| | | | |  | | By Brakkton Booker | With help from Jesse Naranjo, Ella Creamer, Jesús Rodríguez, Lara Priluck, Rishika Dugyala and Teresa Wiltz
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POLITICO illustration/Photo courtesy of Lavora Barnes | What up, Recast family! The Fed raises interest rates again, Brittney Griner pledges to play in the WNBA again in her first statement since being released, Congress passes a one-week stopgap funding measure to avoid a government shutdown and President Joe Biden says the country is "all in" on Africa's future during the U.S.- Africa Leaders Summit in Washington. First, we focus on the turning political tides in the Great Lake State. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes has a lot to be thankful for this political season. When the new legislative term begins in January, her party will control both the Michigan House and Senate for the first time in nearly 40 years. Her celebratory mood is buoyed by the success of Democratic incumbents Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, all of whom beat back Donald Trump-backed challengers to retain their posts following the midterms. But wait, there's more. Following last month's elections, national Democrats signaled they want Michigan to move up in the party's presidential nominating calendar, significantly boosting the state's ability to influence the selection of future nominees. For Barnes, the 2024 election is not far from her mind. She is already crafting a strategy on how to go on the offensive over the next two years, attacking Rep.-elect John James, a Black Republican who defeated Democratic challenger Carl Marlinga in a congressional district just outside of Detroit by just 1,601 votes. We chop it up about that race and why she thinks Democrats came up short. I also ask whether she was shocked about how well Democrats did across the state and about the significance of state Rep. Joe Tate making history by becoming the first Black speaker of the Michigan House. ◆◆◆ This interview has been edited for length and clarity. THE RECAST: Some folks were shocked by last month's midterms, particularly those outside Michigan. Democrats swept all the statewide offices and secured a governing trifecta. Was this a surprise for you, too? Or did you have internal polling that showed these wins could be a possibility? BARNES: Both. I don't pay attention to the polls. We use the polls to guide our messaging and to help us make decisions along the way. We have, and have had for years now, an aggressive grassroots field operation, and my reports from them were always strong and were always good. We always knew that there would be places where the race would appear wider than it would be. I thought, honestly, that the Whitmer numbers would be tighter than they were. I think she outperformed even my expectations. But we always knew we had a shot at flipping the state House and the state Senate, no matter what folks said. So surprise? No. It felt good to sort of validate the work that we've been doing for years that got us here.
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Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during election night, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Detroit. | Carlos Osorio/AP Photo | THE RECAST: I know you don't pay attention to the polls, but leading up to Election Day voters sometimes say one thing, then vote differently from what they told political operatives. So there had to be something in the water there that tipped you off that these outcomes were possible. BARNES: It's several things. Obviously, that Supreme Court decision on abortion really sort of changed the narrative and the way things felt here in Michigan. We were hearing from women — and people who love women — who may have thought, "Yeah, we're Republican. I [usually] vote Republican [but] not this time."
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Then, you know, we were running three statewide officials who had done terrific work in their jobs, and had great stories to tell about the work that they had already done. And the Republicans they put up, frankly, [were] weak candidates — candidates who had no business running, who would have no business holding the offices for which they were [seeking]. Some of whom — I'm thinking Matt DePerno [the Republican nominee for attorney general] — might be indicted soon.
So it was all of this coming together, along with our work on the ground, that brought us to the moment on election night. THE RECAST: Then, you know, there's some history with state Rep. Joe Tate becoming Michigan's first Black speaker of the House. Can you talk to me about the significance of that? | 
State Rep. Joe Tate, right, talks with reporters after Michigan House Democrats voted to make him the first Black speaker in state history on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022, in Lansing, Mich. | Joey Cappelletti/Report for America via AP | BARNES: So exciting! Yes, our first Black speaker is from the city of Detroit. That becomes even more important because, with redistricting, Brakkton, we have decreased the number of Detroiters, particularly Black Detroiters, who are representing the city in the Legislature. So it is a big deal that the speaker of the House is a Black Detroiter who I know will continue to champion the needs of that city, and will make sure that this Legislature doesn't forget that city despite the fact that there are fewer members from that city. | 
Twitter | THE RECAST: I'm working on a story now that is highlighting the fact that Detroit is no longer going to have a Black representative in the new Congress. But that is not true of the suburbs just outside the city in Macomb and Oakland County. BARNES: I'm so excited that we're talking about this because what's happened is that we've got Black representation from other parts of the state, which I am so proud of. We do indeed have Black representation coming from other parts of the state. Black folks live everywhere now. I'm a Black person and I live in Ann Arbor now. So we are representing the state more fully by having these Black folks run and win all across the state. THE RECAST: Well, I mean, one place that you were hoping a Black person wouldn't win necessarily was in Michigan's 10th Congressional District. BARNES: I did not want that particular Black person, in the form of John James, to win that seat. No. And, honestly, that one was closer than I thought it would be. | 
