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Tag: gubernatorial election

  • Duggan won’t say if Trump’s execution threats go too far – Detroit Metro Times

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    Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan had an opportunity this weekend to say whether he thinks President Donald Trump’s threats of jailing and executing political opponents has gone too far. 

    He passed.

    Appearing on WXYZ’s Spotlight on the News over the weekend, Duggan, who is running for governor as an independent, was asked about Trump accusing Democratic lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, of “seditious behavior.” Trump suggested their actions could be “punishable by DEATH” after they released a video reminding military members they can refuse illegal orders.

    Instead of answering, Duggan dodged the question, as he often has when asked about Trump’s dangerous behavior and policies. 

    “I’ve stayed out of these national debates,” Duggan said. “I’m not going to get involved in the national debate.”

    Host Chuck Stokes quickly moved on, promising to come back with “some more positive things.” 

    The exchange has become all too common in the local media. Rather than press Duggan on his position, Stokes let the mayor dodge a question that is important for many voters as they continue to ask: Who is Mike Duggan now and where does he stand on many issues? The former Democrat is trying to appeal to independents and Trump supporters, and he has refused to touch controversial issues. 

    Asked why Duggan wouldn’t respond to Stokes, campaign spokesperson Andrea Bitley tells Metro Times that the mayor “answered the question clearly.”

    “He is running for state office, not federal office, and has made it his practice in this campaign to stick to state issues,” Bitley says.

    But Trump’s rhetoric and policies have become state issues. Trump has ordered federal immigration raids that rely on state cooperation, pushed to deploy U.S. troops into American cities, and threatened to withhold funding to some states. His administration’s policies deal with everything from health care access and public safety to immigration enforcement.

    Last week, Trump’s dangerous rhetoric drew widespread condemnation, even from members of his own party. Slotkin reportedly received a bomb threat last week. 

    So far, Duggan isn’t willing to talk about it. 

    In posts on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Slotkin and five other Democratic lawmakers “traitors” and wrote that their video urging troops to refuse unlawful orders amounted to “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” He also reposted a supporter’s call to “HANG THEM,” prompting a wave of threats against the lawmakers and forcing some to adopt 24/7 security. 

    On Tuesday, Slotkin said the FBI has signaled it has opened what appears to be an investigation into her and others who released the video.

    Slotkin, appearing on ABC’s This Week, called Trump’s language “a tool of fear” and said the goal was to intimidate critics and distract from other damaging news.

    Even some Republicans denounced Trump. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, said calling opponents “traitors” and threatening the death penalty was “reckless, inappropriate, irresponsible” and warned it could inspire unstable people to commit violence. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime Trump ally and Republican from South Carolina, called the president’s comments “over the top.”

    Republican Rep. Michael McCaul told ABC he didn’t “speak for the president in terms of hanging members of Congress” and urged everyone to “tone down the rhetoric.”

    While some Republicans who support Trump were willing to say his threats crossed a line, Duggan has chosen to remain silent.

    Instead, he touts his ability to “bring Democrats and Republicans together.”

    Here’s the exchange on WXYZ:

    Stokes: “We now have a controversy with the president now about sedition and making charges against Democratic politicians, one of our own Senator Slotkin … that it could lead to sedition and could lead to hangings and shooting politicians.”

    Duggan: “Yeah, so the reason that we have been successful is, I’m the mayor of Detroit, and I am dealing with issues that relate to Detroiters. I’ve stayed out of these national debates, and I think Detroit has done extremely well by paying attention to what we’re doing in the city, and so I’m not going to get involved in the national debate.”

    Stokes didn’t press him. There was no follow-up or questions about whether Duggan thought threatening lawmakers with death was wrong. 

    That has become a pattern in Duggan’s 2026 governor’s race. He casts himself as a post-partisan problem-solver while dodging questions about Trump’s most extreme actions and rhetoric, even when the target is a fellow Michigan officeholder.

    Duggan’s silence stands in stark contrast to the mayor that Detroiters have seen for most of the last decade.

    For nearly 40 years in public life, Duggan said he was a proud Democrat. He campaigned for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, he mocked Trump’s many bankruptcies and called him “the most phony party nominee” he’d ever seen. When Trump falsely claimed voter fraud in Detroit in 2020, Duggan called the allegations “utter nonsense” and “a real threat to everything we believe in … that everybody’s vote counts the same.”

