2026 Eastside Candidate Forum Recap with Donna and Sam

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Up next on Authentically Detroit, we're going to recap the 2026 East Side Candidate Forum, co-hosted by Authentically Detroit, SCIU Michigan, and the Home Rule Project were candidates in the U.S.
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House's 13th district, State Senate's 1st and 3rd Districts, plus the State House 9th and 11th districts came together to discuss their stances on a number of issues impacting Detroit's East Side.
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And of course, what we're reading from the Michigan Chronicle.
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Donovan McKinney brought out progressive congressional hopefuls to Horace Sheffield's Bridge Center over the weekend.
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Their new tagline, their rally cry, no shree for me.
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We're going to dive into that race.
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And of course, Abdul Al-Sayed versus Haley Stevens.
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Uh, Abdul has asked his supporters to lay off the unkind attacks against Stevens while Stevens' campaign doubles down on claims that El Sayed has been misogynistic toward women.
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Keep it locked.
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Authentically Detroit starts after these messages.
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What's up, Detroit?
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Welcome to another episode of Authentic Detroit.
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We're broadcasting live today from our living rooms, dining rooms, from StreamYard.
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I'm Sam Robinson.
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And I'm Donegans Davidson.
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We want to thank you so much for listening in and supporting our efforts to build a platform of authentic voices for real people here in the city of Detroit.
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We want you to like, rate, and subscribe to our podcast on all platforms.
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The Eastside Candidate Forum took place this Saturday, July 18th, from 10 a.m.
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to 4 p.m.
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It was a long day.
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We are days away, a couple weeks away from the 2026 Michigan U.S.
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House, State House, State Senate primary elections at the forum held in partnership with SCIU Michigan.
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Residents heard directly from candidates about issues shaping Detroit's East Side.
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Held in partnership with SCIU Michigan, the Home Rule Project.
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Together, we unified resident voices on issues that reflect on their priorities and give Eastsiders the opportunity to learn where candidates stand on community priorities.
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Again, if you missed it, be sure to check out the full replay on Authentically Detroit's YouTube channel under our live videos category.
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On the marathon that was the 2026 candidate forum, Donna, we have to shout out Sarah Johnson and we have to shout out all of the audio visual folks that uh were were um it was a sponsor.
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Talk about that sponsor and just how this all came together because it was really something that a lot of people were like, man, that was a really good job that you guys did getting all of those races in one day.
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Yeah, yeah.
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I mean, we we had so much frustration leading up to it because anytime you are trying to um get 30 plus candidates to show up um on one day, um, and you know, just sequence them all and communicate with them all, you're gonna have some snafu.
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And so I think I went in there with a lot of nervousness, and the day just smooth was smooth as butter.
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Um, I loved our audiovisual team.
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They did a great job.
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The sound was good, the picture was good, all of that.
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Um, proud of um Sarah just did an amazing job making sure everything flowed on time, everybody was where they were supposed to be, the room was set up properly, and um, you know, the the entire time you're having to, you know, dictate things and stuff like that.
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So I was really proud of the fact that we were able to pull it off.
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And on my way out, there's a candidate.
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I can't remember which one is that this I've been to a lot of forums, and this is the best one I've ever been to.
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And um, I certainly think it's one of the best.
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And one of the reasons I think it is one of the best is we're able to get people to talk about substantive issues without attacking each other.
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Yeah, um, because the focus is not the attacks, the focus is actually not even saying what would you do.
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Because if you like, what would you do?
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Well, I did this and I did that, and you go into your track record, it opens up room for people to attack your track record.
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We want to know where do you stand on these issues?
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And I think that's the appropriate thing to do.
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It gives people really meaningful information, but it's also our opportunity to put out our values and share our concerns.
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Um, so there was a report um that I'm trying to remember which news server somebody wrote, and they said we tried to ask a question about um about this, you know, Stillantis and the Mac Assembly Plan.
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I'm like, I don't either we asked the question or we didn't, and we got some really good feedback because they quoted all of these answers in the paper.
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Um, so I thought it was good.
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I was really proud of it.
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Yeah, shout out to Sam Schreiber.
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That was the MERS news reporter who was.
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Yeah, well, I mean, she's yeah.
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She's been doing um really a better job than a lot of our colleagues covering these state legislative races.
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You know, it's a lot to, as a reporter that is obviously focused on the largest race in the state, the governor's race and the U.S.
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Senate race, um, getting the the story and the dynamics sharing to uh the public what's happening, the money being spent in some of these um state, house, and senate races.
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It's it's a difficult task, honestly.
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It is.
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It is.
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I just want to know what it means to try to ask a question.
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I yeah, I don't know.
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You have to ask Sam Shriber.
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We love Sam Schreiber over here, so uh I don't I don't dislike Sam Shriber.
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I just felt like it was a little bit of a dig, and maybe it is not yeah, I haven't read it yet, but yeah.
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Well, I read it, I read it, and it's just a little question, it's not a big deal.
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Um, but it would suggest that we didn't know how to ask questions, and maybe I just read too much into it.
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Maybe it's a typo, but I think that we got really good responses to that question.
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Yeah, um, I think you know, especially with the the all the candidates in the state Senate district three, the east side um seat where I you know we're uh we're gonna be voting for all those candidates showed up.
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I think what eight candidates showed up?
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Uh I think it was nine.
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Eight or nine.
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Yeah.
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10 people on the ballot, and nine showed up.
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And to be able to get it done in the amount of time that that we did, um, I thought that was impressive.
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Um yeah, a number of a number of uh candidates didn't show up, only a couple um in those races in the 13th with Shri Tanar and Donovan McKinney.
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Of course, Sri did not show up, and then in the first state Senate district, that's Detroit Downriver.
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Um, A Bayash showed up, and then Justin and Unwenyu did not.
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We saw fireworks between Unwenyu and A Bayash when they first debated or had a candidate forum that was hosted by Detroit Action.
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That was at the Love Building, and outside the building afterward, uh, you guys saw the videos of them arguing in the parking lot.
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Um, none of no fireworks.
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Um, we did have some uh you know candidates kind of uh needing to respond to to other things.
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I think um some of the more fringe outsider candidates saying things that were just completely uh untrue and inaccurate um prompted some good back and forths um or or you know responses from some of the other more experienced candidates.
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Um, however, yeah, it was just it was a good time.
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It was really good to see um the the people that that came that had told me, you know, I I'm have my ballot and I just haven't turned it in yet because I've been waiting for this candidate forum to see who I should vote for in these specific races.
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And so um the the utility of these events, which I think a lot of the times they're not all that useful.
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I think this one really was uh just because of you got to hear how much candidates knew about these topics, these topics that are central to the lives of the civically engaged people within our communities that have to address these concerns, like the Kronos concrete crushing facility in in Cadillac Heights or um, you know, our our water uh affordability.
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You know, it was interesting to hear some of the Republican candidates that were like in the 11th that were like, I would support water affordability when you know that if you were elected to the state legislature, you would not support water affordability because you'd be led by your Republican leadership that would say, No, we are not going to subsidize poor people in Short.
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I think, I think one of the things that's interesting though, if I'm being honest with you, what I see is I wondered if there are cracks in the Republican Party, whether or not um with data centers coming to town and people being really concerned about energy bills and water usage and some of the other issues that um more people are aware of these issues.
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And it felt like there was almost bipartisan support around some of the environmental issues and water issues and housing affordability issues that you would not expect.
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And um, you see at the at the federal level, the bipartisan housing bill um passed.
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And it's the first big piece of bipartisan legislation since some of the COVID measures passed in 2020 and 2021.
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And so it really speaks to me of um perhaps at the ground level some changing politics.
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And maybe that's me being hopeful.
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Well, but it was interesting to hear from Eddie Kabinsky, um, who's running in the 11th state district, as well as Matt Stafford.
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We did have two Republican candidates show up.
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Um, so shout out to them putting themselves, you know, in in the Lions.
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Eddie was there all day.
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I was like, he was like one of the first people there, and he sat through.
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And I was like, one of these days I'm gonna ask a question, he's just gonna get up and leave and be mad, but he sat there, he had to leave early.
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But the last question he answered was super interesting, Sam, because we were asking about ice.
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And he said, Well, he's a libertarian.
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Oh, you think I'm gonna be for ice, but I'm against them.
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They're untrained, they're unprofessional.
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And for him, being an army vet and somebody who really believes in the rule of law and stuff like that, it just never occurred to me that there are people who are who've been trained in military service who look at these undisciplined guys and say, you know, get off stage, you're no good at what you're doing, and you make us look bad.