Republican candidate John James is seen in Farmington Hills, Mich., Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. | Paul Sancya/AP Photo | THE RECAST: Around 1,600 votes. One of the closest races in the country. BARNES: Yes. And we had one of the strongest field programs we've built in Macomb County in years. We, in previous cycles, struggled a bit to get off the ground in Macomb in terms of our field program. Macomb has a strong Democratic Black caucus now, which was very active and continues to be very active. So we're building something in Macomb that I think will help us defeat John James in the future. THE RECAST: What do you feel like went wrong for Democrats in this race? BARNES: I think that's a combination of things. I think for the DCCC [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee], from what I know is, there was a hope and even maybe a little bit of an expectation, that someone different would run in that seat. And I think that also there was just a failure to see what we could see here in Michigan, which was the possibility of that district, even without, say, Rep. Andy Levin running in it. We saw that potential, [the Democratic nominee] Carl Marlinga certainly saw that potential, the other candidates in the Democratic primary saw that potential. The DCCC just didn't see it and chose not to invest there. And I think we can see by those numbers that just a little bit of investment from the DCCC would have helped us take that one over the top. | 
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes speaks during a Feb. 7, 2019, interview in Lansing, Mich. | David Eggert/AP Photo | THE RECAST: I've heard those rumblings from people I've spoken to in and around the district. I've heard the rumblings that Democrats would put themselves in a better position if they, you know, took a page out of the Republican Party's Georgia Senate playbook and run a Black candidate against James next cycle. BARNES: Here's what I would love: I would love to run Black Democrats everywhere. I get, that's not probably how we're gonna make this work. But this is a place where I do believe a Black candidate would be a strong, powerful candidate, not just because John James is Black, but because that district could support a Black [Democratic] candidate. I think that we need to continue that narrative that we don't just run Black candidates in majority Black districts, but we run Black candidates if they are a strong individual who wants to run as a Democrat and we'll support them. THE RECAST: As we are looking toward 2024, we're talking about Democrats' plans on how to win back the Michigan 10 seat, but there's also talk about moving Michigan up on the presidential primary calendar. How do you feel about this development and what would it mean for Michigan to become one of those early Democratic primary states?
|  | BARNES: We here in Michigan pride ourselves on taking nothing for granted and running every race and campaign through the tape. And we're doing the same here. We've got to get the full DNC to support us in February. We've got to get it through the Michigan Legislature, and with our Democratically controlled Legislature, I expect that will happen. What's important to think about is the change that this full calendar makes in terms of how our primary process is looked at. Instead of our candidates spending time in states where they don't get the full breadth of who America is, now they get to have conversations with voters in rural and urban and suburban areas. I'm so excited for this calendar. I love South Carolina first, where campaigns will learn about Southern folks, learn about Black folks, learn about the issues that matter to those communities early in the campaign cycle. Now it's time for them to know about South Carolina and Georgia and Nevada and Michigan. | 
Lavora Barnes, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, speaks before the first of two Democratic presidential primary debates hosted by CNN Tuesday, July 30, 2019, in the Fox Theatre in Detroit. | Paul Sancya/AP Photo | THE RECAST: My final question, which has nothing to do with politics. Michigan is in the top four of this year's 2022 College Football Playoff. You also have the Detroit Lions playing the best football they have in years. What do you think about Michigan winning a national championship and the Lions making the playoffs for the first time since 2011? BARNES: Here's the thing: I've been in Michigan for multiple decades now, and I've never seen this kind of play from the Lions. I'm thrilled. I feel like the Michigan Democrats led the way here for these sports victories — showing them how it's done, showing them how to defeat an opponent. Yeah, I'm enjoying the success of the Lions. And of course, I live in Ann Arbor, I'm a U of M fan, so Go Blue! ◆◆◆ Another unrelenting week of news is just about done. Here are some quick-pop news items before we send you off for some weekend fun. School Board Takeovers — Republicans made big investments in electing conservative candidates vowing to reshape American education, POLITICO's Juan Perez Jr. reports. It shows no signs of slowing in 2023. Ready, Set, More Fed Hikes! — Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced interest rates will go up half a percentage point. And, as you'll see in this video, there's more to come… WATCH: Fed hikes rates and signals more to come
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Illustrations by Michelle Rohn for POLITICO | FIRST LOOK — In an exclusive clip shared with The Recast, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) tells NBC that race played a factor in the Jackson, Miss., water crisis. Check out "Boiling Point: A City's Fight for Clean Water" at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBC News NOW
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