Joe F Spaulding 🦉

The first mayor in the US to be elected using Ranked Choice Voting was Ann Arbor's Al Wheeler, the first Black tenured professor at University of Michigan. Dr. Wheeler formed the NAACP Ann Arbor Chapter and wrote the bill that became MI's Civil Rights Department. He helped create some of the first housing protection ordinances in the country. In a racist backlash against his victory, Ann Arbor repealed Ranked Choice Voting in a low turnout election that happened to have record Republican turnout. Now, election deniers in Michigan tied to Cleta Mitchell (a woman who once chased a garbage truck down the street to try to prove the 2020 election was stolen from Trump), are once again pushing to suppress Ranked Choice Voting, but that's not all. They are also trying to purge the voter rolls of any ethnic sounding names. We know this because "Pure Integrity Michigan Elections" outed themselves to oppose @RankMIVote's petition to bring Ranked Choice Voting to Michigan Elections. *All* of their plans for voter suppression in Michigan in 2026 are in their rumble videos. These moves are so transparently racist, MI Election Deniers like Patrice Johnson are openly *celebrating* what took place in Ann Arbor in the 1970s. Mayor Wheeler's story is just a moment in the history of Ranked Choice Voting and, unfortunately, racist voter suppression in this country, but it still a powerful reminder of what's at stake in our politics *today*. You can help get the word out about Dr. Al Wheeler and help Rank MI Vote bring Ranked Choice Voting back to not just Ann Arbor, but all of Michigan. You can find all original sources for this video at AnnArborRCV dot com.

Absolutely not. No more rate increases. If data centers are really going to bring revenue and upgrades to Michigan, they shouldn’t be an excuse for DTE to request ‘just one more’ rate hike. The MPSC should flat-out reject this request.

holy shit they really have nothing

Joanna Whaley is running to serve her community—not be harassed over her identity. Filing a complaint over her name on the ballot is a blatant attempt to target a trans woman & distract from the issues our communities are focused on. This complaint should be dropped immediately.

@MichiganBraden Why do you think they stopped photoshopping the picture of Jocelyn just before they gave her horns? I mean why go as far as they did, and stomp there? If this is all your post in, you need to stay out of my mentions. Gross.

Massive

@MichiganBraden @DrJohnEastman @MIDistrict9 @POTUS MIGOP arc cowards who have me blocked. If you're going to be a little baby and hide behind that block, like Braden here, it means you are like a scared bully's little brother. @MichiganBraden, I'll be in Holland tomorrow, come say hi. Let's take it off platform, champ.

BREAKING VIDEO: Donald Trump’s former attorney, @DrJohnEastman deep-dives with @MIDistrict9 on lawfare, Bush/Gore 2000 & Trump/Biden 2020 election cases, historical precedence, & behind the scenes—incl. 200+ SCOTUS cases & work w/Justice Thomas. @POTUS

COOL NEWS ALERT: Pod Save America is hosting a Michigan U.S. Senate Democratic Primary forum later this month. Crooked's own Alex Wagner will moderate a roundtable discussion with the Great Lakes State’s Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate: Rep. Haley Stevens, Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. Tune in May 24th on Pod Save America.

Michiganders! Are you tired of the influence that money has in our politics? Let's do something about it! Until May 13th the petition for Michiganders For Money Out Of Politics (MMOP) is actively circulating! We here at Rank MI Vote have teamed up with MMOP to help them in this final push for signatures. What do we need from you? We need you to sign the petition, but we also need you to volunteer with us to collect signatures! To get involved, email us at volunteers@rankmivote.org OR Sign up to volunteer at rankmivote.org/volunteer During the sign-up process you'll be connected to a field team that will get you set up with petitions! We only have two short weeks left and we need to get as many Michiganders involved as possible! This is such an important cross partisan cause that we believe every Michigander can get behind. Let's work to improve democracy by helping get money OUT of our politics here in Michigan! If you're already a volunteer, reach out to your local field team lead, or the Kates, TODAY to get started collecting signatures. We can make such a difference if we stand and work together.