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But I kind of got that from him.
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From Michigan's own Matthew Stafford, what I heard from him, Matthew Stafford, he's one of the state, right?
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Um, but Matthew Stafford, also running in the uh Michigan House 11th District, also in um South Warren.
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Um, Matthew also seemed to be willing to accept the reality that ICE needs to be reined in.
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In fact, probably one of the most um gung-ho persons for ice was a um was Cranstana Gina, um, who was really like, listen, these people have done something wrong and that you need to arrest them.
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Yeah.
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And um there was that part of me, as you know, there are a couple of times when I felt unable to not editorialize.
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And um, so I apologize to listening audience.
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I tried really hard.
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Um, but there are a couple of times and I just felt like we have to put some things on the record, one of them being ice, right?
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Um, because we know that they're targeting people based on the color of their skin.
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That's not something that we can really argue anymore, right?
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As a journalist, that's a neutral observer, right?
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I can say publicly, iCE agents are targeting brown people based on what they look like.
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Yes, we know that, and we know the Supreme Court has actually allowed them to do that.
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So it's not really a controversial thing anymore.
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It's not, and we need to acknowledge it.
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And we need to acknowledge what it is to live in a nation where you have to have ID because people talk about Nazi Germany, but I was listening to um a poet from Southwest Trade years ago talk about ice breaking in their homes and you know, chasing everywhere.
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And I thought of slave catchers, and I've never been able to get slave catchers out of my mind.
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This idea that you can be hunted down wherever you are, and that you have to prove that you are legally able to be here, and knowing that I had ancestors who could not prove they were legally allowed to be where, I mean, they were considered illegals, right?
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I mean, we didn't have legal permission not to be on that plantation where somebody was holding you captive.
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Um people are not illegal.
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Their existence is not, I mean, they are according to our laws, but there should never be a law that says that your existence is illegal because it sends such crazy messaging.
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And it, you know, it they how do they get here and why are they here?
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A lot of times they're working for companies that are want cheap labor, and those companies never have faced any fines, they never face any prosecution, nothing.
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But the people who are getting paid pennies for the dollar, because you know, listen, if you're coming to Detroit and you don't have a green card and you're working in Michigan, chances are you're not getting minimum wage.
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Your occupational safety and health needs are not being protected, you don't have unemployment, you don't have workers' comp.
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You're working here with no real rights, understanding that if you make the boss mad, you can be kicked out of the nation and it'll harm your family.
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So there's a benefit to employers bringing people like that.
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And if the concern is that they're taking jobs, somebody is giving them those jobs.
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And the entities giving them those jobs are doing so, not out of the kindness of their heart, but because they don't want to have to pay other people.
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And so it's a very emotional issue for many of us, me included.
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I would say, um, I know we have to move on, that my aunt is Guatemalan.
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She and my uncle married in the 1960s.
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Um, when she came to Detroit as an exchange student, she was a medical student in Guatemala when she met my uncle, and he met her and had to marry her.
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Um, and so she had me read a book, Bitter Fruits, where she it talks about how the United States helped overthrow the president of Guatemala when she was graduating from high school.
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And there has been revolution ever since.
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And so, growing up, she always had people from her family and the community who she helped um move to America, and they're American citizens now, and so they're my extended family, and they would not be allowed in today from Guatemala, and so it is deeply personal to me.
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I was a little girl looking at those people in these homes.
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It's not, and anybody who's seen that, you know, it just is.
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And so anyway, kind of got but but I want to stick to that on it.
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Yeah, it's a personal issue, and you know, we heard a range of of thoughts.
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Um, you know, something that Abdul El Sayyed has been saying in his um primary race up against Haley Stevens is that he doesn't really believe in the left-right dichotomy that you know more people are um sort of all over the place politically.
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I think um, yeah, I think Eddie and Matthew are are good examples of that, being in majority democratic spaces.
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Um, you know, Eddie has he told me he's worked with Democrats his entire life.
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Um there is overlap, he told me, with some some of the the values and um positions, but it was interesting.
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And of course, he had his Anthony Hudson hat on, the fix Michigan.
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Anthony Hudson, of course, left the Republican uh primary for governor to run as a libertarian.
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So Eddie is also more of a libertarian than he is a MAGA.
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Um you know, he talked about I'm I'm the real conservative grassroots establishment, right?
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But just interesting that those voices um, you know, have a place.
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Um, you know, Don, it's it's really remarkable, honestly, that we were able to get both sides of that 11th district primary where you see these Democratic candidates don't even want to show up because they're afraid of getting clipped or getting you know a viral moment against them on social media.
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I think that was certainly what powered um uh Sri Tandar and Justin Unwenny's decision not to show up.
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Well, I mean, Sri's never shown up for a debate, he's never ever engaged in a debate with an opponent.
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Sri just buys his um stuff.
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So Sri doesn't want to be accountable for what he says.
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He's telling just tremendous amount of lies, and it really bothers me because run on your principles, run on what you think, run on your track record, but you cannot muddy somebody's tracker with the lie and have that be okay with me.
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And I feel as though he does.
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Um, we had a debate, an actual debate in 2022, I believe, when he was running for Congress the first time.
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Yes, and he was the only one of the, I believe, 12 or 13 people who was running for 13th Congressional District who did not show up.
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He was one, only one, Sri Nanadar.
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He doesn't think he has to defend his record, but he says things like Donovan McKinney voted against the minimum wage law.
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Um, Donovan McKinney voted against reducing the minimum wage law.
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And um the he lost that fight because the Michigan um legislature uh reduced the minimum wage from$15 to$12 and had a slower adoption rate.
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That's what he did.
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He was standing up for minimum wage.
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And so um he did he can't defend that lie.
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Um the other thing that happened is Ayish came and I thought actually he did a very good job.
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Um, he's a he's a good public speaker, he responded to the questions very well.
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I wanted to see an open debate with um Justin Owen Owen, how many of you, who actually, you know, just graduated from Columbia Law School.
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So I'm assuming, you know, based on that, he can debate he can, but you know, the kinds of things I think um Abraham shared with me and a few other people yesterday and put it on social media, this MACA Abraham um thing that's going out that suggests that he is aligned with Trump and he is partially at fault for Trump being elected, and that he stopped the legislature for supporting voting rights.
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I mean, the kinds of stuff that's out there, and I think, you know, the concerns that I have about some of these races is that the people paying this money to produce these materials are doing it for a reason.
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And the reason is not good for the people who they are trying to support.
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There is an intentional um weaponization of long-standing conflict between black and Arab communities that they're counting on.
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It's divisive in the same way that Donald Trump and MAGA is divisive, and it feels like being divisive in 2026 is the thing to do.
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So we're going to get black people to be loyal to us because we're going to make them think this Arab person harmed or disrespected Michelle Obama or this Arab person stopped Kamala Harris for being, you know, um president.
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When Abdul El-Sayed critiqued the um the fitness program that Michelle Obama had, he wasn't attacking her.
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He was attacking the approach based on his understanding of nutrition and his public health background.
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And so it was not a targeted, but when you, you know, clip and paste and you just take a little thing out of context, you can make something seem any kind of way.
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Um, so that that was my feeling.
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What what else did you pick up on this on Saturday?
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Um Yeah, I I did think that the ninth that's Joe Tate's seat, Joe uh announced that he's retiring.
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Um there's not a lot of um um name recognition in that in that field of candidates, right?
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Yeah.
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You got Anthony Eid, uh Tony Moa, Arthur Harrington, Willie Burton that showed up um on um Saturday.
00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:58.960
Rick Silva is running as the progressive candidate.
00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:02.000
He was not able to make it, he emailed us.
00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:09.440
Um Willie, I mean, on paper, has the highest name recognition because he's he's been elected.
00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:14.480
I think he's the only candidate out of that field that has been elected to a position in Detroit.
00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:20.880
I mean Anthony E was elected to the uh Michigan redistricting commission.
00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:29.359
So he was an elected official in a public body that helped redistrict, you know, all of the seats, but that's not he he talked about that.
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:39.839
He says, I rec represent more people than it's like, yeah, but you know, I mean the seat that you were playing was not a um to represent them in a in a in a yeah.
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.920
So so I mean he's been he was elected.
00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:44.960
I think Willie Willie Burton has high rank name recognition.
00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:45.440
Yeah.
00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:50.240
Um, I felt like um Arthur Harrington came, he's a really good debater.
00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:53.599
He came really prepared to speaker.
