in that right direction.”
