DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST:
Early voting began this weekend in Michigan's primaries for state and federal legislative seats. Senator Debbie Stabenow is retiring, so there's a crowded field of candidates running to become their party's nominee. Rick Pluta of the Michigan Public Radio Network joins us now from Ann Arbor to fill us in. Hey, Rick.
RICK PLUTA, BYLINE: Hello.
ELLIOTT: So Senator Stabenow is pretty much a fixture there in Michigan. She's been in office for...
PLUTA: Oh, yes.
ELLIOTT: ...Twenty-four years now. She's a Democrat. So who from her party is trying to replace her?
PLUTA: Well, the Democratic primary is between Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin - she's a former CIA intelligence analyst, and she is a centrist in the model of Debbie Stabenow, who, like you said, is retiring. The other Democratic candidate is actor and author Hill Harper. You might know him from TV shows like "CSI" and "The Good Doctor." Hill is running in the progressive lane and is hoping support from Black Democrats, especially in Detroit, will boost his candidacy.
ELLIOTT: And what about the Republican field?
PLUTA: Well, former President Donald Trump is backing former Congressman Mike Rogers. Rogers was also a CNN on-air analyst, so he's got some name recognition from that. That said, the Trumpiest candidate on the ballot may be Dr. Sherry O'Donnell, who has endorsed some conspiracy theories related to COVID. And there's former Congressman Justin Amash. He's toggled between the Republican Party and the Libertarian Party, and he supported impeaching Donald Trump. As you can imagine, that is a tough sell to Republican primary voters.
ELLIOTT: Right. So what would you say, Rick, is at stake for both of these parties with this - I guess you could call it a changing of the guard, right?
PLUTA: Yeah. Michigan Democrats have tasted the sweet flavor of victory. They flipped the state from Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020. Governor Gretchen Whitmer led a Democratic ticket in 2022 that also took full control of the state Legislature. In that same election, voters enshrined reproductive rights in the state Constitution. More than anything else, the Democratic voters I've talked to want to keep winning in November.
ELLIOTT: And what about the Republicans?
PLUTA: Michigan Republicans don't control any statewide office or the Legislature, though the margins in the state Senate and House are thin. Remember the Democrats' sweet taste of victory? Well, for Republicans, it's been bitter, and they want to spit it out. And they could pull it off. If they flip two seats in the state House of Representatives, they'll have a majority there. Now, in the U.S. Senate race, there has not been a Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan since Debbie Stabenow unseated Spencer Abraham 24 years ago, and Republicans need a candidate who can break that losing streak.
ELLIOTT: Now, this year's presidential campaign has been full of surprises, to say the least. Looking ahead to the general election in November, are there any potential wild cards we should be watching for there in Michigan?
PLUTA: The presidential ticket - will enthusiasm for Kamala Harris drive turnout that wins her Michigan's 15 electoral votes - critical state? Michigan Republicans are trying to play catch-up to get their voters to embrace early voting. That's a reversal from denouncing that as corrupt and unreliable. And there's Gaza. Michigan has a very large Middle Eastern population in Metro Detroit that's outraged. There's also a significant Jewish population that wants to see the Hamas hostages freed. Vice President Harris has said she will chart her own course in the Middle East, but people are still watching that carefully.
ELLIOTT: The Michigan Public Radio Network's Rick Pluta. Thanks.
PLUTA: You bet.
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