00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:59.599
Um, I think a part of the criticism against him, um, and you know.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:10.799
People that I know I'm I'm just turned 29, so my um you know social is uh and and but but when he says just turned 29, what he didn't tell us on Saturday was his birthday was the next day.
00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:12.160
We would have had a cake or something.
00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:12.960
Oh no, that's okay.
00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:15.039
I should have known that, but yeah, go on, Sam.
00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:17.279
Yes, I did celebrate a birthday.
00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:22.960
Um, you know, I I've known people that have known Arthur since he was in high school, right?
00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:36.960
And and his critics will say, Oh, he's been preparing for an entry into politics since he was in middle school, and this is he's you know, uh not doing it for the right reasons.
00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:43.519
I think you need to wait and see somebody's record, voting record before you start attacking them on what you think that they're going to do.
00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:49.759
Um however, I I think he really probably, you know, he he he looks strong next to those other candidates.
00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.640
Um, Bryant Hep as well.
00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:55.599
I mean, he was really eloquent in his delivery.
00:22:55.680 --> 00:23:04.640
I think I I hadn't met Bryant, I had seen his name and some of his um materials, but I didn't realize that it was it was, you know, this is like a wood bridge.
00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:10.960
He is really running to represent um the like higher income, uh, more educated.
00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:13.039
You know, that's gonna be his his base.
00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:15.920
Well, I think he's um actually, you know, I agree with you.
00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:18.400
I think I was really surprised by Bryant Hep and his strength.
00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:19.440
Yeah, he sounded good.
00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:26.000
Of course, he's the only white candidate, only white candidate up there, but he certainly was very converse on issues as they apply.
00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:28.319
I think he's going running to represent Detroit.
00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:39.920
Um, I think he comes from that group, but I think that he is on the he is an he's a progressive and he certainly brings his progressive bona fights, he knows the issues from a progressive standpoint.
00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:54.319
A lot of people say the progressives are you know not really connected to black folks, but you know, if you care about air quality, then you know, like you know, if you care about the things I care about, I'm not trying to um minimize people's role.
00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:59.279
Marianne Mahappy, for example, is one of the most progressive city council members we ever had, and she was a white woman.
00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:02.160
Um, and so many people learned and grew from her.
00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:06.720
And I feel like I let me stop here.
00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:10.559
I wrote a book, the Black Detroit Democracy Handbook, okay?
00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:18.319
I'm clearly a person who believes that black people should have democratic power, that we need to be organized to be better represented.
00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:27.119
So I am not ever going to minimize the importance of black political power and representation and having our needs there.
00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:35.599
But I also believe that coalitions are the only way that a minority of people can have power at the polls.
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:42.400
Barack Obama was elected president based on a multiracial coalition.
00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:51.039
If you look at the percentage of people from every ethnic group other than white, he was elected the first time by dramatic majorities, right?
00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:56.400
And he also had, and he would not have gotten there without white people supporting him, men and women.
00:24:56.559 --> 00:24:59.680
Now he didn't get the majority of white votes, but he needed those white votes.
00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:06.000
And so um when Coleman Young was first elected mayor of Detroit, exact same thing, multiracial coalition.
00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:08.079
White people helped put Coleman Young.
00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:15.599
He didn't get most of their votes, but if you take 40% of white people and 90% of black people together, you're gonna get a win.
00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:29.200
Um we have to be honest, there is no real pathway for anybody to be elected in most state and federal elections in Michigan without that multiracial coalition.
00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:29.759
Yeah.
00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:32.000
That's true of District 9.
00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:36.559
That's true of District 11 because District 9 goes through what the gross points.
00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:38.720
It's Detroit and the Gross Points.
00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:43.119
District 11 goes through um that's um Donovan McKinney's district.
00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:52.000
And one of the Donovan McKinney's claim to fame, he talked about the fact, I think it was yesterday, I've seen him so many times, that he won every precinct by 60% or more.
00:25:52.240 --> 00:26:03.759
Here's a black man in a majority white community winning by 60% or more, and he's the only black candidate who was able to do that, I believe, in that cycle.
00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:12.000
And so hats off to Donovan for his ability to have that kind of cross-border uh representation.
00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:15.119
He understood the value of um coalition politics.
00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:30.319
You have Letitia Johnson, who's now part of the Working Families Party, Gabriela Santiago Romero, Denzel McCampbell, um, Donovan McKinney, Abdul Sayed, kind of, um Stephanie Chang, Ebony Taylor.
00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:35.839
These are people who have all come together and said we care about things and they come from different backgrounds, I think it's important.
00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:40.160
So I don't want to minimize Brian Hook because he surprised me too.
00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:41.359
I was like, who is this guy?
00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:42.319
He's pretty good.
00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:42.880
Yeah.
00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:44.559
And Anthony Eat was good.
00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:45.440
I want to give him credit.
00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:46.559
You know, I've known him.
00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:50.799
He is at CDAT, he certainly knows issues from the CDAT standpoint.
00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:57.359
Thought he kind of overstated his you know electoral background, but he was good in representing the issues.
00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:00.559
Arthur Harrington is just a really gifted debater.
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:06.880
I mean, he he's got a skill, he's got he's got a he's got a skill in speaking and public speaking.
00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:17.359
I think you know he comes from a uh church background in which I think he's a he's an active participant and and is on stage often speaking.
00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:30.240
He's in senior homes, and I think he's definitely from my observation, um, he's he's deployed the most on the ground campaign of any of these candidates, right?
00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:32.000
I just see his campaign more.
00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:34.640
Yeah, he he he's reached out to me several times.
00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:38.559
I want to talk about Tony Moore for a minute because I love the way she closed it though.
00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:39.119
Yeah, yeah.
00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:52.960
In her closing statement, she grabbed that microphone and walked out the audience and said what you had to say, and in her closing statement, she alluded to the fact that one of the candidates had tried to get her struck off the belt and she won all the way to the appeals court.
00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:58.559
And my understanding from her and others is that Arthur Harrington is the candidate who did that.
00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:01.119
I don't can't, and I asked for verification.
00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:11.759
If that's if that's true, if he did hire Robert Davis um to go after other candidates, that's unfortunate because he's strong enough on his own to do that, yeah.
00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:17.279
And that action could cost him vote simply because people may not feel they can trust him.
00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:22.079
Well, it costs him the endorsement from the LGBTQ Democratic Caucus.
00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:28.480
Um it's a state legislative race, you know.
00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:31.920
I I get deploying Robert Davis against Solomon Kinlock.
00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:35.599
I don't get deploying Robert Davis against the state legislative candidates.
00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:40.000
When it's like none of these people are are big names.
00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:44.319
I mean, none of these people are people that you couldn't, shouldn't beat on your own merit.
00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:47.440
And so, yeah, definitely a weird decision to make.
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:49.039
I think he's he's still learning.
00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:52.480
I mean, he Arthur is 23, 24 years old.
00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:58.160
I mean, he he is a he is a Wayne State law student who works out of Mary Waters' office at City Council.
00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:07.839
I mean, he's still learning, and I think there are going to be people that well, if he works out of Mary Waters' um office in city council, that tells you a lot because I don't know if it does.
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:11.359
I I frankly, based on my conversations with him, I don't know if it does.
00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:26.160
What I mean is that if you're working there, then there are some old politicals like Sam Riddle, Sam Riddle are going to be advising you, and sometimes the advice that you get I'm not I'm I'm saying this.
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:27.839
So this is me speaking for me.
00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:37.119
If you're working out of Mary Waters' office, Sam Riddle is in the room because I know that he's always been very closely connected to her politically.
00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:39.920
I don't know if he's connected at all to Arthur politically.
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.640
That's I don't I said he's in the room, so you can disclaim all you want.
00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:55.599
This is me saying that you have exposure to old politics because what I was going to say is that that's the old political tactic, is trying to come after the enemy.
00:29:55.759 --> 00:30:02.799
And I think that one of the learnings, perhaps, that any candidate can learn is that you only do that if you have to.
00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:10.640
Now, in Mary Sheffield's case, Kentlock was coming at her, I mean, with bullets blazing, he was not a victim of that.
00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:19.680
He had Adolf Mango and others who were talking, saying many things about her in um in what is it, um Deadline Detroit?
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:20.960
Where's Adolf Mango?
00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:21.759
Right.
00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:28.960
Um, and so yeah, I mean, I'm not saying that she should that she started that or who started it, but I don't I think that was more of an equal fight.
00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:33.039
It was a city council fight, and that one made sense to me.
00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:39.359
Because if somebody's coming after me and I'm reading Adolph Mongol, and if you don't know who Adolf Mongol is, you haven't been around Detroit very long.