    He praised Biden and Harris as “real partners” who helped Detroit recover and said “the best thing that happened in Detroit was when Donald Trump left office.”

    Now, Duggan insists he hasn’t changed his views “on any issue,” just his party label.

    “I haven’t changed any positions, other than that I think the toxic relationship between the two parties is badly damaging the state and we need a different approach to get Republicans and Democrats to work together,” Duggan told conservative Detroit News columnist Nolan Finley this summer.

    But his public posture has shifted. He’s far more likely these days to attack Democrats than Trump or Republicans, accusing his former party of caring only about hating the GOP and Trump and claiming “people are fed up with this Democratic Party in Michigan.” On social media and in TV interviews, he repeatedly says both parties are broken, and he is above partisan bickering.

    “I don’t answer to party bosses. I answer to you,” Duggan’s campaign page tweeted last week. 

    Duggan’s statements come as his campaign relies heavily on a coalition of Republican donors and Trump supporters. As Metro Times previously reported, Duggan is raising millions of dollars from the Republican establishment and Trump megadonors, such as billionaire Roger Penske, former Michigan GOP chair Ron Weiser, charter school mogul J.C. Huizenga, and other heavyweights who have poured money into Trump, the GOP, and conservative causes for years. Many have given Duggan the maximum contribution, and family members and business associates have also donated. 

    In October, a Duggan fundraiser was co-hosted by controversial millionaire Anthony Soave, who donated $100,000 to a Donald Trump political action committee and has been linked to multiple corruption scandals involving city contracts.

    Duggan’s team openly boasts that he’s “pulling unprecedented support from Democrats and Republicans,” citing polling that shows him closing in on Democrat Jocelyn Benson and Republican John James in a three-way race. If the election were held today, a recent internal survey from Duggan’s campaign suggested he would garner 26%, while Benson would get 30%, and James 29%. 

    Duggan’s refusal to condemn Trump for threatening the lives of Slotkin and others is a sharp departure from his past criticism of the president. Either Duggan has changed his position on Trump, or he’s willing to tolerate the threats and bigotry of the administration. 

    One of them is political theater. 

    In ordinary times, dodging a question on a popular TV news show might not be a big deal. But the sitting president is telling the country that a Michigan senator and her colleagues are “traitors” whose actions are “punishable by DEATH,” while they report an alarming increase in threats.

    Duggan says he wants to leave the “us vs. them” politics behind him, but many voters also want to know whether a would-be governor believes it’s acceptable for a president to suggest that his critics are “traitors” who deserve death.

    Duggan chose to duck on live TV when given the chance to condemn Trump’s dangerous rhetoric.

    The real question in this campaign may not be whether he’s a Democrat, Republican, or independent. It’s whether Michigan voters will accept a governor who won’t say where he stands when it really matters.


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    Steve Neavling

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  • Democrat Mikie Sherrill elected governor of New Jersey, defeating opponent who aligned with Trump

