- Michigan Democrats won big elections by focusing on lowering costs of living, making necessities more affordable
- Experts, advocates say state leaders have options to improve residents’ economic circumstances, though some would be costly
- Democrats will have majorities in state legislature and Congress, but still need to work with Trump administration to change federal policy
In Michigan and across the nation, Democrats dominated competitive races by appealing directly to voters’ pocketbooks, promising to tackle high costs and fight back against President Donald Trump’s tariffs and Iran War.
Now, the big question is whether they can deliver — and how soon after they take office in January.
Democratic Gov.-elect Jocelyn Benson said after her double-digit win that she’ll be working with legislative leaders to identify options for “quick relief,” beginning with “the bills families feel every month.”
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At the federal level, “money in your pocket” was a campaign mantra for Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed. He and fellow Democrats are angling to reverse or revise some of Trump’s signature second-term actions, from tariffs and the Iran War to spending cuts on Medicaid and food assistance.
But political and economic realities could hamper Democrats’ ambitions. Federal lawmakers will still need Trump’s signoff to pass laws, and state leaders are limited in what they can do to effectively combat systemic economic issues, especially if the state budget is stretched thin.
Experts and advocates who spoke with Bridge Michigan this week said there are opportunities for relief if officials are able to spend or have the appetite to push for long-term changes.
Still, “there is no silver bullet, there is no fix where suddenly gas prices go down, groceries are more affordable and everything else,” said Eric Lupher, president of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan.
Boost wages
For many Michigan families, wage stagnation or decline is as much of a cause of affordability issues as higher costs of living, said Patrick Schaefer, an economic security policy analyst for the Michigan League for Public Policy.
“This crisis of affordability is not new for everyone,” Schaefer said. “Affordability is not a one-sided issue. It is not just about costs, and it’s not just about wages. It is a multi-variable equation in which wages and costs are a large part of it.”
Benson, in her winning campaign for governor, said she wanted to guarantee a minimum salary of $60,000 for teachers. As of last year, Michigan starting teacher pay ranked 44th nationwide at $41,645.
House Speaker-elect Ranjeev Puri recently told Bridge that Democrats are still working on their legislative agenda. But he told Bridge he wants lawmakers to “start tackling why our household median income in Michigan is lagging behind our peer states,” among other things.
Depending on political will, building on recent increases to the state’s minimum wage and increasing worker protections and labor participation could be on the table.
But doing so would likely require significant political capital — lawmakers in 2025 brokered a deal on minimum wage increases only after months of infighting and a spirited challenge from restaurant owners.
Policymakers have also tried to boost wages by attracting companies with high-paying jobs to the state, though middling returns on incentives to draw such companies have caused consternation among lawmakers in recent years.
Congress could also move to increase the $7.25 federal minimum wage, which hasn’t increased since 2009, although that impact could be limited because most Americans already earn more than that.
More tax credits, supports
Under term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan expanded its Earned Income Tax Credit for lower-income workers and introduced programs like Rx Kids, a first-in-the-nation cash assistance program for moms that has improved health outcomes but drawn scrutiny from legislative Republicans.
Benson previously told Bridge she wants to expand Rx Kids and work with the Legislature to create a new $5,000 caregiver tax credit.
Long-term, advocates say expanding eligibility for childcare scholarships and increasing the number of providers available is another way the state could make a tangible difference in family budgets.
One likely limitation: The cost of it all. Much will depend on how federal changes to payments for programs like food assistance and Medicaid play out in the state budget, as well as updated revenue estimates state officials will receive in January.
Some advocates have argued that additional taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents, either via surcharges or taxes on inheritance, could be a way to boost revenue without hitting middle- and lower-income residents’ bottom lines.
“We have tools at our disposal to increase revenues without necessarily burdening the median family or median worker that we could then use to pay for some of these programs,” Schaefer said, acknowledging that suggesting new tax hikes “becomes very unpopular.”
Revisit tariffs
The Trump administration’s tariff strategy was a hot topic in the midterms as critics blamed the new import taxes and retaliation from other nations for rising costs of groceries and other necessities.
Trump — who has defended his aggressive tariff strategy as a means to protect US manufacturing interests — will remain a key decision-maker in setting trade policy, but advocates argue there’s an opportunity for federal and even state officials to push for change.
“Tariffs are a pretty important first step” for taking on the cost-of-living issues Michigan residents are facing, said John Sellek, spokesperson for the Michigan Smart Trade Alliance.
Congressional Democrats are reportedly preparing a two-pronged approach to wind back some of Trump’s tariffs through investigations and legislative challenges.
An analysis from the National Taxpayers Union Foundation found the import taxes have cost Michigan residents an estimated $27 billion since January 2025, an estimated $6,485 per household and the third-highest statewide total in the country.
The federal government collected $233 billion in tariff revenue from January through late September, though refunds ordered by the US Supreme Court are cutting into that, with about $140 billion to be counted as revenue. The import tax was about $77 billion in 2024 before Trump was reelected.
Reconnect with Canada
Michigan and other states bordering Canada have borne the brunt of Trump’s tensions with the United States’ northern neighbor, from retaliatory tariff costs to a drop in foreign tourism.
Where many other pressures on people’s pocketbooks don’t have a quick political fix, Sellek argued a friendlier relationship with Canada would show “fairly rapid” improvements for businesses and consumers alike.