00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:44.640
He is a person who helped get Carmi Kilpatrick elected after coming against him.
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:55.200
So we're talking about people who know they've they've they've done a lot around here and they know how to make politics work, but to your point, it's 2026.
00:30:56.079 --> 00:31:00.160
It's House District 11, you don't nine.
00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:07.119
Nine House District 9, you don't have to do it, and it was probably him shooting himself in the foot to some extent.
00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:12.799
Yeah, I I don't think enough people um because there has not been enough reporting on it.
00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:21.279
I include myself on the in the people that have not focused my time on contacting Robert Davis over this.
00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:23.759
I I should and I probably will.
00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:28.079
Um yeah, you didn't need to do that, Arthur.
00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:30.079
I think he knows that um now.
00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:39.039
Um yeah, I think Bryant and Arthur, um, and I we didn't hear from Rick Silva.
00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:42.240
I was interested to hear what his stump would have sounded like.
00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:49.839
He's he is showing up to you know Abdul and Donovan events, um, saying he's the progressive candidate in the House District 9.
00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:55.759
I do think that you know Brian showed up and and proved that he is also a progressive candidate.
00:31:57.599 --> 00:32:01.920
I think too uh the the the bag is still out on on Arthur, right?
00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:08.400
If he gets elected, um, you know, obviously on on in five days we're gonna see who his donors are.
00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:16.079
Um, but if he gets elected, um, I do think there, you know, it's not gonna be Mary Waters or Sam Riddle advising him.
00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:17.519
Oh, absolutely not.
00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:18.319
I agree with that.
00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:28.400
I think that what I'm saying though, when you have young people, I always worry about how young people get exposed to things and brought into politics because politics in 2026 is different.
00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:33.759
And I've been around Detroit long enough, much longer than you, and I've seen how these things get played, right?
00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:37.599
I've seen how people come out in the rumor mills and all that kind of stuff.
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:40.240
I've seen Robert Davis deployed over decades.
00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:41.440
He's not new, okay.
00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:52.240
We know who Robert Davis is in our community, and so there's these people who have been very influential in political campaigns, and you can see it showing up in MAGA, whatever.
00:32:52.319 --> 00:33:01.200
And I'm not saying any person is doing that, but you can see these people who are just skilled at that, who are skilled at turning people, they're getting paid well in Detroit right now.
00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:03.920
They are Robert is a is is pay-for-play, right?
00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:05.599
And that's when his name is invoked.
00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:13.279
Understand that a political campaign or a person or group supporting a political campaign is paying for his services.
00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:22.240
He's paying for his services, it's paying for Sam Riddle's services, it's paying for Adolph Mangle's services, it's paying for Mario Morals services.
00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:28.559
There is a backbench of political consultants who have been doing these things for decades.
00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:30.000
I've watched campaigns.
00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:35.759
I remember when Sharon McPhel was running against Dennis Archer and they were able to get her on some stuff.
00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:38.400
And she looked like she was having momentum and they got her.
00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:41.599
You know, you raise your children in Southfield, you're not really here.
00:33:41.759 --> 00:33:56.400
I remember when um there was an article taken out in the Michigan Chronicle, look it up, about uh high-tech lynching of Kwame Kilpatrick, and there was actually a lynching tree and hoods when Kwame Kilpatrick was being criticized for some of his practices.
00:33:56.559 --> 00:33:58.319
And Adolf Mango posted that.
00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:03.359
And keeping in mind that Adolph Mango prior to that was coming out against Kwame.
00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:08.000
And after Kwame paid up, all of a sudden he became a surrogate.
00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:10.480
That's how Detroit politics are played.
00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:11.840
Yeah, it's very sad.
00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:17.760
Like, think about somebody's like like your personhood, and you're just like selling out to the highest bidder, right?
00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:18.559
That's like really lame.
00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:20.480
That's like that's like this is the lamest thing.
00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:26.159
I'm I'm gonna break, you know, my journalistic neutrality here to just say, like, if you're a sellout, like get out of here.
00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:27.599
Like, that's just so lame.
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:30.079
Like, have a value.
00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:35.599
We don't have to agree, but like just swapping your positions because oh I what?
00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:38.079
Like, do you have no no personhood?
00:34:38.239 --> 00:34:40.719
No, you're not, you know, that's like that's weak to me.
00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:47.519
And manipulating people's emotions, manipulating people on things is very personal to me.
00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:52.800
And so I don't like being manipulated, I don't like liars, I don't like being around people who are telling untruth.
00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:56.719
And if I think that what you're saying is untrue about somebody, I'm gonna look at you different.
00:34:57.119 --> 00:34:59.920
Now, I Arthur is a kid.
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:03.519
I mean, you know, look, I'm be 63 in September.
00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:05.039
I'm not coming out against a kid.
00:35:05.199 --> 00:35:08.159
He is a kid, he's still learning, he's younger.
00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:12.000
Arthur is seven years younger than my youngest child, okay?
00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:15.760
So I'm not going to come out against him.
00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:17.280
It was not a good look.
00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:32.320
He did say, and I know I think his grandmother was there, and he pointed out his grandmother, and he did say that um that he was raised to love everybody, no matter who they love, and no matter who they how they identify themselves.
00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:35.039
And that was his attempt to clean that up.
00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:35.679
It was.
00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:40.239
And I hope that if he's elected, that he keeps that up.
00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:42.639
Again, I thought all of the candidates seemed pretty good.
00:35:42.719 --> 00:35:45.199
I thought Willie Burton is just not a good orator, right?
00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:51.679
But it was kind of funny when at the end of the closing statements, he accused Harrington of looking at all of his notes.
00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:54.400
He said, Well, I guess you just read all my notes in your speech.
00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:58.800
And it's like, okay, Willie, we didn't hear you say this, but maybe it's just because you're not the best orator.
00:35:59.119 --> 00:36:02.719
And I actually wanted to see Willie Burton's notes so I could see what he stood for.
00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:16.880
That is his thing, and you know, Willie is going to get uh who Willie gets, you know, and he's in there at the bus stops, at the liquor stores, at the gas stations, and there's really like gorilla campaign kind of tactic.
00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:21.840
Like he's in the streets being like, Yeah, I'm right here with you guys, like please vote for me.
00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:24.719
You know, it's it's compelling, it's a great story.
00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:30.400
I you know, I wish like the Atlantic or somebody would would just like spend a week with Willie Burton and have well.
00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:31.199
Maybe you can do that.
00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:38.239
I could, you know, do like a 2,000-word, like, you know, but here's what his his conversations with people are so interesting.
00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:49.760
And if you ever sit down, if you ever have the you know, you're lucky enough to to get a one-on-one with Willie Burton, and you sit down with him, it's so clear that his heart is in the right place, it's so obvious.
00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:56.480
Eric Thomas introduced me to um to Willie Burton on campus march just a few years ago.
00:36:56.559 --> 00:37:02.559
So we had a long one-on-one, and he was telling me some stuff, and he was gonna send me some stuff, but it was dangerous, and he didn't, you know.
00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:11.119
Willie is an interesting person, and um he definitely, like you said, he brings this man on the street perspective, and I think it's important for us to get that.
00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:12.559
There were a couple candidates who did that.
00:37:12.639 --> 00:37:15.679
Let's talk about um Senate District 3.
00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:17.679
Yeah, that was interesting.
00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:19.119
Yeah, it was, yeah.
00:37:19.280 --> 00:37:20.719
All those candidates.
00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:33.039
Um, you know, we we had a number of um people wanting to respond to stuff that some of the other candidates uh were talking about.
00:37:33.199 --> 00:37:43.599
Um you know, I I think uh having all those women on the ballot, um well, I mean, there's uh quite a bit of men too.
00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:44.639
Is it a split?
00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:47.679
Is it even split four four to six or five to five?
00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:55.599
There's Kimberly Hill, not Ebony Taylor, Latanya, Garrett, uh, Tony Reeves, Corey Hall, Adam Ollier, John Conyers appeared.
00:37:55.679 --> 00:38:02.719
And then at the at the kind of at the midway point, Gary Hunter showed up and we allowed him to sit down and participate.
00:38:03.280 --> 00:38:14.639
Um you know, I thought that um it was interesting to me because I know um Kimberly Hill Knott from um DeFort Detroit's for environmental justice.
00:38:14.719 --> 00:38:22.800
Yeah, um, she seemed to be more industry friendly than I would have anticipated um in some of her answers.