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    U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill on Tuesday was elected governor of New Jersey, raising hopes for Democrats and highlighting Republican vulnerabilities after there had been signs of a rightward shift in recent years in what has been a reliably blue state.Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and four-term member of Congress, defeated Jack Ciattarelli, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and quickly cast her victory late Tuesday as a referendum on the Republican president and some of his policies — from health care to immigration and the economy.”We here in New Jersey are bound to fight for a different future for our children,” Sherrill told her supporters gathered to celebrate her victory. “We see how clearly important liberty is. We know that no one in our great state is safe when our neighbors are targeted, ignoring the law and the Constitution.” She was joined on stage with her husband and children.Sherrill, 53, offers some reassurance for moderates within the Democratic Party as they navigate the path forward for next year’s midterms. A former prosecutor and military veteran, Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, the other Democrat who was elected as Virginia governor, embody a brand of centrist Democrats who aim to appeal to some conservatives while still aligning with some progressive causes. Sherrill campaigned on standing up to Trump and casting blame for voters’ concerns over the economy on his tariffs.Ciattarelli called Sherrill to congratulate her on the results and did not mention Trump in his address.”It is my hope that Mikie Sherrill has heard us in terms of what we need to do to make New Jersey that place where everybody can once again feel that they can achieve their American dream,” Ciattarelli said.The start of voting on Tuesday was disrupted after officials in seven counties received e-mailed bomb threats later determined by law enforcement to be unfounded, said the state’s top election official, Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way. A judge granted a one-hour extension at some polling places after Democrats made a request for three schools that received the threats earlier Tuesday.Sherrill marks milestonesShe will be New Jersey’s second female governor, after Republican Christine Todd Whitman, who served between 1994 and 2001. Her victory also gives Democrats three straight gubernatorial election wins in New Jersey, the first time in six decades that either major party has achieved a three-peat.Ciattarelli lost his second straight general election after coming within a few points of defeating incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago.New Jersey’s odd-year race for governor, one of just two this year along with Virginia, often hinged on local issues such as property taxes. But the campaign also served as a potential gauge of national sentiment, especially how voters are reacting to the president’s second term and Democrats’ messaging ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, praised Sherrill’s win as “a roadmap for how Democrats can overcome precedent and win in deeply competitive races when we stay laser-focused on our positive vision to address the biggest issues impacting families in their daily lives.”Video below: Mikie Sherrill enters a voting site in Montclair, NJA victory against TrumpIn her speech on Tuesday, Sherrill said voters were concerned with attacks on their civil liberties as well as on their economic well-being. She said Trump is “ripping away” health care and targeting food benefits. Democratic governors across the country have been pushing back on those issues, as well as planned National Guard deployments in their states.Sherrill also criticized him for something that impacts New Jersey specifically: Canceling a project to expand train access to New York City. In the closing weeks of the campaign, she lambasted the president’s threat to cancel the Hudson River project.”Governors have never mattered more,” Sherrill said. “And in this state, I am determined to build prosperity for all of us.”From the Navy to the governor’s officeSherrill steps into the governorship role after serving four terms in the U.S. House. She won that post in 2018 during Trump’s first term in office, flipping a longtime GOP-held district in an election that saw Democrats sweep all but one of the state’s 12 House seats.During her campaign, Sherrill leaned hard into her credentials as a congresswoman and onetime prosecutor as well as her military service. But she also had to defend her Navy service record after a news report that she was not allowed to participate in her 1994 graduation ceremony from the U.S. Naval Academy commencement in connection with an academic cheating scandal at the school.Sherrill said the punishment was a result of not turning in some classmates, not because she herself had cheated. But she declined to release additional records that the Ciattarelli campaign said would shed more light on the issue.For her part, she accused Ciattarelli of profiting off the opioid crisis. He is the former owner of a medical publishing company that made continuing education materials for doctors, including some that discussed pain management and opioids. Sherrill called it “propaganda” for drug companies, something Ciattarelli denied.Promises for New JerseySherrill will inherit a state budget that swelled under Murphy, who delivered on promises to fund the public worker pension fund and a K-12 school aid formula after years of neglect under previous governors, by high income taxes on the wealthy. But there are also headwinds that include unfunded promises to continue a property tax relief program begun in the governor’s second term.Also on the ballot Tuesday were all 80 seats in the Assembly, which Democrats control with a 52-seat majority.New Jersey hasn’t supported a Republican for U.S. Senate or the White House in decades. The governor’s office, though, has often switched back and forth between the parties. The last time the same party prevailed in a third straight New Jersey election for governor was in 1961, when Richard Hughes won the race to succeed Gov. Robert Meyner. Both were Democrats.

    U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill on Tuesday was elected governor of New Jersey, raising hopes for Democrats and highlighting Republican vulnerabilities after there had been signs of a rightward shift in recent years in what has been a reliably blue state.

    Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and four-term member of Congress, defeated Jack Ciattarelli, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and quickly cast her victory late Tuesday as a referendum on the Republican president and some of his policies — from health care to immigration and the economy.

    “We here in New Jersey are bound to fight for a different future for our children,” Sherrill told her supporters gathered to celebrate her victory. “We see how clearly important liberty is. We know that no one in our great state is safe when our neighbors are targeted, ignoring the law and the Constitution.” She was joined on stage with her husband and children.

    Sherrill, 53, offers some reassurance for moderates within the Democratic Party as they navigate the path forward for next year’s midterms. A former prosecutor and military veteran, Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, the other Democrat who was elected as Virginia governor, embody a brand of centrist Democrats who aim to appeal to some conservatives while still aligning with some progressive causes. Sherrill campaigned on standing up to Trump and casting blame for voters’ concerns over the economy on his tariffs.