El-Sayed, who called Trump’s tariff policies “chaotic,” “ham-fisted” and “self-serving” on the campaign trail, recently told MS Now that resolving trade issues with Canada should happen “immediately.”
State officials have little control over foreign relations, though that hasn’t stopped outgoing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer from working with sources both in the US and Canada.
On Tuesday, Whitmer sent a letter to federal officials asking for the government to eliminate food tariffs imposed from 2025 onward and reimburse Michigan residents for higher grocery costs.
In an October debate, Gov.-elect Jocelyn Benson declared she would “negotiate a contract between Michigan and Canada” to alleviate the state’s tariff burden. It’s not clear she would have the authority to do so, however, because the US Constitution only gives Congress the power to levy tariffs and approve formal treaties with foreign governments.
Following her election, Benson was more measured, offering to work with the Trump administration and Congress “to protect the people of Michigan from the harm that these tariffs have caused.”
Suspend gas taxes
Gas prices skyrocketed across the country in recent months amid the US and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, and prices in metro Detroit at times topped $5 per gallon. According to AAA, average prices have dropped considerably from those highs in recent weeks and currently sit at $3.95 per gallon, roughly a dollar more than this time last year.
Because the crude oil that goes into making gasoline is a global commodity, prices can be volatile and are influenced heavily by international affairs in addition to supply and demand.
One factor US policymakers can control is the taxes collected at the pump. Michigan has the sixth-highest gas tax in the nation, at 52.4 cents a gallon, and the federal gas tax is another 18.4 cents per gallon.
On the campaign trail, state and federal candidates alike floated temporary gas tax holidays as a possibility to give drivers a little relief. But doing so even for a short time would come with a big cost: those taxes are the primary funding source for critical road repairs.
“When you cut out the primary funding mechanism for this, well, now you’re stuck with a problem,” said Adam Hoffer, director of excise tax policy at the Washington, DC-based Tax Foundation. “You’re either going to need to raise taxes somewhere else, or you’re going to need to tax some other item or product, or this becomes deficit financing.”
“None of those are great options,” he continued.
Benson has said she’s open to considering short-term state gas tax reductions. On the day after the election, she noted the state should also consider revisiting how road repairs are funded “so that we are identifying new sources of revenue that can help pay our bills in the state, but also streamlining how things are spent so that we’re reducing costs as well.”
Address healthcare costs
Costs of healthcare have continued to surge, resulting in a growing number of uninsured Americans. Looming federal changes to Medicaid under the Trump-backed “big, beautiful bill” could lead to more people losing their existing health coverage.
Voters in five Michigan cities approved measures to create new citizen-led boards that will recommend ways to lower costs and improve healthcare policies. It’s unclear how those boards will function in practice, and they won’t have any direct authority to change policies.
Some winning candidates like El-Sayed championed a “Medicare for All” single-payer federal healthcare system, a longtime progressive priority. That could require new or higher taxes, but proponents argue it would reduce overall costs by eliminating out-of-pocket costs.
At the federal level, convincing Trump to walk back some of his signature policies adopted with a Republican-led Congress will likely be a tall order for Democrats, as would any significant expansions to government-backed healthcare the GOP has historically opposed.
Experts say state officials do have options to lower healthcare costs, though doing so would mean an investment of state resources.
Marianne Udow-Phillips, founding executive director of the Ann Arbor-based Center for Health & Research Transformation, said during a panel at Bridge Michigan’s Issues Summit that the creation of a state health plan and a drug affordability board are some ways state lawmakers could address healthcare costs.
That’s an approach Benson and legislative Democrats have already proposed. A plan approved last year by the state Senate, but blocked by House Republicans, would have allowed the board to cap prescription prices if members determine costs are preventing patients from receiving needed care.
Lupher, of the Citizens Research Council, said the state also has an opportunity to fill gaps left by the federal government and offer state credits in lieu of discontinued federal tax credits that made the marketplace more affordable.
Challenge utility rates, data center impact
Another big issue for voters in the 2026 midterms was high utility costs, including whether data centers would be a drain on state resources.
Advocates argue state officials have an opportunity to send a message to voters that they’re listening, especially after the resounding passage of a statewide ballot measure limiting political spending by corporate utilities. That proposal is being challenged in court.
“I think a lot of people are really looking for assurances that energy costs are not going to spike because of these massive data centers coming in and taking a lot more energy off the grid,” said Nick Dodge, senior director of programs for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.
Dodge said voters have also been frustrated by “never-ending rate hikes” that make their basic necessities more expensive and said any legislative efforts to rein in those costs could be a relatively easy way for lawmakers to show voters they’re serious about affordability.
Advocates have also pushed a “ratepayer bill of rights” ensuring people have financial protections during severe power outages.
During her campaign, Benson called for tying utility profits to service reliability, as well as increasing outage credits available to ratepayers. Broadly, she called for additional reforms to the rate-setting process handled by the Michigan Public Service Commission.
Benson also advocated for a “grid audit” to identify weaknesses and infrastructure needs in the state’s power supply, as well as a statewide “home energy bills relief program” to assist Michigan residents with weatherizing homes, upgrading insulation, replacing outdated heating and cooling systems and expanding flexible payment plan options.
Benson didn’t offer specifics when asked how much those plans would cost to implement, but she said her ultimate goal is to protect residents from higher heating and electricity costs and frequent, widespread outages.
Michigan has some of the country’s longest outage times, according to federal data.
This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. 