00:38:22.960 --> 00:38:27.519
Um I thought Toy Nu had some good points.
00:38:27.679 --> 00:38:39.280
Um, he seemed to be attacking um City Council person Letitia Johnson and making yeah, instead of answering the questions we asked, using that as an attack point.
00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:40.559
So his passion came out.
00:38:40.880 --> 00:38:44.719
Yeah, he was attacking the people that were already elected and had already been there.
00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:46.719
That's a site, yeah.
00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:54.239
Yes, he is trying to say, you know, that this hasn't been good enough, and everyone that has already done it, we gotta get rid of Adam Ollier, of course.
00:38:54.400 --> 00:39:04.880
Even I mean, honestly, I kind of like thought, and I think John too, John Conyers the third, thought that he might have been coming after John Conyers, you know, the people that had been there and hadn't done enough.
00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:06.960
Um, but it was interesting.
00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:11.840
Uh, he certainly was, yeah, one of the more passionate, um, and poignant.
00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:23.599
Um, I've seen some of his yard signs around my neighborhood, but of course, you know, you pass by Chandler Park, and there's a huge Ebony Taylor love fest going on there with all of her family members.
00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:31.280
Adam Oligay and um Corey Hall, you would assume are the most funded, the the have the most resources.
00:39:31.440 --> 00:39:38.480
Corey has received endorsements from um Gretchen Whitmer or Debbie Stabenow.
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:43.119
Um seems like he is the the governor's office's pick.
00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:46.719
He is the currently MDOC community liaison.
00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:47.119
Yeah.
00:39:47.679 --> 00:40:01.840
He works for the state now, and so state employees, uh, including the governor herself, are are putting their um their support behind him over Adam, which is interesting because Adam also worked very closely with the governor's office.
00:40:01.920 --> 00:40:08.480
He was appointed by the governor um and of course worked as a state senator previously.
00:40:08.559 --> 00:40:09.920
He's already been in the state senate.
00:40:10.159 --> 00:40:16.239
Yes, you know, I think that Adam um Adam had an interesting response to ICE.
00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:23.119
He said, I want to give everybody um Michigan state IDs that if they get stopped by ICE, they can have an ID.
00:40:23.360 --> 00:40:27.599
And that kind of, you know, you know, unleash some other kind of stuff.
00:40:27.679 --> 00:40:34.960
I think Adam is a person who um has also got some really close affiliation.
00:40:35.039 --> 00:40:41.440
I'm not certain where he is right now with um with Wayne County um executive Warren Evans.
00:40:41.840 --> 00:40:48.320
Um, I think, but I think Adam's political missteps actually cost him some support this time around.
00:40:48.559 --> 00:40:49.280
Yeah, I think so too.
00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:51.360
Warren actually is supporting Corey Hall.
00:40:51.519 --> 00:40:52.079
Yeah, yeah.
00:40:52.239 --> 00:41:00.639
So I think his you sometimes you do things, and it's not just the fact that he had bad signatures, it's the way they were bad, right?
00:41:01.840 --> 00:41:05.119
Yeah, yeah, he did not hire the correct people to do that.
00:41:05.199 --> 00:41:07.199
I mean, you gotta go through them yourself, if not.
00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:21.519
Yeah, I mean you have to go through them yourself, and you know, but it was the people have bad signatures, and then you have um clearly falsified signatures where everybody has the same address, and so that means they shouldn't.
00:41:21.679 --> 00:41:25.119
You weren't doing your due diligence, and can I trust you with this?
00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:50.880
And so I think um Adam finds himself a little bit on an island he didn't expect to, and we had an earlier conversation about his campaign war chest, and somebody explained to me, I'm trying to remember who explained to me, and I found this to be true, that the money in his campaign war chest when he was running for secretary of state, most of it cannot be used in his run for um the Senate District 3.
00:41:51.119 --> 00:41:57.519
Well, it's a congressional that that was the the well, it was because the Secretary of State has higher giving limits.
00:41:57.679 --> 00:42:04.159
Yes, and so if you're going from somewhere with higher giving limits to something with lower giving limits, you can't transfer that money.
00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:14.159
As does the the congressional, um, and we thought we we assumed that he would put some of the money that he raised while he was running for Congress to into a pack.
00:42:14.320 --> 00:42:20.400
Um, but I I have not really seen he was on a billboard earlier this year, but that was like a month and a half ago.
00:42:20.639 --> 00:42:25.440
Yeah, I think that there was this expectation that he was gonna have more juice than he did, at least for me.
00:42:25.599 --> 00:42:28.159
I thought it was gonna be much easier for him.
00:42:28.559 --> 00:42:29.519
This was wide.
00:42:29.599 --> 00:42:38.800
Oh, it's it felt that right, and then Ebony's Bernie Sanders endorsement came, and that sort of solidified was in there before he got in there.
00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:39.679
Oh, yeah, I know.
00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:46.960
I'm saying but Ebony was in the race before John Conyers, before Joeinu, before Ebony.
00:42:47.280 --> 00:42:58.559
I didn't know the race was gonna be this competitive, and then all of a sudden, all these other people jumped in, and I supported Ebony um because I've worked with Ebony and also because of Stephanie Chang.
00:42:59.039 --> 00:43:09.360
And so um, you know, during that um forum, I certainly did not throw support behind any candidate, but I supported her, not understanding it was gonna be a competitive race.
00:43:09.440 --> 00:43:10.960
I'm just thinking, okay, it's gonna be her.
00:43:11.039 --> 00:43:13.840
And then, you know, you have all this competition, yeah.
00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:15.840
Um, you know, but there's a disclosure.
00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:19.280
I mean, I have to disclose it because my name is on one of her flyers in picture.
00:43:19.440 --> 00:43:25.440
Um, but I I thought that, you know, you had some good candice in the race.
00:43:25.519 --> 00:43:27.199
I thought Ebony did a good job.
00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:28.960
I thought Toinu did a good job.
00:43:29.039 --> 00:43:34.079
I thought Latanya Garrett did a good job, and I don't really know her, but I thought she held her own.
00:43:34.320 --> 00:43:41.199
Yeah, I thought it was a great um I mean, even some of Gary Hunter, you know, which I like Gary Hunter.
00:43:41.360 --> 00:43:48.320
Gary Hunter is just Gary, he's not he's not a serious politician, he's a polarizing figure in our community.
00:43:48.639 --> 00:43:55.280
He's polarizing, he's not a serious politician, but what Gary Hunter is gonna do is give the voice of the man on the street to me.
00:43:55.360 --> 00:44:11.519
I don't think that he's going to win, I don't think he's threatened to win, but he gives Gives this anger, and I don't always agree with it, but I think it's good to have people who are speaking from outside the box because it kind of forces people to think outside that box.
00:44:12.079 --> 00:44:13.199
He's in a lot of our boxes.
00:44:13.280 --> 00:44:16.960
I mean, I find Gary Hunter in almost every single event that I appear in the city.
00:44:18.719 --> 00:44:20.400
He's an outsider, but he's an insider.
00:44:20.480 --> 00:44:22.000
And you know, I kind of feel similarly.
00:44:22.079 --> 00:44:25.199
So yeah, I am a you know, I'm a I'm a journalist also.
00:44:25.360 --> 00:44:27.599
He is publisher of the shot news.
00:44:27.760 --> 00:44:28.000
Yeah.
00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:29.199
Um, yeah.
00:44:29.440 --> 00:44:33.039
So yeah I thought it was fun.
00:44:33.119 --> 00:44:34.719
I thought he was he was fine.
00:44:35.280 --> 00:44:38.880
John was a little bit subdued to me, and I he said he was sick.
00:44:39.360 --> 00:44:40.000
He was holding back.
00:44:40.079 --> 00:44:41.039
I think he was holding back a lot.
00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:47.360
I made it, you know, my look turned that way, and he would look at me and be like, I'm not gonna say what I really want to say here.
00:44:47.519 --> 00:44:53.280
Um, I think he was respecting the other candidates as well, just trying to be mindful of the time.
00:44:53.519 --> 00:45:00.159
Um running for office, you bring up a game.
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:08.079
Yes, um, I think that there had been some concerns that that he was intentionally excluded from flyers and stuff like that.
00:45:08.400 --> 00:45:13.280
And um, you know, I'm um do I do a lot of things.
00:45:13.360 --> 00:45:17.519
Um, in my free time, I'm putting together these mailing lists, trying to get people on the ballot.
00:45:17.599 --> 00:45:29.679
And you know, if you look at the times I'm sitting here, I'm sitting like 11:30 at night, midnight, because I'm done with all my other work and trying to, you know, track who get game new, but there was never an attempt to exclude anybody.
