GOP infighting, Dixon’s running mate, abortion latest: The week in Michigan politics

Happy Sunday! 👋

MLive elections reporter Ben Orner here with what you need to know in Michigan politics. That’s me on the left with our snazzy team of reporters:

The Michigan Democratic convention is today in Lansing, but it’s the Republican convention next Saturday you should keep an eye on.

The governor, attorney general and secretary of state are all Democrats, and the GOP has its sights set on those three critical offices in November. Conventions solidify a party’s nominees and are also a big show of party unity.

That is unless there are internal rifts…

There’s been some drama in local Republican parties around the state, but tensions seem to be highest in Macomb County, north of Detroit, and Hillsdale County, a rural square at the Ohio border.

Briefly, a group of Republicans led by Eric Castiglia took over the Macomb party in April. A judge ruled the old leader, Mark Forton, should still be chair, but the state party recognizes Castiglia and the delegates his faction nominated at a convention last Thursday.

But Forton also held a convention that night and chose delegates.

Read more: The GOP splintered in 2 Michigan counties. Will infighting impact the state convention?

A similar situation with dueling conventions happened in Hillsdale, where a more conservative wing of the county GOP that took over leadership after the 2020 election “disavowed” other members.

“We’re the Piston Bad Boys of politics,” Hillsdale GOP secretary Jon Smith, a member of the new guard, told me this week.

Two conventions in Hillsdale, two sets of delegates, and the MIGOP sided Friday with the old guard and its 13 delegates because that convention – even though it was held in a parking lot – followed the rules.

Read more: Michigan GOP sides with disavowed Hillsdale delegates for state convention

The big question from all this infighting is: Will it hurt the convention? Well, any lack of party unity is bad, but protests or fracturing of delegates is worse.

Forton told me he is going to the convention but didn’t say what he plans to do there, citing the need to talk to his lawyer. In Hillsdale, however, Republican Party secretary Jon Smith told me the new guard has no plans to protest.

The MIGOP and the Lansing Center will have security at next Saturday’s convention to stop anyone from getting on the voting floor who isn’t allowed. Proceedings start at 10 a.m., culminating with an evening party on the Capitol lawn featuring the nominated candidates.

“We’ll be there,” said Hillsdale Republican Brent Leininger, who led the successful parking lot convention, “and we’ll share our message to the other delegates that we’ve got to come together as a party, because a house divided against itself cannot stand.”

2. Tudor Dixon taps former House Rep. Shane Hernandez as lieutenant governor pick

Speaking of party unity, meet Shane Hernandez, the Republican pick for lieutenant governor.

Governor candidate Tudor Dixon tapped the former state lawmaker as her running mate Friday, saying she hopes the convention will “embrace Shane, and united, we will defeat Gretchen Whitmer in November.”

Hernandez, a 39-year-old father of two, served two terms in the House and chaired its appropriations committee – the one that decides where money goes.

“I am honored to run as Tudor’s running mate to address the problems created by Gretchen Whitmer,” Hernandez said in a statement.

It’s possible that with enough support, delegates at the convention could choose someone else to run with Dixon. But as my colleague Jordyn Hermani wrote this week, that could be a moonshot.

“A lieutenant governor can’t deliver a win, but they can deliver a loss,” political strategist John Selleck told her. “So, the most important thing here is to get the ball across the goal line without an unforced error.”

More from Jordyn: Experience, history: How Tudor Dixon’s pick for lieutenant governor could make or break her campaign

Dixon, a mother of four, has emphasized education and family issues the most on the campaign trail. It makes sense, then, that Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin – who won last year by leading with school issues – is coming to help.

Youngkin will campaign with Dixon, the MIGOP announced this week, and he will give the keynote speech at the party convention Aug. 27.

“Last year in Virginia, we listened to voters and they told us in overwhelming numbers that they needed to be empowered in the education of their children,” he said in a statement. “And as Tudor has witnessed across her own state, parents matter.”