    Ciattarelli called Sherrill to congratulate her on the results and did not mention Trump in his address.

    “It is my hope that Mikie Sherrill has heard us in terms of what we need to do to make New Jersey that place where everybody can once again feel that they can achieve their American dream,” Ciattarelli said.

    The start of voting on Tuesday was disrupted after officials in seven counties received e-mailed bomb threats later determined by law enforcement to be unfounded, said the state’s top election official, Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way. A judge granted a one-hour extension at some polling places after Democrats made a request for three schools that received the threats earlier Tuesday.

    Sherrill marks milestones

    She will be New Jersey’s second female governor, after Republican Christine Todd Whitman, who served between 1994 and 2001. Her victory also gives Democrats three straight gubernatorial election wins in New Jersey, the first time in six decades that either major party has achieved a three-peat.

    Ciattarelli lost his second straight general election after coming within a few points of defeating incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago.

    New Jersey’s odd-year race for governor, one of just two this year along with Virginia, often hinged on local issues such as property taxes. But the campaign also served as a potential gauge of national sentiment, especially how voters are reacting to the president’s second term and Democrats’ messaging ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

    Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, praised Sherrill’s win as “a roadmap for how Democrats can overcome precedent and win in deeply competitive races when we stay laser-focused on our positive vision to address the biggest issues impacting families in their daily lives.”

    Video below: Mikie Sherrill enters a voting site in Montclair, NJ

    A victory against Trump

    In her speech on Tuesday, Sherrill said voters were concerned with attacks on their civil liberties as well as on their economic well-being. She said Trump is “ripping away” health care and targeting food benefits. Democratic governors across the country have been pushing back on those issues, as well as planned National Guard deployments in their states.

    Sherrill also criticized him for something that impacts New Jersey specifically: Canceling a project to expand train access to New York City. In the closing weeks of the campaign, she lambasted the president’s threat to cancel the Hudson River project.

    “Governors have never mattered more,” Sherrill said. “And in this state, I am determined to build prosperity for all of us.”

    From the Navy to the governor’s office

    Sherrill steps into the governorship role after serving four terms in the U.S. House. She won that post in 2018 during Trump’s first term in office, flipping a longtime GOP-held district in an election that saw Democrats sweep all but one of the state’s 12 House seats.

    During her campaign, Sherrill leaned hard into her credentials as a congresswoman and onetime prosecutor as well as her military service. But she also had to defend her Navy service record after a news report that she was not allowed to participate in her 1994 graduation ceremony from the U.S. Naval Academy commencement in connection with an academic cheating scandal at the school.

    Sherrill said the punishment was a result of not turning in some classmates, not because she herself had cheated. But she declined to release additional records that the Ciattarelli campaign said would shed more light on the issue.

    For her part, she accused Ciattarelli of profiting off the opioid crisis. He is the former owner of a medical publishing company that made continuing education materials for doctors, including some that discussed pain management and opioids. Sherrill called it “propaganda” for drug companies, something Ciattarelli denied.

    Promises for New Jersey

    Sherrill will inherit a state budget that swelled under Murphy, who delivered on promises to fund the public worker pension fund and a K-12 school aid formula after years of neglect under previous governors, by high income taxes on the wealthy. But there are also headwinds that include unfunded promises to continue a property tax relief program begun in the governor’s second term.

    Also on the ballot Tuesday were all 80 seats in the Assembly, which Democrats control with a 52-seat majority.

    New Jersey hasn’t supported a Republican for U.S. Senate or the White House in decades. The governor’s office, though, has often switched back and forth between the parties. The last time the same party prevailed in a third straight New Jersey election for governor was in 1961, when Richard Hughes won the race to succeed Gov. Robert Meyner. Both were Democrats.

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  • Duggan defends Trump’s Medicaid work rules as critics warn cuts will strip coverage from hundreds of thousands – Detroit Metro Times

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    Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running for Michigan governor as an independent after decades as a self-proclaimed Democrat, downplayed the impact of sweeping Medicaid cuts under former President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

    Speaking to business leaders at a Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce event last week, Duggan said the reductions “aren’t as bad as they look” and defended the law’s controversial work requirement for Medicaid recipients.

