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Former Michigan Governor John Engler has a plan for command-performance statewide candidate debates in this election season. And, he says, all it requires is for the state’s broadcasters to get together and show some spine.
As governor, Engler (a former lawmaker) would lecture the Legislature on not giving away its prerogatives, and this week he did the same to Michigan’s broadcast media: You have the power if you would only use it.
Engler, a Republican, said Michigan’s TV stations that earn millions of dollars from campaign advertising should combine efforts to host universally broadcast debates.
“Those networks have an obligation to the people of Michigan to get together now, pick a date for a debate in August right after the primary, pick another date, a second date, for another debate right after Labor Day before we start voting,” he said.
Engler was part of a panel of Michigan’s four living former governors – two Republicans and two Democrats – who joined each other this week for a historic joint appearance to help launch a civility campaign headed into the crowded and highly consequential 2026 political campaign season.
Unlikely allies of many political stripes invited the governors to help launch the Michigan Civility Coalition, a year-long effort that coincides with high-stakes elections including open gubernatorial and U.S. Senate seats.
Former governors Jim Blanchard (D) and Rick Snyder (R) also shared the stage while Jennifer Granholm (D) joined virtually.
“It doesn’t have to be this way – it doesn’t have to be this way in American society. It doesn’t,” said Blanchard. He obliquely laid a lot of the responsibility for the current state of affairs on the tone set in Washington by President Donald Trump.
Blanchard, who left office in 1991 and is the elder statesman in the group, served before everyone had email and social media accounts. He said the internet is an accelerant that fueled the turn in politics toward coarseness and sometimes violence.
“Social media and the internet are real problems because people can lie, lie, lie and get away with it,” he said. “There’s no scrutiny on that, usually,” he said, and people are easily buying into conspiracy theories that fit with their ideology.
Snyder, the most recent addition to the retired governors group, said things have taken a turn for the worse since he stepped away from the job in January of 2019.
“The way you see behavior in politics, would it be acceptable in any other part of your life?” he said. “Would it be acceptable at the workplace? Would it be acceptable at your family dinner table?”
Snyder said the protests and violence happening in Minneapolis over the Trump administration’s bare-knuckle immigration enforcement could easily be any city in Michigan. Federal immigration authorities have responded with violence at times to largely peaceful demonstrators. Immigration agents fatally shot two protestors last month.
Granholm said a lot of the tensions in this moment can be traced to the vitriol coming from the White House and often-anonymous online platforms reward conflict.
“People aren’t swimming in the same pond at all. Their realities, their facts are completely different because their sources are completely different,” she said. “Content creators who are extreme are rewarded because extremism is more interesting and gets a greater number of clicks.”
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Have questions about Michigan politics? Or, just want to let us know what you want more of (less of?) in the newsletter? We always want to hear from you! Shoot us an email at politics@michiganpublic.org!
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What we’re talking about at the dinner table
35th SD: The results are in from the high-stakes special election that will determine the balance of power in the state Senate during the final months of the year. WCMU’s Rick Brewer reports that "voters in Tuesday's special primary elections in the Saginaw Bay region nominated Democrat Chedrick Greene and Republican Jason Tunney. The Democratic Party currently holds a 19-18 majority in the state Senate. A win for the GOP would tie the chamber at 19 votes making Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist the tiebreaking vote for the remainder of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's term. She's not seeking re-election due to term limits. In addition, the race acts as a potential temperature check on the statewide environment ahead of November's key elections for U.S. Senate, Governor, Attorney General and Secretary of State.” To hear more, take a listen to Brewer on this week’s pod.
State resistance: Governor Gretchen Whitmer is rejecting President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the federal government take over some local elections. “This week Trump claimed that elections in Democratic-led states, like Michigan, are run ‘horribly.’ But Whitmer says any federal attempt to take over Michigan elections should be viewed as an attempt to take away Michiganders' right to vote,” Steve Carmody reports. Meantime, at an event in Detroit on Thursday, Secretary of State - and candidate for governor - Jocelyn Benson said, “State leaders, in this moment of all parties must be prepared to stand up against the lies that this president is pushing out there in an effort to silence us and make us feel small. This is our moment and it’s critical for state leaders to actually stand up to the president.”
Slotkin says no: Michigan Democratic U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin will not be voluntarily interviewed by the Justice Department over a video in which she urged U.S. military members to resist “illegal orders.” As The Associated Press reports, “Slotkin’s lawyer informed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro that the senator would not agree to a voluntary interview about the video. Slotkin's legal team also requested that Pirro preserve all documents related to the matter for ‘anticipated litigation.’ Slotkin’s lawyer separately wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, declining to sit for an FBI interview about the video and urging her to immediately terminate any inquiry. The refusal marks a potential turning point in the standoff, shifting the burden onto the Justice Department to decide whether it will escalate an investigation into sitting members of Congress or retreat from an inquiry now being openly challenged.”
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Yours in political nerdiness,
Rick Pluta & Zoe Clark
Co-hosts, It’s Just Politics