00:45:29.760 --> 00:45:35.360
I if we get a full race, that's a much better look for us than if we only get our favorite candidates.
00:45:35.440 --> 00:45:42.079
And so this idea that we were trying to, and I tried to communicate that clearly, we want everybody to bring their A game.
00:45:42.159 --> 00:45:52.719
And so I certainly hope that that perception of bias did not, you know, influence how he showed up because he said he wasn't feeling well, and I believe him.
00:45:52.880 --> 00:45:56.719
Um, his campaign manager said she was going to be there and she was not.
00:45:56.960 --> 00:46:08.960
Um, and you know, quite honestly, prior to this, there were um accusations made publicly that East Community Network is a transphobic organization.
00:46:09.599 --> 00:46:18.159
And I really worried that that was going to impact people's willingness to show up and that you know our reputation was under attack.
00:46:18.320 --> 00:46:26.320
And so the fact that people did show up, the fact that we it was not until 4 p.m., you know, we were out of there maybe at 4:30, 4:45.
00:46:26.880 --> 00:46:31.280
People stayed and stayed engaged, and so many people came from the community.
00:46:31.360 --> 00:46:43.760
I just hope people who heard that, and I hope that Chantelle and John now realize that there was never an attempt to be excluding anybody or to throw the race to somebody.
00:46:43.920 --> 00:46:49.280
This is not the kind of form where we're gonna ask a question to try to call a person out.
00:46:49.519 --> 00:46:55.119
This is actually the type of form where we want the people who are listening to hear what other candidates think.
00:46:55.360 --> 00:47:01.599
And quite frankly, if if I believed that that was your intention, Donna, I would not have participated, of course.
00:47:01.760 --> 00:47:05.519
And so I mean, you wouldn't be my you wouldn't be my co-host.
00:47:05.679 --> 00:47:06.559
No, I would not.
00:47:06.800 --> 00:47:13.440
Um let's take a break and let's uh talk about Donovan and Sri and Duel and these ads.
00:47:13.599 --> 00:47:16.480
Uh, we'll be right back with Authentically Detroit.
00:47:23.920 --> 00:47:39.840
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00:48:07.920 --> 00:48:10.400
Welcome back to Authentically Detroit.
00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:23.360
We are going to be talking about some of my reporting uh over the last few days as it pertains to the 13th Congressional District race between Tree Tanadar and Donovan McKinney.
00:48:23.599 --> 00:48:32.079
Uh, last week we saw Congressional Hopefuls Melat Kairos from Denver, Colorado, Chris Rabb from Philadelphia.
00:48:32.159 --> 00:48:34.239
He's a state rep in Pennsylvania.
00:48:34.480 --> 00:48:39.360
Both of these folks are backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
00:48:39.679 --> 00:48:44.960
Donovan McKinney received that same backing today, Monday, July 20th.
00:48:45.119 --> 00:48:48.320
Last week, he was endorsed by the Metro Detroit DSA.
00:48:49.199 --> 00:48:52.960
There were pins, there were rallying cries.
00:48:53.039 --> 00:48:54.559
I hadn't heard it before.
00:48:54.800 --> 00:49:01.760
You know, shout out to Chantel and the the Bridge Center folks because they're good at making these political messages.
00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:09.440
No Shree for me, uh, was the the uh the the saying at some time.
00:49:10.159 --> 00:49:11.599
Yeah, and I had never heard that.
00:49:11.679 --> 00:49:14.400
I got a pin for my collection.
00:49:14.639 --> 00:49:24.559
Uh Shree Tanadar is why wildly outspending and widely, wildly and widely outspending Donovan McKinney in this race.
00:49:24.639 --> 00:49:35.519
He's a self-funded candidate, and we are seeing some of his ads very similarly to uh Haley Stevens in her race against Abdul Al-Sayed.
00:49:35.840 --> 00:49:42.000
Um ads that are paid for by outside groups supporting Canadar like they're supporting Stevens.
00:49:42.159 --> 00:49:46.480
Um, Donna, you've seen some of those ads and some of those mailers against Donovan McKinney.
00:49:46.559 --> 00:49:47.599
What do they say?
00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:52.880
Well, they accuse him of opposing the minimum wage.
00:49:53.360 --> 00:49:56.000
Um, they just make all kinds of terrible.
00:49:56.320 --> 00:50:02.000
I don't even remember all the accusations against him, but this is why, you know, I really do believe we need money out of politics.
00:50:02.159 --> 00:50:10.639
I don't believe a candidate should be able to spend their own, you know,$100,000,$200,000,$300,000,$400,000 attacking somebody.
00:50:10.800 --> 00:50:15.039
And I also think there should be some level of integrity behind ads.
00:50:15.280 --> 00:50:18.400
So with Shree, it makes me sick to my stomach.
00:50:18.559 --> 00:50:25.199
I was talking to somebody who said I was gonna vote, knew I was gonna vote for, and then I saw these ads and I was like, wait a minute.
00:50:25.440 --> 00:50:39.840
Um it's you know, and and you know, I I think that his refusal to debate the issues, to stand up to the community and stand on his political beliefs is problematic.
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:43.760
And so that one just hits me in a really bad place.
00:50:44.000 --> 00:50:44.480
Yeah.
00:50:44.800 --> 00:50:46.719
Yeah, uh, I mean, the same thing can be said.
00:50:46.800 --> 00:50:52.400
I think a lot of Abdul Al-Sayed supporters are telling me that the Obama mailers and advertisements are just completely misleading.
00:50:52.559 --> 00:51:01.679
When I talk to you know, Jonathan Kinlock, the chair of the 13th Congressional District, Democratic Party, and the Wayne County Commissioner, he'll say, Sam, this is just fair.
00:51:01.840 --> 00:51:03.119
This is absolutely fair game.
00:51:03.280 --> 00:51:07.840
Politicians from all stripes have used Obama in their political ads, and he is right.
00:51:08.000 --> 00:51:11.119
Bernie Sanders in 2020 used Obama in a political ad.
00:51:11.199 --> 00:51:27.760
Clearly, Obama never supported Bernie Sanders's campaign as it to make it seem like I I don't know if I saw anybody use him as blatantly as Helly Stevens, because the ad that she put out there implied that she he had her vote.
00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:29.519
I support Hellie Stevens.
00:51:29.679 --> 00:51:40.079
He's saying that in this ad and saying all of these things, and so you know, people believed and said, I voted for her because Obama told me to.
00:51:40.239 --> 00:51:40.880
Yes.
00:51:41.440 --> 00:51:43.920
So run on your own record.
00:51:44.079 --> 00:51:45.119
I don't know.
00:51:45.360 --> 00:51:57.519
I think this is a Senate seat, this is not a Detroit seat, and I don't know that Barack Obama's endorsement plays for every demographic either.
00:51:57.840 --> 00:52:03.679
No, I do think he is the most popular Democrat in the world, in the world, but not among young people.
00:52:03.920 --> 00:52:06.320
I think people are voting in elections.
00:52:06.400 --> 00:52:07.920
Young people that hate Obama don't vote.
00:52:08.239 --> 00:52:10.320
I think that it's not even hate Obama.
00:52:10.400 --> 00:52:12.079
I don't, I'm not talking about hating Obama.
00:52:12.239 --> 00:52:19.199
There's a lot of younger people who voted for Obama and felt let down and then voted for Bernie Sanders and felt something.
00:52:19.280 --> 00:52:28.079
And so I think that you know, there's an assumption that young people are not going to vote and that 60-year-olds are going to control the votes forever.
00:52:28.320 --> 00:52:32.719
Some of the young people who they're talking about are 40 years old now.
00:52:33.199 --> 00:52:36.960
And so that millennial who didn't vote at 30 is 40.
00:52:37.039 --> 00:52:43.280
And I think that we can't make those assumptions, but I know that there are people who absolutely love Obama.
00:52:43.360 --> 00:52:44.800
He is very popular.
00:52:44.960 --> 00:52:55.599
Um, and there are people who also feel as the Obama politics are outdated, and we need a different brand of politics that is more, and that's what you're seeing in the divide in the party right now.
00:52:55.679 --> 00:53:00.719
I mean, what you didn't see is Mandami didn't run on Obama politics, he ran on something very different.
00:53:00.800 --> 00:53:07.199
And I think that that is a political movement sweeping the nation in many places, and those people aren't running on that.
