The entrails continue to fall from the ceiling, although some might argue that’s the wrong location. However, another special election has the lefty political world chattering as Chedrick Greene (D-MI) won a special election to the Michigan Senate on Tuesday, 5 May, winning 22,403 votes to Jason Tunney’s (R-MI) 14,303 votes, or 60% to 38.3%, a 22.7 point margin. For comparison, in the 2022 election, Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet had 53.4% to Annette Glenn’s (R-MI) 46.6%, or a 6.8 point margin.
But the real nattering is improvement over 2024, where Steve Benen notes:
In a district that Kamala Harris won by a single percentage point in 2024, Greene prevailed by 19 points.
It is nattering, as Trump is well-known to not have strong influence, or long coat-tails as it was once known, if he’s not personally on the ballot; this renders analysis using Greene’s opponent, Tunney, as a proxy for Trump, and Republicans in general, a dubious project.
However, it is also true that Trump won’t be on the ballot in November, and the leap from a near 7 point margin in 2022 to 22+ points has some significance, even if it is a special election. It indicates a lack of excitement on the part of Republican voters, although that may be more for Tunney than for the dreadful results and dishonest projects in which Republicans seem to be engaged.
In the end, what to make of it is up to where your thumb is on the scale.