    “You know what the Medicaid work requirement is?” Duggan said. “Either you’re looking for work, or you’re taking high school courses, you’re taking job training courses, or you’re volunteering in your community. If you’re doing any of those things, you keep your Medicaid. There’s no cut.”

    Duggan went on to argue that the key is implementation. 

    “These Medicaid cuts are not as bad as they look, if state government knows what it’s doing,” he said. 

    If elected governor, Duggan said he would build a computer system to help residents log their work, education, or volunteer hours to remain eligible.

    But health care leaders and Democrats say Duggan is ignoring the reality of Trump’s legislation, which slashes $840 billion from Medicaid over the next decade and adds new administrative barriers that experts say will cause millions of low-income Americans to lose coverage.

    Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, warned the cuts “will be disastrous for Michigan health care,” saying hospitals “will be faced with difficult choices that will include eliminating service lines or even entire facilities.” Peters said the bill will cost Michigan hospitals more than $6 billion in Medicaid funding over ten years.

    Rural hospitals, many of which are struggling, stand to be hit hardest. In the Upper Peninsula, Ontonagon’s only hospital has closed, Aspirus Health in Ironwood has stopped delivering babies, and Sturgis Hospital recently ended inpatient care. A Republican hospital executive in Hillsdale even called Trump’s bill “devastating,” saying it “is going to hurt lives in this country — not just in Michigan, but in rural hospitals across the country.”

    Polling from the Michigan Health and Hospital Association shows 86% of residents believe Medicaid is vital to their community, and 76% say it’s important to their families and friends. More than 700,000 Michiganders are projected to lose coverage as a result of the new law, which includes shorter eligibility periods, added reporting requirements, and expanded work rules that states must enforce.

    Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel accused Duggan of siding with Trump’s donors over working families.

    “Mike Duggan’s campaign is being bankrolled by MAGA donors and loyalists to Donald Trump, and now he’s dismissing concerns about Michiganders who are going to lose their care,” Hertel said. “More than 700,000 people across the state are set to lose their coverage, health care costs are going up, and hospitals are struggling to stay afloat — but for Duggan, these cuts ‘are not as bad as they look.’”

    Duggan’s campaign pushed back, saying in a written statement that the mayor “has been one of Michigan’s strongest and most vocal supporters for expanding Medicaid coverage for the last 20 years.” 

    Campaign spokesperson Andrea Bitley said that Duggan was “strongly opposed to the cuts this year.” But when asked to point to Duggan’s public opposition to the GOP cuts, Bitley simply responded, “He’s addressed it multiple times.” 

    Metro Times couldn’t find an instance in which Duggan spoke out against the Medicaid cuts. 

    Bitley said Duggan, who previously served as CEO of the Detroit Medical Center in 2004, was trying to explain that he plans to build the proper infrastructure to prevent many Michigan residents from losing their Medicaid. 

    “The Mayor promised as Governor to implement a statewide computer program, making Michigan the easiest state in the country to document qualifying volunteer, education, or work activities so that our eligible residents will not lose their Medicaid coverage,” Bitley said. “The Mayor clearly explained that loss of Medicaid coverage in Michigan will not be as bad as predicted if you have the leadership of a governor who truly understands national healthcare knows how to implement an aggressive enrollment strategy.”

    While Duggan’s proposal might reduce some bureaucratic hurdles, it can’t overturn the structural cuts in Trump’s bill. The majority of people who lose Medicaid under work-requirement programs do so because of confusing paperwork, short renewal periods, and strict federal rules, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research organization based in California. Even with a modern computer system, Michigan would still be obligated to follow the federal law’s eligibility cuts and new verification mandates, which are expected to strip coverage from hundreds of thousands of residents.   

    The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 12 million Americans could lose Medicaid coverage nationwide. 

    The Michigan League for Public Policy has warned that no amount of technology or reporting improvements can prevent people from losing coverage under Trump’s law.

    Since Duggan announced his campaign for governor, he has tried to court independents and Republicans by attacking Democrats and adopting GOP talking points, including calling undocumented immigrants “illegal” in January while speaking to business leaders. When called out by pro-immigration groups, Duggan dismissed the criticism as “political correctness,” another term that conservatives have adopted.

    Duggan’s political balancing act is turning off many Democrats. As Metro Times previously reported, Duggan’s campaign has raised millions from wealthy GOP funders, including major Trump donors Roger Penske, Ron Weiser, and J.C. Huizenga.