00:53:07.519 --> 00:53:30.960
No, yeah, I think Obama's invocation in this race has been highly effective among a base of Haley's voters, which probably would have voted for her anyway, to be honest, because a lot of her, you know, elderly black Detroit base are not fans of progressive leftism, they're not fans of Arabs, frankly.
00:53:31.039 --> 00:53:37.519
I mean, I think there's a small subset of voters in Detroit that are conservative and racist.
00:53:37.679 --> 00:53:41.599
And I think that exists everywhere in every community, in every urban place.
00:53:41.840 --> 00:53:46.800
But I do think that that is what is powering.
00:53:46.960 --> 00:53:59.840
I mean, even in the ads, the attack ads on you know Michelle Obama or Gretchen Whitmer, there's an ad that I just saw paid for by the United Democracy Project, which is linked to APAC.
00:54:00.400 --> 00:54:12.800
Um accusing El Sayed of being a misogynist because he said that Michelle Obama's food program was uninspiring and that Gretchen Whitmer is bought and sold.
00:54:12.960 --> 00:54:28.000
You know, that uh but the narrative about his hatred of women, a lot of his supporters will ask openly, is that a part of the perception of him as a Muslim?
00:54:28.239 --> 00:54:30.719
Yes, it's it's definitely Islamophobia.
00:54:30.960 --> 00:54:32.400
They're playing into Islamophobia.
00:54:32.480 --> 00:54:45.360
I want to speak to older black voters in a lot of instances, keeping in mind that there are many people in my peer group, in my circle of friends, who are definitely supporting Abdul El-Sayed and very vocal and passionate in their support.
00:54:45.599 --> 00:54:48.719
But you have to remember that there's two factors.
00:54:48.960 --> 00:55:26.559
One is the devil you know, and Haley Stevens is aligned with the devil we know, the Democratic Party that has stood up for black people for over for decades in many people's minds, and it's been, you know, Bill Clinton's party, and you know, because Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, this this group of people who you trusted to fight Republicans, and now you have a whole bunch of progressives criticizing the one group of people you counted on to support you, and there's that fear that they don't love us.
00:55:27.519 --> 00:55:32.480
A lot of them are not black or white, but they are other people of color.
00:55:33.440 --> 00:55:36.400
America used to be black and white.
00:55:36.719 --> 00:55:39.679
You had black politicians and you had white politicians.
00:55:39.760 --> 00:55:43.920
And sometimes in Florida and Texas, you had Hispanic politicians.
00:55:44.159 --> 00:55:56.239
Now you've got Indians, Asians, and um and um Middle Eastern people who are seeking powerful positions and getting them.
00:55:56.400 --> 00:56:10.639
And I've seen some older black people talk about the browning of black power, this feeling that black people are losing out to other people of color, and this memory of other people of color also being racist.
00:56:10.800 --> 00:56:14.639
And so, you know, there's a fear of losing ground.
00:56:14.880 --> 00:56:17.360
The black congress, you have a congressional black caucus.
00:56:17.440 --> 00:56:19.840
We don't have a congressional people of color caucus.
00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:27.199
What happens when, you know, Rashida Talib and Sri Danadai are the two people representing Detroit, neither of them is African-American?
00:56:27.360 --> 00:56:29.920
That feels like a loss of power.
00:56:31.360 --> 00:56:37.360
When Stephanie Chang won, there are many black people who felt like, wait a minute, this is a black person's seat, Stephanie Chang is in.
00:56:37.519 --> 00:56:38.719
She took our seat.
00:56:38.960 --> 00:56:42.400
Rashida Talib, there are people who really feel like she took our seat.
00:56:42.559 --> 00:56:50.880
And when you felt marginalized, then any loss of representation feels dramatic.
00:56:51.199 --> 00:57:00.000
Haley Stevens is aligned with old school democratic politics that is really that binary white black.
00:57:01.920 --> 00:57:03.760
Yeah, and a lot, and it's interesting.
00:57:03.920 --> 00:57:22.000
I think the same thought that exists within the Haley Stevens camp about Abdul Al-Sayad being unelectable or being, you know, this uh, well, he's Muslim and his name is this way, so the white racist Republicans of Michigan aren't gonna support him.
00:57:22.480 --> 00:57:22.880
Yeah.
00:57:23.360 --> 00:57:29.599
That's this that's the same thing that white racist Republicans in Michigan are also saying to themselves.
00:57:30.960 --> 00:57:31.440
Is it true?
00:57:31.599 --> 00:57:32.239
Is it true?
00:57:32.480 --> 00:57:41.119
Well, they say that about they say that about John James, and you know, I think the reality is white racist Republicans aren't going to vote for a Democrat.
00:57:41.440 --> 00:57:42.639
Right, right, right.
00:57:42.880 --> 00:57:47.599
A white racist Republican is going to revolt for vote for a Republican, they're not going to vote for Haley Stevenson.
00:57:48.159 --> 00:57:51.920
And it's about turning out the people who are traditionally undecided.
00:57:52.079 --> 00:57:56.239
It's about turning out who's not Republican or Democrat, they're just Michigan resident voters.
00:57:56.480 --> 00:57:59.119
Or turning out people who feel passionate.
00:57:59.440 --> 00:58:03.679
You have a lot of races that young people feel passionate about.
00:58:03.920 --> 00:58:09.360
When Obama was running, Obama would not have been president without young people the first two times.
00:58:09.440 --> 00:58:09.760
Okay.
00:58:10.079 --> 00:58:12.480
Young people helped animate his campaign.
00:58:12.559 --> 00:58:18.079
That's the reason why the Obama is all he's always had this affiliation with young people.
00:58:18.480 --> 00:58:23.360
I'm not suggesting young people don't like him, I'm suggesting they don't trust his politics, and that's two different things.
00:58:23.440 --> 00:58:25.760
But Obama won because of young people.
00:58:26.320 --> 00:58:38.079
If anybody is gonna win and be Arab, if anybody is gonna win and be progressive, young people are going to be the people who push them over the edge.
00:58:38.239 --> 00:58:42.239
And the question is going to be what will the election look like this time?
00:58:42.400 --> 00:58:46.400
Because if young people is showing up for Kamala Harris, she'd be president.
00:58:46.559 --> 00:58:50.880
Now, some people said if Elon Musk did not mess up the results, she'd be president.
00:58:50.960 --> 00:59:00.079
But if if the turnout would have been different if young people showed up, because what she lost was not necessarily Arab people, she lost young folks who just didn't vote, they didn't vote for Trump, they didn't show up.
00:59:06.559 --> 00:59:08.400
As Israel in the Michigan U.S.
00:59:08.480 --> 00:59:10.000
Senate primary in 2026, right?
00:59:10.079 --> 00:59:14.639
There's they're outspending anybody times 10.
00:59:14.800 --> 00:59:16.880
You know, it's like 12 to 1 right now, right?
00:59:17.039 --> 00:59:20.639
It's 50 million to 4 million is the TV ad buys.
00:59:21.119 --> 00:59:22.239
And you know what?
00:59:22.559 --> 00:59:32.239
Nobody, there's no amount of advertising in the world that is going to just help an Abdul El-Sayed true believer turn to Haley Stevens.
00:59:32.400 --> 00:59:38.079
There's no amount of spinning in the world that's going to make a Haley Stevens true believer turn to Abdul.
00:59:38.639 --> 00:59:42.960
The only thing that's going to happen is which one of them get their base out, which one of them get their voters out.
00:59:43.199 --> 00:59:48.239
And that's the scary thing for Democrats leading into the election against Mike Rogers, right?
00:59:48.320 --> 00:59:51.119
If Haley is the nominee, are we going to see?
00:59:51.280 --> 00:59:58.880
And I think it's shifting from are we going to see to if Haley is the nominee, she's going to lose half of the Democratic base because they're not going to support her.
00:59:59.039 --> 01:00:12.960
That's what I'm hearing from folks when I talk to when I talk to Abdul supporters, they say, Hell no, I will never vote for and I'm and I'm hearing the similar, similarly Arab voters that are telling me, I'm going to vote for Mike Rogers if Haley's the nominee.
01:00:13.119 --> 01:00:14.639
I mean the Democratic Party.
01:00:14.880 --> 01:00:18.639
Yeah, and it's very possible that they'll do that.
01:00:18.800 --> 01:00:30.480
And it's very possible that whoever wins is going to have to connect with the voters who feel let down and embrace them and show them there's room for them in their campaign.
01:00:30.639 --> 01:00:31.599
You know, it happens.
01:00:31.760 --> 01:00:37.360
But the other thing that's happening, and this is why I'm not that concerned, is that there are too many races at stake.
