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Heard of Chase Oliver? What about Randall Terry? With all the focus on Harris vs. Trump, you’d be forgiven for not knowing Oliver or Terry. But here in Michigan, they’re running for president. All in all, there are more than half a dozen candidates running for president this year in Michigan. You’ve mostly likely heard of some of the other independent and third party candidates this cycle: Cornel West, Jill Stein and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The latter, you’ve likely heard a lot about over the last couple of weeks.
After announcing he was dropping his bid for the presidency and endorsing former President Donald Trump, whether or not RFK Jr. remains on the ballot in Michigan is in the hands of the courts. At issue: RFK Jr. doesn’t want to be on the ballot and he’s currently in a weeks-long court battle to remove his name.
Because RFK Jr. didn’t gather signatures to get on the Michigan ballot but, instead, got nominated by The Natural Law Party of Michigan at its convention this spring, a judge this week ruled that it’s not fair to NLP-MI to just suddenly drop out and leave the party without a candidate. But, just today, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed that judge’s decision and held it’s not too late for election officials to grant Kennedy’s request to remove his name.
The Michigan Attorney General’s office says it’s reviewing the decision. The state would have to file an emergency appeal to get a ruling today from the Michigan Supreme Court to meet ballot deadlines and keep RFK Jr. on the ballot.
If history is any guide, however, whether RFK Jr. is on the ballot or not, third parties could impact the presidential outcome this November.
In 2016, for example, Democrat Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in Michigan by less than 10,704 votes. Green Party candidate Jill Stein received 51,463 votes. Could Stein or Libertarian Gary Johnson, who got 172,136 votes in Michigan in 2016, possibly have changed the outcome in the state? Absolutely.
So, aside from playing the role of spoiler in election years, what impact do third parties have? And why are certain voters drawn to them? Those were some of the questions we asked The Brookings Institution’s Elaine Kamarck, author of “Primary Politics: Everything You Need to Know About How America Nominates Its Presidential Candidates”, this week on the podcast. Check it out below.
Digging deeper: The last third-party candidate to win Michigan was former President Teddy Roosevelt, who left the Republican Party to run as the candidate of the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party in 1912. That helped Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson unseat Republican incumbent President William Howard Taft.
Got questions? About third parties? Or, just want to let us know what you want more of (less of?) in the newsletter? We always want to hear from you! Shoot us an email at politics@michiganpublic.org!
— GET CAUGHT UP —
Democratic org announces $500K investment in Michigan House races
The entire Michigan House of Representatives is up for election. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has, as Capitol Reporter Colin Jackson reports, “already put around $1.2 million into Michigan legislative races this election cycle. But, at the end of the latest reporting period in July, campaign finance statements showed the House Republican Campaign Committee ahead of the Michigan House Democratic Fund with over $600,000 more on hand. Wednesday’s announcement from the DLCC also accompanies news that the organization will be focusing on supporting Democrats in 13 state House races. Ten of those are incumbent-held seats, underscoring how difficult it may be for Democrats to keep the House.” A lot is riding on whether Democrats can keep control of Lansing’s trifecta in the new year.
Presidential race is a tossup in MI with 2 months to go, poll finds [The Detroit News]
The Detroit News/WDIV has a new Glengariff poll out this week that reaffirms Michigan’s toss-up status. The News’ Craig Mauger’s crisp lede is an excellent summation of where things stand (or seem to stand) post-RNC and DNC conventions with neither Trump nor Harris topping 50% and support for third party and independent candidates playing a potentially decisive role. Mauger and Zoe discussed the new polling on WKAR’s Off the Record.
Michigan 16-year-olds can preregister to vote. Here's how. [Detroit Free Press]
Shoutout to Detroit Free Press high school journalist Jaxson Kaplan-Rudolph for this writeup on the Michigan law that allows 16-year-olds to pre-register so they’re automatically enrolled to vote once they turn 18. The National Association of State Legislatures has this roundup of registration rules across the country (pre-registration is not that unusual now). Rick says, ‘Hey kids, get off my lawn — and if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain.’
— IJP ON THE ROAD —
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Michigan Public's Zoe Clark joined C-SPAN's Washington Journal and CNN This Morning to discuss the upcoming presidential election and where things stand in the battleground state of Michigan.
— WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AT THE DINNER TABLE —
Debate 2.0: We’re talking about next week’s presidential debate. Obviously. You’ve undoubtedly read about how the stakes for the first and only debate between Harris and Trump “couldn’t be higher” and we’ll be focusing particular attention on how both candidates try to tailor their messages to Midwestern voters in swing states (we’re looking at you, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania). Manufacturing, EVs and, for Southeast Michigan in particular, stances on the war between Israel and Hamas. You can listen to the debate Tuesday at 9 p.m. on Michigan Public and then join a special call-in show from The Middle, with Zoe as a panelist, right after the debate wraps at 11 p.m. to share your thoughts.
Common Sense Diner: “Hey, we need to talk,” is usually not a great thing to hear at the dinner table, right? But that’s the name of the new interactive series being hosted at the University of Michigan Museum of Art this election season. Folks from both sides of the aisle are invited to break bread together and discuss "what it means to be an American right now,’” UMMA explains. The meals are free and have “no agenda of persuasion or pandering. The goal is simply to ask questions and listen to each other.”
‘I Voted’ Stickers: Zoe might be slightly obsessed with Michigan’s new ‘I Voted’ stickers and she’s not embarrassed to admit it. This year, the Michigan Secretary of State’s office held an ‘I Voted’ sticker design contest and the winners are just… everything. Local election clerks can order the stickers of their choice (there are nine winners in total) and we highly recommend you take a look at your options before election day.
Yours in political nerdiness,
Rick Pluta & Zoe Clark
Co-hosts, It’s Just Politics
