#mi-gov

[npi]

“Republicans concede that a handful of once-competitive battlegrounds are nearly out of reach for them in 2018,” reports Politico’s Gabriel Debenedetti and Daniel Strauss.

[npi]

The New York Times reports on the progress of efforts to recall Republican Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan, led by the Reverend David Alexander Bullock. It was actions taken by Snyder and his cronies that led to the poisoning of Flint’s water supply.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

#MIGov: Michigan Governor Denies That Same-Sex Families Are Deprived Of Any Rights

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) and Attorney General Bill Schuette (R) have filed their formal response to a suit by a lesbian couple challenging the state’s amendment banning same-sex marriage. The couple are raising three special-needs children together but are prohibited from adopting each other’s children and becoming a unified family. The state had originally requested the case be dismissed out right, but a federal judge rejected that request, suggesting in the days after the Defense of Marriage Act was overturned that the couple had a viable case.

Snyder and Schuette’s filing responds line-by-line to the couple’s brief, repeatedly denying that April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse are a family since each of their children can only call one of them a legal guardian. For every example of a right and protection the couple argues they are excluded from, such as protections related to the death of a spouse, public and private safety nets for families, and health care decisions, the state argues that these claims are simply “untrue” and that the family has “not been adversely treated.”

[...]

Michigan’s [conservative] elected officials seem to be living in a world where same-sex families simply do not exist and thus nobody is negatively impacted by the state’s bans on same-sex marriage and adoption. The validity of DeBower and Rowse’s family speaks for itself.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Michigan’s Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has vetoed a set of bills passed by his state’s Republican-controlled legislature, which aimed to crack down on alleged voter fraud. Snyder said in voiding the measures that they could cause confusion among voters.

One measure would have required voters to reaffirm that they are U.S. citizens, and would have instituted photo-ID requirements for voters receiving an absentee ballot at a local government office. Another would have required training for people, companies and organizations participating in voter registration. The Grand Rapids Press reports that Republicans in the legislature argued that the measures were needed to combat voter fraud, while Democrats charged that the bills would unfairly target poor, minority and elderly people who favor the Democratic Party.

In his veto message, Snyder criticized the bills’ own mechanisms as confusing — that if a voter failed to check a specific citizenship box on their application, they would still be given a ballot, but it would not be counted unless they came back to affirm their eligibility.

h/t: Eric Kleefeld at TPM

[justinspoliticalcorner]

For the second time in two years a group of Michigan activists is launching a recall drive against Gov. Rick Snyder (R).

With a reworded recall petition focused on actions Snyder has taken rather than actions Snyder is projected to take, the group Michigan Rising believes they can double the amount of signatures they received last year and force a recall referendum in November. The group is focusing the bulk of its attention on Snyder's decision to sign "emergency manager" legislation allowing the state to take control of local governments and his budget plans.

"Things have gotten worse," Michigan Rising spokesman Bruce Fealk told The Huffington Post.

The language submitted to Washtenaw County election officials specifically cites Snyder's education, tax and local government policies. The petition claims that Snyder has hurt school children by taking $400 million out of the state school fund, which caused students to be placed in over crowded classrooms, and notes his cutting of the state's food stamp program. It also says that Snyder has ousted elected officials with the emergency manager law and raised taxes on the poor and middle class, while cutting taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

"He is robbing from the poor to pay the rich," Fealk said. "It is Robin Hood in reverse."

The group also describes Snyder in a press release as a "corporate monster" who has failed to create jobs.

Snyder's press office did not immediately return a request for comment.

During last year's recall effort, Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel told Hartland Patch that the governor's fiscal policies were helping Michigan.

If the signature drive is successful, a recall referendum will occur in November. If Snyder is then recalled, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley (R) would become acting governor until a special election that would be held in February 2013 to fill the remainder of Snyder's term.

Fealk said that Michigan Rising is in the process of recruiting volunteers, noting that the group had 6,000 volunteers last year. He said the group is not coordinating with state Democrats on the recall. The group is planning a May 5 rally in front of the state capitol in Lansing to kick off the effort.

Snyder would be only the fourth governor to face a recall election if the petitions were approved. In addition to the recall pending against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), to be decided in June, California Gov. Gray Davis (D) was recalled in 2003 and North Dakota Gov. Lynn Frazier (R) was recalled in 1921. Former Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham (R) had a recall election certified against him in 1988, but Mecham was impeached before the recall could occur. There is also a movement pending in Arizona to force a recall election against Gov. Jan Brewer (R).

h/t: John Celock at Huffington Post