Why Mike Cox says he's running for governor in ‘decisive' election
Calling next year's election, 'decisive,' he joined U.S. Rep. John James and state Sen. Aric Nesbitt, who are also running for the Republican nomination.
Cox told News 8 that the state's education system has not improved despite increased funding and that's something he would focus on if elected, along with making sure jobs come back to the state.
'It's tragic to me that now our kids have fallen behind the whole country, literally, our fourth graders in reading. There's only two states behind us New Mexico and Alaska. We're back up to the second highest unemployment in America,' Cox said. 'And I know I have the skills, I know how to build a team, I know how to build a campaign and think this is a moment, not so much for me but for Michigan. 2026 is going to be decisive because it's really, do we get up off the ground and fight or do we accept more decline?'
Fully a year before the filing deadline, the field has already grown with a number of notable candidates. Democrats Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson have announced their campaigns. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says he is running as an independent.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
6 minutes ago
- The Hill
Americans split on party lines over support for Supreme Court: Survey
Americans are split along party lines over their support for the Supreme Court, with the majority of Republicans approving of its actions, according to a Friday survey. The new YouGov poll found that 45 percent of respondents strongly or somewhat disapprove of the Supreme Court's work, while 40 percent said they strongly or somewhat approve. Some 14 percent were unsure. The majority of GOP voters, 73 percent, strongly or somewhat approve of the Supreme Court's handling of recent cases, far higher than 34 percent of independents and just 14 percent of Democrats. Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor had the highest net favorability rating on the court's bench with plus 4 percentage points. Ketanji Brown Jackson had a plus 2 percentage point rating. The poll found that Democratic Party voters view Sotomayor the most favorably, while they see Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh as the most unfavorable. Among Republicans, Kavanaugh and Thomas were seen as the most favorable, while Brown Jackson and Sotomayor were viewed the least favorably. Around a quarter, 26 percent, of respondents said the Supreme Court has too much power, a decrease from last year when 42 percent of Americans said the same thing. The sentiment has dropped the most among Democrats, going from 73 percent in 2024 to 41 percent this year. About 22 percent of independents said the nation's highest court has too much power, a 16-point decrease from a year ago when it was 38 percent. Most respondents, 55 percent, said the Supreme Court has the right amount of power. A recent poll from AP-NORC Research Center found Americans' confidence in the Supreme Court has increased slightly, but that around one-in-three adults are still wary of the country's highest court. The Supreme Court's approval was at 51 percent among Americans in February, according to a Marquette Law School national poll. The other 49 percent disapproved. Friday's survey was conducted between June 30 and July 2 among 1,043 U.S. adults. The margin of error was around 4 percentage points.
Politico
34 minutes ago
- Politico
Epstein is our national horror story
The Epstein story has consumed Trump's Washington for weeks, dividing the MAGA movement and handing Democrats a rhetorical foothold they've been searching for ever since Trump retook office. Why, of all things, is this the story that connects with people? According to writer Dan Brooks, it touches on a kind of fundamental metaphor in our culture — one that speaks to how we understand power, predation and corruption today. 'As a vehicle for our worst fears about the 21st-century United States,' he writes, 'Epstein is our Dracula.' Read the story. MORNING MONEY: CAPITAL RISK — POLITICO's flagship financial newsletter has a new Friday edition built for the economic era we're living in: one shaped by political volatility, disruption and a wave of policy decisions with sector-wide consequences. Each week, Morning Money: Capital Risk brings sharp reporting and analysis on how political risk is moving markets and how investors are adapting. Want to know how health care regulation, tariffs, or court rulings could ripple through the economy? Start here. 'Did anyone really think the sexual predator president who used to party with Jeffrey Epstein was going to release the Epstein files?' Can you guess who said this about Trump? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.** An Epstein Scandal Timeline ... As scrutiny on the administration and its allies in Congress mounts over the Epstein saga, the rhetoric of senior officials has begun to shift. So legal columnist Ankush Khardori put together a timeline of the statements and stories we've heard from figures like FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump himself. 'Taken together,' he writes, 'Trump's comments suggest the possibility that he suspected that there may be politically damaging information about him in the files and wanted to preemptively discredit revelations about him.' South Park Slaps Trump ... South Park returned to the airwaves with a comedic blitzkrieg on Trump, whom it depicts as Satan's lover — a role in which he has replaced Saddam Hussein. Perhaps most notably, the show leans hard into Trump's past connections with Epstein. 'It's the latest sign that Trump has lost control of the Epstein narrative, and that the saga has broken Washington containment and permeated deep into popular culture,' writes Calder McHugh. 'That makes it the worst kind of White House mess.' History's Warning for ICE ... ICE raids are already leading to dramatic sights in communities across the United States, with un-uniformed, masked agents arresting not the kids of hardened criminals you find in Trump's rhetoric, but everyday people who are beloved members of their towns, workplaces and churches. As ICE grows into the largest law enforcement agency in history, those sights will only increase the spectacle — and according to historian Joshua Zeitz, we've seen something similar play out before. 'In the 1850s, the federal government enforced a brutal dragnet aimed at hunting down and returning 'fugitive slaves' — formerly enslaved persons who had escaped captivity and fled north,' he writes. 'The political response proved explosive. Seemingly overnight, white people who previously cared little for the plight of Black Americans, free or enslaved, became committed antislavery voters.' From the drafting table of editorial cartoonist Matt Wuerker. **Who Dissed? answer: That would be Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is running for reelection in Georgia. politicoweekend@
