The Kildee Legacy: From Flint to Lansing to Washington and back again
By Paul Rozycki Those of us in Flint and Genesee County owe much to the many families that made our city and county what it is today. Flint wouldn’t be Flint without the early and continuing influence of the Motts, the Ballengers, the Dorts, the Durants, the Whitings, and many others. In recent years, though, a list of other well-known families have also played a critical role in the politics of Flint and the surrounding area. Those...
2025: What will the year bring in politics?
By Paul Rozycki During President Trump’s first weeks in office, we’ve seen more than 1,600 pardons; dozens of executive orders on everything from oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to withdrawing from the World Health Organization; tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China; the firing or dismissal of federal employees; pausing (and unpausing) of federal grants; and suggestions that the U.S. should take over Greenland, the...
Deadlock and Dysfunction: Flint City Council and beyond
By Paul Rozycki I don’t know if the Guinness Book of World Records awards the longest series of votes by a government body that resolved nothing, but, if it does, Flint City Council should be in the running. Within the last few months the council voted 449 times in an attempt to select a presiding officer and failed to do so, as reported by Mid-Michigan Now. It also failed to fill the vacant seat of Councilman Quincy Murphy, who...
Commentary: How to explain the cult-like appeal of Trump
By Paul Rozycki For the last decade, since he rode down the escalator in Trump Tower in 2015, Donald Trump has been a dominant factor in American politics. He lost the popular vote but won an Electoral College victory in 2016. He lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College in 2020. Then, he won both in 2024. Above and beyond the specific factors that won Trump the victory this year, he has a unique cult-like following that...
How Trump won: 10 takeaways from the 2024 election
By Paul Rozycki In the November 2024 election, former President Donald Trump won a second term, taking both the Electoral College and the popular vote. It was only the second time that Republicans have won the popular vote since 1988. What does it mean when a nation elects a convicted felon who promises to be a dictator and arrest his enemies; claims Haitians are eating pet cats and dogs and wind farms cause cancer; and says he will...
The 2024 election: What’s on the ballot and what’s at stake?
By Paul Rozycki In a year when we’ve seen a sitting president step aside from his certain nomination, a former president facing criminal convictions over payments to a porn star and two assassination attempts, the nomination of the first African-American/Asian woman to be president, and unfounded claims about pet dogs and cats being eaten by Haitian immigrants, no one can say we’re witnessing a typical presidential election. But with...
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