Tuesday, Aug. 4 – 1 p.m.
Detroiter Cheryl Lofton cast her ballot Tuesday at East English Preparatory Academy and said a new leader for the state was top of mind.
“We have to get it right. We want to keep the momentum of the state moving forward,” said Lofton, a 62-year-old retiree. “I want people to be careful about who they vote for, and just don’t vote for people that (have) name recognition and things like that. You got to put some thought into it and some research into it.”
For Lofton, research relied heavily on search engines and election-focused websites and she also used resources, like ChatGPT, she said.
“So I just kind of Google, do a little of everything to try and get that research done,” she said.
Although she didn’t disclose the gubernatorial candidate’s name, Lofton said: “I’ve seen her work, and I’m pretty sure you know who it was. I like what I saw, and I like her record.”
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, is the only female candidate on the Aug. 4 primary ballot in the race for Michigan governor. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson is the other Democratic hopeful. Republican candidates for governor are US Rep. John James and businessman Perry Johnson.
Fellow east side voter, Christine Crawford, a social worker in her mid-60s, said it was a tough decision but she landed on Benson, too.
“… I felt like maybe she had a little bit more legislative experience. But they were both (Benson and Swanson) kind of a toss-up right till the end,” she said.
Detroiter Angela Walters, 33, also supports Benson, who she contends has been doing good work for the state.
“…I’m really pleased with the things that she’s put into place and fighting against again big billionaire money,” she said.
Meanwhile, at a Wayne County Community College District polling site on the west side, Latoya Hall, 47, who lives in Rosedale Park and is a Wayne State University research assistant, said she is also backing Benson, noting she “really enjoyed her leadership as the Secretary of State.”
Fellow Rosedale Park resident Anthony Evans told BridgeDetroit that Benson also secured his vote.
“She’s been in the political arena as Secretary State, so she knows what’s going on as far as what’s going on out in the streets,” said Evans, a 64-year-old retired construction worker. “She was right there hand in hand with the governor. We need someone that cares about the people. Jocelyn Benson’s for the people.”
Meanwhile, in the heated race for US Senate, Detroiter Malcolm McBryde said he is backing four-term Rep. Haley Stevens, who is being challenged by Abdul El-Sayed.
“I was really on the fence on that one because I liked a lot of things that El-Sayed was saying, but I feel like in this current climate with (Donald) Trump as president and Republicans in dominance, which is terrible, we need somebody who’s got a lot of experience in Washington and really knows the ropes,” said McBryde, 73. “That’s what I went with in the end.”
Fellow east sider Greg Battjes, 33, said he supports El-Sayed. “I mean, he seems like he might actually do something,” he said.
Crawford also voted for El-Sayed, who formerly served in health-focused leadership roles for the city of Detroit and Wayne County.
“He supports the people and always has. I’ve been a supporter of his since he was in the Detroit Health Department, trying to help people in Detroit,” she said.
Hall, the west side voter, said she chose Stevens, noting her daughter encouraged her to favor Stevens, too.
“I’ve been following her for a while because she’s done some amazing things with former administrations,” she said.
Brian and Donnett Jourdan, 68 and 71, respectively, of Rosedale Park, were divided Tuesday on the US Senate race.
Brian, a retired auto mechanic, voted for Stevens, while Donnett , a ticket agent for Alaska Airlines, voted for El-Sayed.
“I figured Haley Stevens was good enough for Barack Obama, who I consider to be the best president in my lifetime,” Brian Jourdan said. “She’s also a congressperson, so she’s got a little bit of experience there.”
Donnett said she likes El-Sayed’s vision for Medicare for All and his criticism of ICE.
East side voters signal early support for transit, DPSCD ballot proposals
Tuesday, Aug. 4 – 11:58 a.m.
A majority of Detroit voters on the city’s far east side Tuesday were energized to turn out and vote and supportive of ballot proposals to support the public school district and transit services.
Malcolm McBryde, a 73-year-old retired librarian and Kalamazoo Gazette journalist, said he was backing millage requests for Detroit Public Schools Community District and Wayne County transit.
“I think Detroit really needs good public transit. I often use the bus,” McBryde told BridgeDetroit, adding he’s a fan of the Detroit Institute of Arts and enjoys using bus services to get there.
“But there’s other times when I’ve tried to use it to do more complex jobs, like trying to transfer and get somewhere. I’ve gotten stuck – like badly stuck – and I just think about people who don’t have cars,” added McBryde, noting that unlike many Detroiters, he has three vehicles. “… We really need to support public transit as much as we can.”
Detroit is one of 17 communities in Wayne County being asked to support the 10-year millage to fund public transit. The proposal, if approved, would authorize the Wayne County Transit Authority to levy a millage to fund transit operations, maintenance and expand services for seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and the general public.
The millage would generate about $50 million annually, and revenue collected in Detroit – a projected $7-10 million – would stay in the city to boost frequency, reliability and regional connectivity of the DDOT system.
Detroit Public Schools Community District meanwhile is asking voters to support its collection of an 18-mill levy, which has been collected by Detroit Public Schools and was last renewed by voters in 2024.
The millage will not affect homeowners, but the tax would be for non-homestead properties, such as businesses and people who own rental properties, DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti has stressed.
If the millage fails, the proposal will appear on November’s ballot. If it does not pass then, the district may have to pay between $1 million and $2 million to the city to hold a special election in May 2027. Vitti has said that DPSCD must get voter approval to collect the operating millage by July 1, 2027. If voters reject the millage by that date, DPSCD officials said the district will go into a $120 million deficit.
As for the DPSCD operating millage, McBryde said he believes that the district needs as much support as it can get.
“Detroit schools need to be as good as they can be for people to move here. I live in Detroit, and I want Detroit to prosper, and I don’t mind paying taxes to make that happen,” he said.
Clinical social worker Christine Crawford, who also voted at East English Village Prep, said is backing both of the proposals, too.
“You know, my brothers and sisters in the city need to get around, and they need reliable transportation to do it,” she said of her support for the transit millage. “The cost of owning a car is very expensive in this city, and so that’s why I supported that.
As for schools, she said, “If we don’t have our schools running right and the kids getting what they need as far as extra support, we’re just going to be digging our hole deeper. We can’t do it just by having billionaires handing out things.”
Nonprofit worker Angela Walters, 33, told BridgeDetroit that she also backed both and has heard of similar support in her social circles, saying “both the schools and transportation are really important things for the people of the city of Detroit.”
Others, like Greg Battjes, 33, saw value in the transit proposal, but said he didn’t feel informed enough to support the DPSCD millage.
“I supported the transit millages because honestly, any time a transit millage comes up, it’s just like, I mean, why is our transit the worst in the country for any major city? You know, so I always supported transit millage,” said Battjes, a construction worker.
Battjes said the DPSCD millage was a ballot question that “I didn’t quite understand.”
Cheryl Lofton, a 62-year-old retiree, on the other hand, didn’t favor either proposal.
“I have a problem with millages because it reminds me of like every few years, there’s a millage. That means my taxes are going up, and it’s like I feel like money is being mismanaged,” she said.
Added Lofton: “I have voted ‘yes’ in the past, but it’s really got to be like a new millage. If it’s consistently a millage that I’ve seen come out over and over again, like Detroit Public Schools, it’s mismanagement of money to me. So I vote ‘no.’”