UPI
37 minutes ago
- UPI
Calif., Illinois may fight new Texas congressional maps with their own
1 of 2 | California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he may seek to change his state's congressional maps if Texas redraws its borders. File photo by Jonathan Alcorn/UPI | License Photo July 26 (UPI) -- As the Texas Legislature plans to redraw congressional maps in an effort to increase Republican members in the U.S. House, the governors of California and Illinois may devise their own new borders. Traditionally, the boundaries are changed every 10 years with the latest U.S. Census data but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called a special legislative session after pressure from the White House to preserve the GOP majority in the U.S. House. President Donald Trump believes an additional five seats could be created by changing the borders. Of the state's 38 districts, 25 are held by Republicans. Democrats hold seats in big cities of Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, McAllen, San Antonio. Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Republicans hold a 219-212 advantage in the House with four vacancies -- three Democrats who died and one Republican who resigned this week. More than a dozen Texas House members flew to Illinois and California -- two blue states -- on Friday for a meeting with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzkeper, during which they revealed their intentions. "Donald Trump called up Governor Abbott for one simple reason: to rig the 2026 elections. California's moral high ground means nothing if we're powerless because of it," Newsom said after meeting with Democrats from the Texas House. "This moment requires us to be prepared to fight fire with fire. Whether that's a special election, a ballot initiative, a bill, a fight in court. If they proceed in Texas, we will be ready." "This is not a bluff. This is real, and trust me, it's more real after listening to these leaders today, how existential this is," Newsom said. As the most populous state in the nation, California has 43 Democratic members of the house and nine Republican members, while Illinois is represented by 14 Democrats and three Republicans. "Everything is on the table," Pritzer said. The Illinois governor said he doesn't want to redraw the maps but "if they're going to take this drastic action, then we might also take drastic action to respond." "We want the country to understand [that] what's going on in Texas is a national battle," State Rep. Richard Pena Raymond, a Democrat from Laredo, said. Raymond told Pritzner that redistricting is "clearly aimed at affecting the entire country." Responsibility for determining Congressional district maps differs from state to state. In California, an independent commission approved by voters in 2010 works on the maps. Illinois maps, on the other hand, are put together by the state lawmakers have been drawn strongly to favor the Democrat Party in the state. Newsom said he is considering having a referendum to change the rules before the 2026 election, unless the Legislature comes up with another solution, which would take two-thirds of legislators voting in favor of. "We have to fight fire with fire," Newsom said. Other states Two other Democratic governors are considering new maps -- Phil Murphy in New Jersey and Kathy Hochul in New York. "There's other states that are violating the rules," Hochul said during a news conference on Thursday. "I'm going to look at it closely with Hakeem Jeffries," a New York member of the House, as well has House minority leader. In New York, Democrats have a 19-7 advantage as a result of their districting maps. "It's deplorable," Murphy said during an interview at the summer meeting of the bipartisan National Governors Association in Colorado Springs. "If they're going to play these games, we're going to have to be just as aggressive. We can't bring a knife to a gunfight." Democrats hold nine of the 12 seats in New Jersey. In Florida, the state Supreme Court on July 17 upheld its newest congressional map. He said he believes the state had been "malappropriated" and redistricting "would be appropriate" in a few years. Florida's congressional delegation is controlled by Republicans, 20-8. In Ohio, legislators are required to redraw maps before 2026. The GOP has 10 of the 15 seats. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is against redistricting more frequently. The state's maps are overseen by an independent commission and it's eight U.S. House seats are evenly split 4-4. Texas situation Texas last redrew its borders in mid-cycle in 2003 after the GOP gained control of both chambers for the first time since Reconstruction. In Texas, Abbott noted a July 7 letter from the Justice Department that said majority Black and Hispanic districts in Dallas need to be redrawn based on a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit last year. The DOJ said those districts are "unconstitutional racial gerrymanders," but Abbott argued the opposite in 2021. In federal court in El Paso, he argued race had not been taken into account there. "We are no longer compelled to have coalition districts," Abbott said in an interview with KDFW in Dallas. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, appeared at a state House hearing. "That's what's at stake here, whether you all are going to work for the people of Texas, as we used to do, to try to do, or whether you take your commandments from Donald Trump and the White House," Castro said. "I hope that you all will choose to do the business of the people of Texas, as this body has a history of being independent from the federal government."