    Meanwhile, Michigan is bracing for deep budget reductions from the federal cuts. A July report by the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council warned that the One Big Beautiful Bill will cost the state more than $1 billion in lost revenue and could force major reductions in health and social programs.


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    Steve Neavling

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  • Winsome Earle-Sears gets powerful billionaire backer after racist attack

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    Robert Johnson, the billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), has donated $500,000 to Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears’ gubernatorial campaign after she was targeted by a racist sign at an Arlington County school board meeting.

    Newsweek reached out via email to Johnson through his hotel investment company, RLJ Lodging Trust, and the Earle-Sears campaign for comment.

    “Virginia Democrats unanimously, forcefully and unequivocally condemned the racist sign in Arlington—period,” Lamont Bagby, a Black state senator and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, told Newsweek in part via email on Friday.

    Why It Matters

    Johnson’s hefty donation, first reported by Politico, comes after Republican candidate Earle-Sears was greeted with a sign targeting her last week at an Arlington County, Virginia, school board meeting.

    The incident has since garnered millions of views on social media due to what was scribed on the sign: “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then blacks can’t share my water fountain.”

    Earle-Sears, who has served in her current role since 2022, called the display “a shame,” telling local ABC affiliate 7News that Democrats are “spewing hate.” Some Virginia Democrats, in remarks to Newsweek and on social media, have condemned the sign.

    What to Know

    The sign was held by a Democratic volunteer who, according to 7News, has been canvassing for Democrats for years.

    It has prompted individuals like Johnson, an entrepreneur and business magnate who formerly supported Democrats, including Hillary Clinton in 2008 and 2016, and Terry McAuliffe in a previous state gubernatorial election, to contribute to the Earle-Sears campaign.

    Johnson, in a statement provided to Politico, said he was “so appalled by that racist diatribe … that I choose to show the voters of Virginia how Black Brothers stand up to defend and support their Black Sisters.”

    President-elect Donald Trump (C) greets Robert Johnson (R), the founder of Black Entertainment Television, and his wife Lauren Wooden (L) as they arrive for a meeting with president-elect Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Club,…


    Drew Angerer/Getty Images

    Virginia Democrats, including Lamont Bagby, a Black state senator and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, refuted claims from Earle-Sears and Republicans that members of his party supported the sign’s message.

    “Virginia Democrats unanimously, forcefully and unequivocally condemned the racist sign in Arlington—period,” Bagby told Newsweek via email on Friday. “Winsome Sears’ actions and rhetoric mirror Donald Trump and his attacks on Black institutions and leaders, undermining the very progress our communities have fought for.

    “It is no surprise she’s even cast doubt on the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, invoked slavery to attack diversity programs, and supported defunding public schools in Black communities and cutting community health centers that all Virginians rely on for care. We’ve come too far, and we won’t allow Virginia to go backwards.”

    Bagby, nor the Virginia Democrats, remarked on Johnson’s half-million-dollar donation.

    Virginia Representative Abigail Spanberger, who is running as the Democratic nominee for governor, wrote in an X post on August 22 that the sign was “racist and abhorrent.”

    “Many Virginians remember the segregated water fountains (and buses and schools and neighborhoods) of Virginia’s recent history,” Spanberger said. “And no matter the intended purpose or tone and no matter how much one might find someone else’s beliefs objectionable, to threaten a return of Jim Crow and segregation to a Black woman is unacceptable. Full stop.”

    The Arlington Democratic Committee, which helped organize the rally to protest Earle-Sears, stated that the woman holding the sign is not affiliated with them and that they are not familiar with her, according to 7News.

    “What happened in Arlington wasn’t just about a meeting,” Virginia Democrats’ Vice Chair Marc Broklawski wrote on X last weekend. “It was about the climate Winsome Sears is creating, one where contempt is currency and neighbors are turned against each other.”

    In 2008, Johnson supported Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama and was even described as a “HillRaiser” at the time. A joke he made then about Obama believed to reference the eventual president’s past marijuana use was downplayed by the Clinton campaign, and it later led to Johnson issuing an apology to Obama—who he wanted to pick Clinton as his running mate.

    Johnson, however, later made a remark that Obama would not be the Democratic Party‘s nominee if he were not Black. Johnson said at the time: “I make a joke about Obama doing drugs [and it’s] ‘Oh my God, a black man tearing down another black man.’”

