Michigan Matters: GOP red wave envelops Michigan, U.S. in Election 2024
(CBS DETROIT) — President-elect Donald Trump and the Republicans not only knocked down the Blue Wall in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, but the GOP won the presidential race and major contests all across the U.S.
How did the Democrats lose so many races at once?
That was a billion-dollar question discussed with Assad I. Turfe, Deputy Wayne County Executive, Lena Epstein, Chair of Finance for the Michigan Republican Party, and Marvin Beatty, Vice President of Community at Hollywood Casino Greektown, on CBS Detroit's Michigan Matters.
On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the issue of reproductive rights helped turn Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania blue as the Democrats won the 2022 midterms.
That same theme was a key part of Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris's campaign.
Turfe, who publicly endorsed Harris, talked about Democrats not paying enough attention to pocketbook issues as one factor some Arab American voters supported Trump, Jill Stein (third party candidate) or didn't vote in that race. The war in Gaza and the Biden administration's support of Israel were other factors, he added.
The impact of the Black and brown voters was also discussed as Beatty talked about the Democrats losing sight of what matters to voters in Detroit.
Beatty mentioned racism and sexism as other factors why Harris lost, with many Americans not willing to support a female candidate, especially a woman of color.
Epstein, a longtime champion for Trump, said voters dismissed his often volatile and dangerous rhetoric on the campaign trail and before and looked instead to his first term in office and the economy when they pulled the lever for him last week.
Celebrating women
Carolyn Cassin, president and CEO of Michigan Women Forward, and Janice K. Means, professor emerita at Lawrence Technological University, also appear on the show to highlight the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame event taking place Nov. 12 in Detroit.
Seven women will be inducted into the hall and join other Michiganders enshrined, including civil rights icon Rosa Parks, former First Lady Betty Ford, comedian Lily Tomlin and Frankenmuth restauranteur Dorothy Zehnder.
(Watch Michigan Matters at its new time: 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit, 9:30 a.m. Sundays on Detroit 50 WKBD.)
(Carol Cain is the 13-time Emmy-winning senior producer and host of Michigan)