gerrymandered the hell out of us and it looked hopeless for Democratic gains in the legislature for the foreseeable future. They had a stranglehold on all of the principal state offices, the legislature, and the MI Supreme Court. Then they got cocky, overreaching, and royally fucking up. Taxing seniors and the disabled in order to give corporations a $1.8B tax cut, passed "right to fire" legislation that Snyder signed into law at midnight (along with other heinous bills) after promising during the gubernatorial race that he "had no interest" in doing so. Roads, bridges, and dams were falling apart while they did nothing. The coup de gras was when they poisoned the Flint water supply.
Enough was enough.
Citizens mobilized in 2017 and started a petition drive to put a prop on the 2018 ballot to take redistricting out of the hands of the legislature in favor of an independent commission. Putting legalizing pot on the ballot also helped motivate voters in 2018. The MIDems recruited quality candidates while the MIGQP nominated stale party hacks. We made inroads with the legislature but flipping it was still out of reach. After the anti-gerrymandering prop was passed, we had to wait until the 2020 census to begin redistricting.
We made more inroads in 2020, and most importantly, we flipped the MI Supreme Court to blue -- which was crucial for the 2022 results. After Roe v. Wade was struck down, the MIGQP wanted to resurrect a 1931 law banning all abortions, so a petition drive was launched to put abortion/contraception rights on the 2022 ballot. The MIGQP tried to negate the petition because there was a minor word spacing issue that they said would "confuse" voters, which was a lot of hooey. The MIGQP members of the Board of Canvassers rejected the petition so it went to the MI Supreme Court which ruled it must be put on the ballot. If we hadn't flipped the Court in 2020, I have my doubts the prop would've even made it onto the ballot this year.
It was hard slogging, but Michigan proves that citizens don't have to take what their state GQP is dishing out. It takes a lot of work but it can be done. Plus, it didn't hurt that Benedict Donald isn't all that popular in many parts of the state and his attempt at "king-making" failed miserably. What a bunch of nutbags. Passing a prop that strengthened voting rights in 2020 also helped.
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