Zoe Clark
Political DirectorZoe Clark is Michigan Public's Political Director. In this role, Clark guides coverage of the state Capitol, elections, and policy debates. Her passion for understanding and explaining politics led Michigan Public to create the position in 2022 for the first time in station history. She offers regular on-air political analysis and hosts the November election-focused edition of Stateside on Fridays.
She co-hosted, with Michigan Public Radio Network's Senior Capitol Correspondent Rick Pluta, It’s Just Politics, a weekly look at Michigan politics. Clark regularly appears on WKAR’s Off the Record, WDIV’s Flashpoint and offers political analysis on NPR, PBS, and CNN.
Clark is an award-winning journalist, including the prestigious Peabody for overseeing the station’s first nationally distributed podcast Believed.
Clark previously was the station’s Program Director and is the founder and former Executive Producer of Stateside. She began at the station by producing Jack Lessenberry’s daily interviews and essays, and producing Michigan Radio’s Morning Edition.
Clark began her collegiate studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She holds degrees in Communication Studies and Political Science from the University of Michigan and lives in Ann Arbor, where she was born and raised.
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As legal and political drama unfolds surrounding the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, questions remain about who will be held accountable for mishandling of taxpayer dollars and whether Michigan’s business incentives program will face changes moving forward. -
It wasn’t just a state budget that the legislature didn’t get done before leaving the Capitol last week, there still isn’t a deal on road funding. What happens next? Plus, a month to go before Detroit’s mayoral primary. -
The legal deadline for the Michigan Legislature to pass a budget came and went Tuesday. And the Democratic Senate and Republican House remain miles apart. Plus, a search warrant at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. -
After a Republican subpoena, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson files a legal brief in the Michigan Court of Claims arguing she is a political target. Plus, Michigan U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin offers a centrist remedy for Democrats’ doldrums and the latest on state budget negotiations. -
There’s a lot of anticipation, waiting and, maybe, negotiating at the state Capitol as the Republican-led House and the Democratic-controlled Senate go down to the wire in budget negotiations with a statutory deadline of July 1st. The latest from Lansing as the budget deadlines looms. -
The July 1st deadline for the Legislature to send a finalized budget to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s desk is approaching and the House and the Senate don’t appear to be close. Plus, a new referendum effort could have you voting on the state’s minimum wage and a potential Democratic challenger in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District wants to take on Republican Congressman Tom Barrett. -
Tom Leonard, former Speaker of the Michigan House, is the latest Republican to jump into Michigan’s open gubernatorial race. He joins It’s Just Politics this week. Plus, Stephen Henderson and Nolan Finley discuss their new book focusing on civility. -
The state House met into the night on Thursday as Republicans voted on their higher education budget. We know it is a non-starter in the Democratic-controlled Senate. A look at what happens next in Lansing before a looming July 1st budget deadline. -
Concerns are mounting in Lansing over whether a state budget will get done by a July 1st statutory deadline. On this week’s It’s Just Politics, a frank and honest conversation with four bipartisan lawmakers about what is - or isn’t happening - at the state Capitol. -
Michigan House Republicans and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are headed to court in a fight over access to election-related materials and legislative oversight. The House GOP majority filed a lawsuit seeking an order for the Democratic Secretary of State to fully comply with a legislative subpoena. Plus, blowing past a July 1st state budget deadline.