01:00:37.519 --> 01:01:04.239
You have too many races at stake, too many people who are running progressive campaigns, too many people who are running Republican campaigns, and you have the need to defeat the Republican Congress and to hold Donald Trump accountable because if we don't have a changeover in Congress in the fall, then all of these big, beautiful bill um, you know, things that were postponed until 2027 are going to come to pass.
01:01:04.400 --> 01:01:05.360
That's the real danger.
01:01:05.519 --> 01:01:10.239
Medicaid cuts don't really show up until 2027, 2028.
01:01:10.400 --> 01:01:18.159
So, and that was done on purpose so that the Republicans could survive the midterms before a lot of those changes go into effect.
01:01:18.400 --> 01:01:27.599
Um, I hope the Democratic Party hits those points hard so that people who are Democrats understand the what's really at stake.
01:01:27.920 --> 01:01:32.960
That we we vote for people who we like in in primaries.
01:01:33.039 --> 01:01:33.280
Yeah.
01:01:33.519 --> 01:01:41.440
And then in general elections, we vote for people who we vote for party or people who we think are going to defeat the people we don't like.
01:01:41.679 --> 01:01:42.239
Yeah, yeah.
01:01:42.400 --> 01:01:58.960
And I just again I want to ask openly about the electability question when you had Abdul Al-Sayed Niraj Work, who on Twitter, he's a free press reporter, just pointed out eight years ago in the Democratic primary for governor in 18, he got 96% of the vote.
01:01:59.199 --> 01:02:05.119
Um, in in the uh one part of Dearborn that went for Trump in 2024.
01:02:05.280 --> 01:02:05.519
Right.
01:02:05.679 --> 01:02:27.039
And so if we are going to be talking about electability, I do think it is worth really examining with some skepticism sort of the conventional wisdom that Abdul, because he's Muslim, that that is somehow a risk.
01:02:27.119 --> 01:02:31.840
I just I don't I agree with you, and I think that we should challenge that.
01:02:31.920 --> 01:02:37.119
And I don't think that we should vote for people because we think that the other people like them better.
01:02:37.360 --> 01:02:43.039
Um, we don't do a very good job of attracting Republicans to cross over to the Democratic side.
01:02:43.280 --> 01:02:49.599
I think vote your values, vote for the person you think is going to make the kind of change you're gonna make that you want to see.
01:02:49.760 --> 01:02:55.760
If you are a person who does not want to disrupt the status quo, Haley Stevens is a safe bet.
01:02:56.000 --> 01:03:01.280
If you're a person who wants to disrupt the status quo, Abdul El Sayyid is a safe, safe bet.
01:03:02.000 --> 01:03:08.719
If you want to vote for a person who's gonna maintain the Trump agenda, then a vote for Mike Rogers is a safe bet.
01:03:08.880 --> 01:03:11.199
We understand how these things sit, right?
01:03:11.440 --> 01:03:15.679
And um, but again, I think that there's this is noise.
01:03:15.840 --> 01:03:27.519
A lot of it is noise, a lot of it is really, really bad, you know, conversations taking place all across America where people on the left are just tearing each other up.
01:03:27.679 --> 01:03:37.119
Um, you're hearing people who are long-term strategists, I'm trying to think of the guy's name who came out and said, you know, well, um, who's Jamie?
01:03:37.679 --> 01:03:46.239
Jamie um said, oh my god, don't you if you don't like Democrats, don't use our people, don't use our resources, you know.
01:03:46.639 --> 01:03:47.519
Jamie Harrison.
01:03:47.760 --> 01:03:53.119
Yeah, it's people are hurt, and hurt people say things like that.
01:03:53.360 --> 01:03:57.440
And we need a healing uh if we're going to see anything good happen.
01:03:57.599 --> 01:04:06.079
Other than that, um, you know, this kind of, you know, mudslinging and character attacks.
01:04:06.239 --> 01:04:09.920
And, you know, Haley Stevens has done things I don't like.
01:04:10.000 --> 01:04:11.119
She said things I don't like.
01:04:11.199 --> 01:04:15.280
I think she's light years better than Mike Rogers, if I'm being honest with you.
01:04:16.400 --> 01:04:19.280
Um, Abdul El Sayyed is not perfect.
01:04:19.440 --> 01:04:21.119
He's light years better than Mike Rogers.
01:04:21.280 --> 01:04:21.760
That's the other thing.
01:04:21.840 --> 01:04:23.199
We're not going to get a perfect person.
01:04:23.360 --> 01:04:26.880
Yeah, so so you're not gonna join the uh angry Abdul supporters.
01:04:26.960 --> 01:04:30.719
If Haley's the nominee, you you you plan on fully supporting her over.
01:04:32.320 --> 01:04:35.360
Did I tell you that I'll be 63 in September?
01:04:36.079 --> 01:04:51.199
I've seen what happens when we use political retribution over and over and over again, the most significant time being I did not support Jim Blanchard, and we got Ingler, John Ingler.
01:04:51.280 --> 01:04:51.840
I just didn't vote.
01:04:51.920 --> 01:04:53.599
I'm like, uh uh Tweedledee, Tweedled.
01:04:54.239 --> 01:05:02.159
John Ingler was horrible and he made permanent changes to Michigan that cannot be undone.
01:05:02.320 --> 01:05:04.719
And I will always live with that on my conscience.
01:05:05.119 --> 01:05:14.880
So I think for me, I have to understand that as much as I may not like the Democrat who shows up, for me, I care about certain things.
01:05:15.119 --> 01:05:23.519
Um I'm I'm gonna vote for the person who I think cares about my community more than the other person.
01:05:23.679 --> 01:05:24.800
I'll do it in the primaries.
01:05:24.960 --> 01:05:26.079
I'm gonna do it in the general election.
01:05:26.159 --> 01:05:27.599
I encourage everybody else to do the same.
01:05:27.679 --> 01:05:28.719
I know you have to go.
01:05:29.039 --> 01:05:31.039
Yeah, we want to thank you all.
01:05:31.199 --> 01:05:49.920
And uh certainly if you want to appear on our show, if you have discussions, topics that you want us to talk about and tackle on Authentically Detroit, please hit us up on our socials at Authentically Detroit on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or you can visit our website at Detroit-authentically-detroit.com.
01:05:50.400 --> 01:05:52.800
Um Donna, I want to thank you.
01:05:52.960 --> 01:06:07.280
I want to give my shout out this week to you and Sarah and the whole ECN team for doing just a fabulous job in informing our community um and informing really the state, because a lot of the a lot of folks have not heard from these legislative candidates.
01:06:07.440 --> 01:06:14.639
There's a huge Senate race and a governor's race that's taking up a lot of airtime and and uh print space.
01:06:15.039 --> 01:06:16.239
So thank you.
01:06:16.320 --> 01:06:22.239
Uh and and thank you, everyone, supporting ECN as we try to do the right thing out here.
01:06:22.320 --> 01:06:23.920
We're we're just trying our best, aren't we?
01:06:24.480 --> 01:06:25.599
Back at you, Sam.
01:06:25.679 --> 01:06:26.880
Um, shout out to you.
01:06:26.960 --> 01:06:30.639
It's the first time that you sat in with on one of these forums.
01:06:30.880 --> 01:06:34.639
And you know, it was a marathon session, and you know, it was great.
01:06:34.719 --> 01:06:36.960
And I just really appreciate having you there.
01:06:37.199 --> 01:06:40.000
It's kind of scary because, like, okay, we haven't done this before.
01:06:40.239 --> 01:06:44.159
Orlando's usually in this seat, and you came in and it just went really, really well.
01:06:44.239 --> 01:06:47.679
And so I was really proud of our team, um, all of us.
01:06:47.920 --> 01:06:53.119
And yeah, I mean, it's it's when good people come together and try to do a good thing, the change happens.
01:06:53.440 --> 01:06:56.079
And part of it is just informing people.
01:06:56.400 --> 01:06:57.280
Knowledge is power.
01:06:57.519 --> 01:06:58.480
Thanks, Michael.
01:06:58.639 --> 01:06:59.599
Um, thank you.
01:06:59.679 --> 01:07:02.639
He came back out of vacation on a Saturday to make it all happen.
01:07:02.719 --> 01:07:03.840
So that too.
01:07:04.239 --> 01:07:05.679
Thank you guys for showing up for us.
01:07:05.840 --> 01:07:06.400
All right now.
01:07:06.480 --> 01:07:07.440
We'll hear from you next week.