Prepare to Vote: Redistricting and the Candidates for Michigan Governor [VIDEO, TRANSCRIPTS]
See if Michigan’s next governor supports Voters Not Politicians or other redistricting changes.
Other WDET Redistricting Conversations:
Policy Meets the People: Introducing the Issue of Gerrymandering
Voters Not Politicians: The Pros [TRANSCRIPT]
Voters Not Politicians: The Cons [TRANSCRIPT]
MichMash: Here’s How You Can Influence the Drawing of District Lines in Michigan
LIVE STREAM: Policy Meets the People – The Redistricting Issue Special [VIDEO]
The DJC reporters asked the candidates whether they support the Voters Not Politicians ballot proposal. Here’s how they answered:
Republican Candidates
Brian Calley OPPOSES the ballot initiative. “I appreciate the concerns. But everybody has politics. No matter who is drawing the lines, everybody has politics,” he said. “Somebody who has to face voters, I just think that is a better option in terms of drawing the lines. There are also rules in place in Michigan that are very objective.”
Patrick Colbeck OPPOSES the ballot initiative. “Everybody needs to recognize that that proposal is not about the voters. It is about gerrymandering, and it’s about the Democrats trying to gerrymander the election process,” he said. “I think that the system is working just fine right now.”
Jim Hines OPPOSES the ballot initiative. “What’s being proposed is a commission with independent individuals making that decision apart from the legislature, apart for the governor, through the secretary of state. I don’t believe that that’s appropriate,” he said.
Bill schuette
Bill Schuette declined the Detroit Journalism Cooperative’s request for a video interview, citing scheduling interviews.
Click HERE to learn more about him and WDET’s coverage of his campaign.
He OPPOSES the ballot initiative.
Democratic Candidates
Abdul El-Sayed SUPPORTS the ballot initiative. “Just look at its enemies. These are all people that have benefitted from a system that put corporations over every day people,” he said. “It’s time for us to break this system that has left us with one of the most unequal distributions of government in the country, frankly.”
Shri Thanedar SUPPORTS the initiative. “It’s a great initiative. I expect it to pass. And as Governor, I look forward to redistricting and restoring Democratic practices back in Michigan,” he said.
Gretchen Whitmer SUPPORTS the ballot initiative. “When I was in the legislature, I saw every day the disservice that this partisan redistricting has,” she said. “Every voice needs to be respected and that’s why we’ve got to take redistricting away from the legislature. I would say that if it was Democratic control.”
Other Issues
Find out what the 2018 Michigan gubernatorial candidates think about transit, education and marijuana.
