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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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. -
The DeVos political machine is back after announcing that they are publicly reengaging in Michigan politics. On this week’s It’s Just Politics: what to expect from the DeVos family ahead of Election 2026. -
Fighting state legislative leaders, calls for civility, and economic uncertainty: The Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference is in the books. -
As more than 1,500 business leaders, lawmakers, lobbyists and philanthropists meet on Mackinac Island for the annual Mackinac Policy Conference, new election 2026 polling is released. -
Michigan House Republicans adopt a resolution to hold Jocelyn Benson in contempt for refusing to provide election-related materials. The Democratic Secretary of State (and gubernatorial aspirant) says she won’t be bullied. Plus, just how close Governor Whitmer came to being the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in 2020. -
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was in the news quite a bit this week - for all the wrong reasons. Plus, the political volleying over economic incentives for big business continues in Michigan. -
As budget deadlines loom, the state House and Senate fiscal agencies both project a softening economy will leave the Legislature with less money to work with than initially projected in January. Plus, state Representative Joe Tate jumps into the U.S. Senate race, and Governor Whitmer dodges on former President Joe Biden’s health. -
A ballot campaign wants to make Michigan a ranked choice voting state; plus nearly 800 earmark requests from state House lawmakers totaling an estimated $4 billion are made public.
