“I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde.”
- Dolly Parton -
Michigan voters will get the final say on a proposal aimed at getting money out of politics after Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks said the Senate will not vote on the measure. With Democrats in the upper chamber declining to take action, the proposal is headed to voters, putting the future of campaign finance and political spending directly in their hands.
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Jon King - Editor-in-Chief
YOUR TOP MICHIGAN ADVANCE STORIES OF THE WEEK
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, speaks to reporters at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, Mich., after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s eighth and final State of the State address on Feb. 25, 2026. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
By Katherine Dailey
The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics ballot proposal seeking to bar political contributions from major utility companies and government contractors is headed for the November ballot, after Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said the chamber will not take up a version of the proposal in the Legislature.
Clean Water Action Michigan Water Justice Organizer Nichole Keway Biber, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition Deputy Director of Programming Andrea Pierce and Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Chairperson Winnay Wemigwase at a rally opposing Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline held at the Michigan State Capitol on Aug. 26, 2026. (Photo by Kyle Davidson/Michigan Advance)
By Kyle Davidson
Following a flurry of developments surrounding Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project, tribal citizens and environmental advocates gathered in Lansing to share concerns about the project and lay out the next steps in their yearslong fight to have the pipeline decommissioned.
A truck celebrating Gordie Howe completes the first processing through the Canadian Border Services Agency at the Gordie Howe International Bridge. July 24, 2026. | Photo by Katherine Dailey/Michigan Advance.
By Katherine Dailey
Michigan Democrats are taking aim at a new round of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on Canada as talks between the two nations failed, with Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel saying the tariffs will “throw Michigan’s economy into chaos.”
MI Poder team during a voter outreach event in Southwest Detroit on Feb. 7, 2026. (Courtesy of MI Poder)
By Ben Solis
Latino and Hispanic Michiganders were motivated to vote in the 2026 primary election in part to support the community’s candidates and issues they care about, which advocates say led to a more than 10% increase in Latino turnout compared to the midterm election in 2022.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office on August 6, 2026. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
COMMENTARY
By Jon King
There are moments in American history when you can almost hear the machinery of government grinding toward a solution.
This is not one of them.
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