    Johnson also attempted to urge Black Americans to give Donald Trump a chance following his 2016 victory, noting how he personally knew Trump for years. That included meeting Trump at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

    What People Are Saying

    Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears to 7News: “Remember who I am. I’m an immigrant to this wonderful country, and not only that, but I’m a Black woman, and so I’m second in command in the former capital of the Confederate States. For her to talk about a water fountain that Blacks—she started with me and then she went to Black people in general—can’t be at her water fountain. When did you start owning the water fountains, my good friend? And I thought the water fountains belong to everybody. Are we going back to Klan days now?”

    What Happens Next

    The Virginia gubernatorial election will be held on November 4, 2025, to elect a replacement for the term-limited incumbent Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.

    A poll published by Roanoke College last week showed Spanberger leading Earle-Sears, 46-39 percent. She has led her Republican counterpart in every major poll released in the past two months, including a Virginia Commonwealth University poll in July showing her with a 12-point lead. The Decision Desk HQ average in early August showed Spanberger leading with an average of 45.2 percent compared to 36 percent for Earle-Sears.

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  • Duggan’s political makeover raises questions about who he really is in gubernatorial bid

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    Who is Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan really?

    For nearly four decades in public office, Duggan has aligned himself with the Democratic Party. As a three-term mayor, he campaigned for presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. At the Democratic National Convention in July 2016, Duggan slammed then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

    “Detroit is 18 months out of bankruptcy, something Donald Trump knows a little bit about. But unlike Donald Trump, Detroit is only going to do bankruptcy once,” Duggan said at the convention. Several months later, Duggan called Trump “the most phony party nominee that I have seen in my lifetime.”

    When Biden defeated Trump in Michigan by 145,000 votes in November 2020, Duggan called the claims of fraud by Trump and his supporters “utter nonsense” and said they’re “a real threat to everything we believe in … that everybody’s vote counts the same.”

    But now that Duggan is running as an independent for governor, he has dramatically changed his rhetoric, turning his ire on Democrats and taking big donations from GOP party leaders, megadonors of Trump, and conservative power brokers with vested interests in state policy.

    When Metro Times asked Duggan’s campaign on Monday about his seemingly fluid position on Trump and the president’s attacks on people of color and the LGBTQ+ movement, a spokesperson referred us to the mayor’s recent comments to none other than conservative Detroit News columnist Nolan Finley. The campaign also deflected questions about Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that cost Michigan more than $1 billion, forcing steep cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid and food assistance that support millions of lower-income residents.

    “I haven’t changed any positions, other than that I think the toxic relationship between the two parties is badly damaging the state and we need a different approach to get Republicans and Democrats to work together,” Duggan told Finley. “But I haven’t changed my position on any issue.”

    But a review of recent interviews and social media posts show Duggan disproportionately attacking Democrats, raising questions about the sincerity of his past statements and the truth of his current ones.

    “The Democratic support is crumbling for them, and I know they’re a little upset, but people are fed up with this Democratic Party in Michigan,” Duggan said on CBS News recently, before repeating a criticism he wrote on social media. “They care about two things: They hate the Republicans in general, and they hate Trump in particular, and they don’t stand for anything else. And a lot of people are deciding they have had enough of it.”

    When the CBS reporter, Major Garrett, asked how his agenda would differ from Republicans, Duggan deflected: “The Republicans and Democrats both share the blame.”

    In the Duggan campaign’s latest post on X, the mayor wrote, “So this week, Democratic Party insiders are attacking us for taking donations from Republicans.”

    “They’re mad the independent campaign is getting support from both parties,” he added. “We shouldn’t be surprised. It’s the same old partisan playbook. Demonize anyone who tries to bring Democrats and Republicans together.”

    Whether Duggan’s shifting rhetoric signals a lurch to the right or is just campaign theatrics is anyone’s guess. He’s running as an independent at a time when the Democratic Party’s favorability nationwide has fallen to a record low.

    Duggan is clearly reaching out to the red swath of Michigan that is outside metro Detroit. A survey released in May by the Detroit Regional Chamber showed that Duggan’s support drops sharply outside the region, where his name recognition and favorability ratings lag behind his rivals.

