Arizona and Georgia’s big 2020 flips have gotten a ton of attention, and they were undoubtedly dramatic. Democrats turned out over half a million new voters in both states to narrowly overtake Donald Trump’s voter gains. Those states deserve all the attention they got. But they weren’t the only states to flip based on dramatic Democratic gains.

Today, on Daily Kos’ The Brief, we’ll be looking more closely at Michigan.

In 2016, Trump got 2,279,543 votes to narrowly edge out Hillary Clinton by 10,704 votes. Then in 2020, he added 370,000 more votes—a 16% increase. In a typical political year, that kind of voter gains would essentially guarantee back-to-back victories. But 2020 was anything but typical, and Joe Biden got an additional 535,000 votes to win a convincing 150,000-vote victory.

Yes, Donald Trump motivated Democrats to turn out in larger numbers, but you don’t get over half a million new votes by sitting on your ass and praying for victory. Today, we will talk to Art Reyes of We The People Michigan about their work to organize their community on the ground. He will be joined by one of his grassroots organizers, Kamau Clark. We will discuss how Democrats managed such a dramatic turnaround in 2020 and how 2022 is shaping up. 

And 2022 is important. The state’s Democratic governor and secretary of state are up for reelection, and we just saw how important those offices were for election integrity. Furthermore, both chambers of the legislature are narrowly held by Republicans. Depending on turnout, either party could end up with a trifecta. 2024 is in serious jeopardy if we end up on the losing end. 

You can watch the show live, Tuesdays at 1:30 PM PT/4:30 PM ET, but I realize that’s not always the most convenient, so the podcast is a great alternative. It goes live Wednesday mornings at all the usual places, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. A complete list of places to download the show is available here.

YouTube Video

Holding Michigan next year is critical to both control of Congress and winning the White House in 2024. Funding a grassroots group is the best bang-for-the-buck political donation you can make. And We The People Michigan is doing fantastic work, so please donate to them if you can.