GOVT 220
Michigan: District 8
Liberty University
GOVT 220: American Government
Michigan: District 8
I live in Michigan, District 8, and have grown up here my whole life. I’ve always liked it here in
Oakland County, it’s safe, not too busy, and very pretty. Though it is extremely democratic, and
has been for a while, both district and state. District 8’s U.S Representative is democrat Elissa
Slotkin, she was elected in 2019. One of its U.S Senators being Democrat Debbie Stabenow,
who has been Michigan’s Senator since 2000. It is difficult to have a democratic Senator,
Governor, Representative, and state but throughout this paper we will look deeper into both the
representative and senate of Michigan to decide if they go against my core beliefs and views as a
conservative republican.
Let’s remember our History
From 2000-2016, District 8 had a consistent Republican representative; Mike Bishop.
But despite this district voting for a republican representative for so long, it still voted
democratically from 1992 through 2012 in the presidential election until President Donald
Trump changed that statistic. In 2016 there was something peculiar about that election; the
number of ballots cast varied from the number of voters who showed up at the polls. After some
investigating, it
became evident that this fraud was unintentional, a technical error. That is more than can be said
about the 2020 election between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. There was an
incomparable amount or fraud concerning ballots, the counting of these ballots, how many
voters compared to the number of votes cast, etc. One example is of a postman reporting this
“According to the whistleblower, a supervisor advised mail carriers to fraudulently backdate
and postmark ballots to Nov. 3 to fool election officials into counting them… Michigan required
, ballots to be received no later than 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, and ballots received later, regardless of the
postmark, will not be counted” (Harris, 2020). It seems, despairingly, that voter fraud is
becoming more frequent and this election will go down in history for when it all really began;
when American’s lost their voice.
Presidential and Congressional Elections
For District and state, what have their elections looked like in recent years? Has both
state and district been consistently blue or red in both congressional and presidential elections?
Let’s find out.
Presidential Elections
In the 2020 presidential election, Michigan and District 8 voted for the Democratic side;
Joe Biden. In the 2016 presidential election, District 8 voted Democrat, but Michigan voted
Republican for the first time in 24 years. President Trump won Michigan by the skin of his nails;
three tenths of 1%. “Between 2012 and 2016 the number of democratic votes for president in the
state fell by 296,000, or about 12% and republican votes increase by about 164,000, about 8%”
(Cohen et al., 2017). But even with that, the race was neck and neck throughout this election, but
with President Donald Trump winning Michigan, that sealed the deal. This win of Michigan was
a shock because it was always referred to as “The Blue Wall” for reasons such as, well, being
Democratic for so many consecutive elections.
Congressional Election
District 8 voted Republican for our Representative for 16 years, with Mike Bishop being
re-elected numerous times. Then, Elissa Slotkin, our Representative since 2019, broke that streak
and has been our democratic representative since. Now considering Michigan’s Senator history,
it has been inconsistent, varying from republican to democrat over the years. But as of now, both
of Michigan’s senates, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, are democratic.
Michigan: District 8
Liberty University
GOVT 220: American Government
Michigan: District 8
I live in Michigan, District 8, and have grown up here my whole life. I’ve always liked it here in
Oakland County, it’s safe, not too busy, and very pretty. Though it is extremely democratic, and
has been for a while, both district and state. District 8’s U.S Representative is democrat Elissa
Slotkin, she was elected in 2019. One of its U.S Senators being Democrat Debbie Stabenow,
who has been Michigan’s Senator since 2000. It is difficult to have a democratic Senator,
Governor, Representative, and state but throughout this paper we will look deeper into both the
representative and senate of Michigan to decide if they go against my core beliefs and views as a
conservative republican.
Let’s remember our History
From 2000-2016, District 8 had a consistent Republican representative; Mike Bishop.
But despite this district voting for a republican representative for so long, it still voted
democratically from 1992 through 2012 in the presidential election until President Donald
Trump changed that statistic. In 2016 there was something peculiar about that election; the
number of ballots cast varied from the number of voters who showed up at the polls. After some
investigating, it
became evident that this fraud was unintentional, a technical error. That is more than can be said
about the 2020 election between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. There was an
incomparable amount or fraud concerning ballots, the counting of these ballots, how many
voters compared to the number of votes cast, etc. One example is of a postman reporting this
“According to the whistleblower, a supervisor advised mail carriers to fraudulently backdate
and postmark ballots to Nov. 3 to fool election officials into counting them… Michigan required
, ballots to be received no later than 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, and ballots received later, regardless of the
postmark, will not be counted” (Harris, 2020). It seems, despairingly, that voter fraud is
becoming more frequent and this election will go down in history for when it all really began;
when American’s lost their voice.
Presidential and Congressional Elections
For District and state, what have their elections looked like in recent years? Has both
state and district been consistently blue or red in both congressional and presidential elections?
Let’s find out.
Presidential Elections
In the 2020 presidential election, Michigan and District 8 voted for the Democratic side;
Joe Biden. In the 2016 presidential election, District 8 voted Democrat, but Michigan voted
Republican for the first time in 24 years. President Trump won Michigan by the skin of his nails;
three tenths of 1%. “Between 2012 and 2016 the number of democratic votes for president in the
state fell by 296,000, or about 12% and republican votes increase by about 164,000, about 8%”
(Cohen et al., 2017). But even with that, the race was neck and neck throughout this election, but
with President Donald Trump winning Michigan, that sealed the deal. This win of Michigan was
a shock because it was always referred to as “The Blue Wall” for reasons such as, well, being
Democratic for so many consecutive elections.
Congressional Election
District 8 voted Republican for our Representative for 16 years, with Mike Bishop being
re-elected numerous times. Then, Elissa Slotkin, our Representative since 2019, broke that streak
and has been our democratic representative since. Now considering Michigan’s Senator history,
it has been inconsistent, varying from republican to democrat over the years. But as of now, both
of Michigan’s senates, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, are democratic.