    Regardless of his current rhetoric, Duggan can’t change what he’s said and done in the past. In July, less than six months before he began attacking Democrats, Duggan endorsed Harris and was in “deep campaign mode” for her. At the time, he slammed Trump.

    “I spent four years with Donald Trump as president,” Duggan said. “There was no good relationship then. Basically we tried to keep our head down during that time. I think our starting point is, we need to elect a president who cares about this city and cares about this state. I remember he did the visit to the church in the campaign in 2016 and says, ‘I will help Detroit’s rebuilding.’ He got elected and never visited once in the next four years.”

    In October 2024, when Duggan was campaigning for Harris, he criticized Trump for saying Detroit is more “developing” than “most places in China.”

    Calling Trump’s memory “a little fuzzy,” Duggan said, “Since Donald Trump left office, the unemployment rate in Detroit is way down, the homicide rate is way down, and our population is growing for the first time since the 1950s.”

    He added, “The best thing that happened in Detroit was when Donald Trump left office and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came in and gave us real partners.”

    Speaking at a press conference organized by then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign in September 2016, Duggan once again scolded Trump.

    “Are you here just to use Detroiters as props in a re-imaging campaign, or are you here to have a real conversation where you’re finally going to give us the specifics on what you’re going to do to make American cities better?” Duggan asked.

    Duggan hosted several Democratic presidential candidates since he was mayor, calling Biden “the best friend Detroit ever had in the White House” and saying Harris was “a good friend.”

    That doesn’t sound like someone tired of Democrats or what he alleges is their lack of principles beyond hating Republicans and Trump.

    As mayor, Duggan has changed his tone for political purposes in the past. When Police Chief James Craig announced he was retiring in May 2021, Duggan said at a news conference, “I tried to convince him to change his mind up until last night.”

    A year earlier, Duggan called Craig “maybe the best police chief in America.”

    But when Craig announced he was running for governor as a Republican in September 2021, Duggan changed his tune. During the State of the City address in March 2022, Duggan tore into Craig, saying crime rose mercilessly during his last five months as chief. Crime didn’t begin to fall until Duggan hired Craig’s replacement, Chief James White, the mayor said at the time.

    “The first five months of last year before we hired Chief White, it wasn’t good,” Duggan said, adding that Craig’s failure to develop and retain partnerships with law enforcement diminished the police department’s ability to fight violent crime.

    “Chief White doesn’t attack the prosecutor or the judges or the Feds, and everybody works together,” Duggan said.

    As Duggan runs as an independent, both Republicans and Democrats are calling bullshit. Republicans believe he’s still secretly a Democrat, while Democrats claim he’s selling out to Trump and his supporters.

    “The more Michiganders see through Mike Duggan’s fake shtick and hear how he’s being bankrolled by the same people who funded Donald Trump, the more they come to see that he cannot be trusted,” Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Derrick Honeyman said in a statement Tuesday. “Duggan can lash out all he wants — but Michiganders will continue to see his self-serving and shady motives.”

    Scott Urbanowski, a Democrat from Kent County, said Duggan’s big donations from Republican powerbrokers and Trump megadonors sends a message that he has abandoned his base.

    “Whatever their motivation for backing him, these conservatives are inadvertently making it clear: Mike Duggan doesn’t give a flying flamingo about working-class Michiganders like me,” Urbanowski wrote on Facebook.

    In his column Saturday, Finley wrote, “I’ve lost count of the number of calls I’ve received from Republicans expressing their skepticism about Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s abandonment of the Democratic Party in making his 2026 run for Michigan governor.”

    He added, “Many are convinced Duggan is cloaking himself in independence for political expediency, rather than making a sincere break with the Democratic Party he served his entire career.”

    Anna Hoffman, a writer for the conservative site Michigan Enjoyer, contends Duggan is deceiving Republicans.

    “Detroit Democrat Mike Duggan sat down for an interview this weekend, said he’s still a Democrat, clarified none of his positions changed but he’s putting an ‘I’ after his name in the hopes some Republicans are dumb enough to vote for him,” Hoffman wrote on X.

    Duggan has adopted Republican talking points, including calling undocumented immigrants “illegal” in January while speaking to business leaders. When called out by pro-immigration groups, Duggan dismissed the criticism as “political correctness,” another term that conservatives have adopted.

    So who is Duggan as he runs for governor? So far, it’s anyone’s guess.

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    Steve Neavling

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