‼️ NEW from @GongwerMichigan: Mike Rogers "doubled down" after spreading false claims that a "van full of ballots" in Detroit swung his 2024 race. In a statement today, Rogers' campaign insisted there are still "lingering questions and concerns about the last election." #MISen

@Stainless31 Lol.

Democrat Mayor with high approval rating switches to Independent for a gubernatorial run a full year before his party completely implodes. Say what you will about this guy, and there’s a lot to say, that’s remarkable 4-D chess.

@ChiefLinwoodAYE Hell, yes, it's a no. But the GOP loves you and thanks you for your service and your attempt to derail the priorities of Democrats.

@beyond_process Is that a no?

We should look into it now. She should have never got in office.

@ChiefLinwoodAYE Do you care if she gets replaced with a Republican?

@beyond_process You're not on board with replacing Slotkin?

@nd_wallingford @samueljrob @ryangrim Like I said, you don't know how Medicare works today. You made up what it does and how it works in your head, and never checked.

@beyond_process @samueljrob @ryangrim And importantly, under Pete's plan the Medicare buy-in would require a monthly premium in addition to payroll taxes already paid for Medicare. One could say that this is better than purely private insurance which would likely have higher premiums. But it's not Medicare for All.

McMorrow rejects that she ever sought support from AIPAC. El-Sayed brought up the report at last week’s debate from @ryangrim claiming a supporter in a leaked campaign call said McMorrow produced an “AIPAC position paper” that is “outstanding,” but has not made public.

@nd_wallingford @samueljrob @ryangrim It's not supplemental, it's total coverage in lieu of Medicare. You don't even know how Medicare works, and you want to pretend to be an expert because you're hero worshiping a politician, one I might still vote for, in spite of, but definitely not because of what you said here.

@beyond_process @samueljrob @ryangrim You are pretty terribly misrepresenting El Sayed's policy. He wants Medicare expanded to cover everyone, with an option to keep supplemental private insurance some may have via their union. That's not at all the same as Pete's plan, which was an option to buy in to Medicare.

Something that’s become clear talking to Democratic voters in Michigan — Progressives are split on El-Sayed and McMorrow for the state’s U.S. Senate seat. I spoke to some at events for both candidates over the weekend in Detroit michiganchronicle.com/bernie-sanders…

@AFPMichigan @AFPhq @RepRigas @LandenChulski I'm deadass serious, please do not allow a toddler around Ryan Kelley. Go look up what his sister said he did to her when she was that age. You're going to want to take this post down too at least that picture.

This last Saturday we held a Day of Remembrance for one of @AFPhq founders, David Koch. @RepRigas gave a great tribute that celebrated his life and his contributions that have had such a positive impact on our state and nation.

Why do all politicians lie so much, and why does this one in particular lie more than the rest?

@BronzedByBetsy @repjthompson @CraigDMauger This is, in fact, what happened

@repjthompson @beyond_process @CraigDMauger girl, you liked joe's tweet.

Michigan’s universal school meal program is more complicated than it’s often described. The federal gov’t covers meals for many low-income students. The state’s portion ends up sending many education dollars for lunches at districts in wealthy areas. detroitnews.com/story/news/pol…

@ErikAndThoughts @el_sabawi Then keep your foolish ideas out of my mentions, hoosier

@beyond_process @el_sabawi Don't dwell on it if it isn't important to you then?

We should look into primarying Slotkin regardless.

@CraigDMauger Thanks @repjthompson, are you switching parties?

@CraigDMauger This is a terrible waste of money because no poor students ever go to school in wealthy areas.

@ErikAndThoughts @el_sabawi Well, South Bend, that's great. You're asking me to prioritize a lot that has nothing to do with an election that's coming up in November that can be a very real check and referendum on this presidency that directly threatens my family as Latinos. So again, you're a fool.

@beyond_process @el_sabawi I voted for Slotkin in 2024, she still needs to defend her seat in 2030, and we should be looking for better candidates in the meantime. Not sure what this has to do with whatever you just wrote