Youngkin’s actions so far include banning “inherently divisive concepts” like critical race theory in Virginia schools. Dixon’s plans include banning sex and gender teachings in early grades, keeping transgender girls off girls’ sports teams and bolstering civics and financial literacy requirements.

Read more: Virginia Gov. Youngkin to campaign with Tudor Dixon, give Michigan GOP keynote

Senior political reporter Simon Schuster, our colleague who is usually point on the governor’s race, is back this weekend after spending the week on vacation in Denmark. I should ask him how Copenhagen stacks up against Lansing.

3. Judge grants injunction barring county enforcement of Michigan’s abortion ban

It’s been nearly two months since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and abortion is still legal in Michigan thanks to another court ruling.

You’ve likely heard Michigan’s abortion law on the books is a 91-year-old ban with the exception of saving the mother’s life. A judge in Oakland County ruled Friday that county prosecutors cannot enforce that law and bring charges against people.

“Circuit Court Judge Jacob Cunningham sided with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, ruling that the 1931 law is contrary to notions of due process, equal protection and bodily autonomy,” wrote MLive health reporter Justin Hicks.

Cunningham said not issuing an injunction “would send the health care system into crisis.” He set a pretrial conference for Nov. 21, noting a constitutional amendment to guarantee abortion rights – Reproductive Freedom for All – will likely be on the Nov. 8 ballot.

4. House Appropriations Committee OKs $216M for police COVID-19 response

The legislature is still on summer break, but the House Appropriations Committee met Wednesday to direct nearly $240 million to some state departments.

State Police got the biggest slice of the pie, Jordyn reports: $216 million for COVID-19 response and mitigation projects administered by the health department. The move mostly shifts around federal money.

“Projects which could utilize this funding include long-term care facility testing and strike teams, county jail testing, community-based testing, local health department immunization funding and communication to further disseminate vaccines,” Jordyn writes.

Who else got money? The environment department, for example, got $10 million to deal with contaminated sites and cleanup.

Also from that committee meeting came a discussion about bills to improve Michigan’s tuition-free college program as a way to deal with COVID-19 learning loss, our colleague Alyssa Burr reports.

5. Legislature mum on if it will allow clerks to preprocess absentee ballots in November

Finally, Jordyn and I reported last week that local clerks – both Democrats and Republicans – have some ideas to improve Michigan elections.

Their two biggest asks are a head start on processing absentee ballots – which about half of voters used in the Aug. 2 primary – and more funding for things like election worker training and voter education.

Multiple clerks said they would be willing to testify before lawmakers in an official hearing.

Jordyn followed up this week with the chairs of the House and Senate election committees, who are both Republicans, and pitched the clerks’ recommendations. Their responses: Maybe!

State Sen. Ruth Johnson, a former secretary of state, said absentee ballot preprocessing is something lawmakers are mulling, but it’s not guaranteed to cross the finish line before November. She said the “safety and security of the ballots need to be the number one, driving force” of election improvements.

Johnson did suggest expanding polling locations and increasing security for ballot drop boxes. State Rep. Ann Bollin told Jordyn she’s been having “many conversations” with clerks about their primary election experience.

Also in election news, the Board of State Canvassers on Friday voted to certify Michigan’s primary election results after a mostly snag-free affair on Aug. 2. The board also approved official ballot language for Prop 1, which would change state lawmaker term limits and require yearly financial disclosures of top elected officials.

More politics news from the week:

Are school supplies costing you more? Michigan could pause sales tax on back-to-school products.

Defeated governor candidate Kelley pivots to attacking abortion, voting proposals

Michigan Dems want GOP Rep. Rendon censured for alleged role in voting machine probe

What does the Inflation Reduction Act do for Michigan?

$40B from federal bill could bolster Michigan farms’ climate efforts

Nearly 7,000 crash patients have lost care since auto no-fault reform implemented

Can community colleges offer 4-year degrees? GOP lawmaker wants AG to set the record straight.

Betsy DeVos says 2019 Biden encounter would fit admin’s proposed Title IX sexual harassment definition