Daily Briefs

John James announces run for congressional seat

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan businessman, military veteran and two-time Republican Senate candidate John James announced Monday he will run for an open House seat in the Detroit area.

The 10th District, newly created through redistricting, includes a chunk of Macomb County and a small portion of Oakland County and is considered competitive. Then-President Donald Trump narrowly won the area of the state in 2020 over Joe Biden.

Democratic Reps. Andy Levin and Haley Stevens currently represent parts of the seat, but they are seeking to represent a new, Democratic district in Oakland County.

The 40-year-old James, a top GOP recruit, was twice the Republican nominee to challenge incumbent Democratic senators, losing by about 1.7 percentage points to Gary Peters in 2020.

The West Point graduate flew Apache helicopters in combat and led two platoons during the Iraq War. After being honorably discharged, he joined his father’s Detroit-based group of companies, James Group International Inc. He is CEO of Renaissance Global Logistics, which ships supplier parts to auto factories.

 

Ballot drive seeks constitutional amendment to expand voting

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan ballot drive that was launched Monday would make it easier to vote, creating more than a week of early voting, letting all voters request an absentee ballot for future elections and requiring prepaid postage on return envelopes.

The proposed constitutional amendment was announced as Republicans in the battleground state circulate petitions for a veto-proof initiative they contend would improve election integrity. Democrats say, however, the earlier announced GOP-backed measure would restrict voting.

Promote the Vote, which successfully pushed a 2018 ballot measure that expanded absentee voting and authorized same-day voter registration, needs roughly 425,000 valid signatures by mid-July for the new measure announced Monday to qualify for the November ballot.

“Our goal is simple really. It’s to continue building a voting system that works for everyone in Michigan,” said Khalilah Spencer, the group’s president. Backers include groups such as Voters Not Politicians, which organized a voter-approved ballot drive that put redistricting in the hands of an independent commission, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.

Since former President Donald Trump falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen, some Republican-controlled states have restricted voting by mail and made other changes such as limiting when voters can cast ballots.


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