Abigail Censky

Just over a year ago President Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters in Battle Creek, that, “Tonight the House Democrats are trying to nullify the ballots of tens of millions of patriotic Americans.” While he was onstage, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach him.

After a violent pro-Trump extremist mob led an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday and repeated attempts by the president to overturn a free and fair election, the House is expected to vote to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed a COVID-19 relief bill. But there's a bitter partisan split over what one of the governor’s line-item vetoes means for unemployment insurance benefits in the state.

The more than $100 million in relief includes $55 million dollars for small businesses and $45 million in direct payments to workers who are laid off because of the coronavirus in addition to $3.5 million in grants to live music and entertainment venues.

Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a brief to the Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election in four states including Michigan.

In a conspiracy laden seven-hour hearing, Republican poll challengers and watchers testified in front of the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee. Despite accusations, they did not provide evidence of widespread voter fraud.

Dozens of mostly aggrieved Republicans testified Tuesday. Many raised concerns with the ballot counting process at the TCF Center in Detroit and said they were harassed by election workers.

From personal calls with a Wayne County canvasser, to meeting with Republican state lawmakers in Washington, the president's strategy questioning Michigan's election, which President-elect Joe Biden won, continues as time runs short.

At the Michigan Board of State Canvassers meeting on Monday, two Democrats and two Republicans will meet to certify the results of Michigan’s election. Unofficial results, which have been certified by all of Michigan’s 83 counties, show President-elect Joe Biden with a lead of more than 150,000 votes, more than 14 times the margin by which President Donald Trump won the state in 2016. 

Michigan’s junior Democratic Senator Gary Peters has won reelection to the U.S. Senate—eking victory out of a razor-thin margin. Before the election, polls showed Peters could retain his seat, but that the race would be tight. 

President Donald Trump visited Michigan on Tuesday for the second time since he was diagnosed with COVID-19. 

After waiting several hours in the cold and rain outside of an airplane hangar, a crowd of supporters got to see Trump.

The president made false claims about the auto industry and being Michigan man of the year, before attacking Governor Gretchen Whitmer. He avoided calls to imprison the governor but didn't condemn the crowd, as they chanted, "Lock her up."

Figurative knives were out in the third and final debate between Democratic incumbent Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin and Republican Paul Junge in the race for the Eighth Congressional District Mondy night.

The debate took place at Cleary University just hours after news broke that President Donald Trump ordered his negotiators to stop working on a coronavirus relief package until after the election.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris stopped in Michigan on Tuesday for the first time after she was added to the ticket.

To soundtrack of Motown, Lizzo and Mary J. Blige, Harris traveled from Flint to Detroit, campaigning less than 45 days ahead of the presidential election.

Outside of the Detroit Pistons’ practice facility, Harris talked about her reason for returning to the state.

“To be here and to be present. You know, Jill Biden was here last week, Joe was here the week before. We will keep coming back because so goes Michigan, so goes the rest of the country as far as we’re concerned,” she said.

Protesters gathered on the Michigan state Capitol lawn Friday to plead for the governor or the Michigan High School Athletic Association to bring back high school football this fall.

Families and players decked out in high school spirit wear and football jerseys chanted, “Let us play” and held signs that said “Don’t Dim Our Friday Night Lights.”

They were protesting MHSSA’s announcement that the fall season would move to spring because of the high-risk categorization of the sport for its potential to spread COVID-19 due to high player-to-player contact.

Though coronavirus cases in the state appear to be plateauing, Michigan is still under a state of emergency.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says as cases continue to decline in the state, businesses may be allowed to reopen based on the risk of COVID-19 exposure.

But the state of emergency will likely remain in place.

During the opening night of the virtual Democratic National Convention, Governor Gretchen Whitmer hammered President Donald Trump for what she called a weak coronavirus response.

Governor Whitmer’s short speech followed New York Governor Andrew Cuomo; both are considered leaders by many for their actions in states hit hard by the coronavirus early on.

She said many lives were saved in Michigan as she made an elevator pitch for the Democratic ticket, contrasting the Democrats’ approach with the President’s.

Police departments across the country already submit use of force reports to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Now, departments in Michigan will be encouraged to submit reports for state-specific data.

The Law Enforcement Transparency Collaborative, announced Wednesday, will be the first statewide collection of use of force data.

Hundreds of people marched from the Lansing Center to the state Capitol on Wednesday as part of a march against police brutality.

The words "Black Lives Matter" echoed across the Capitol lawn at the NAACP’s “We are Done Dying” march.

Nathanael Jefferson has been to several protests in Detroit and Lansing. He says he has personally been profiled in Lansing and sees police profiling all the time.

More than one hundred protesters gathered on the state capitol steps Sunday marking a week of protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man, by a white police officer.

The New York Times reported Michiganders are no longer staying at home in the same numbers, despite still being under a stay-at-home order. Governor Gretchen Whitmer called the data concerning.

In her Wednesday briefing Whitmer said movement itself isn’t the problem, so long as people still wear their masks outside and follow social distancing and handwashing.

After easing restrictions for industries like landscaping and construction over the past two weeks, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced today in a press briefing that the state will need to have a waiting period before making decisions about other industries going back to work.

Governor Whitmer announced last week construction could begin again on May 7. She says now the state will study if cases of COVID-19 begin to increase again when some sectors of the economy return to work.

After extending the state of emergency through late May without legislative approval, Governor Gretchen Whitmer condemned actions by lawmakers and protesters on Thursday.

Gov. Whitmer called Thursday’s protest, which drew hundreds to the capitol, political theater.

Hundreds of protesters flocked to the Capitol lawn for the second time in weeks to protest Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders.

The protest was much smaller than the first protest, "Operation Gridlock," two weeks ago, but still attracted hundreds who didn’t observe social distancing or wear face masks.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says it’s time to start re-engaging Michigan’s economy as the COVID-19 outbreak is plateauing in the state.

Following her decision to allow landscapers to get back to work last week, the governor says construction and outdoor businesses will likely be next. The governor says she’s loosening restrictions on commercial and residential construction.

Lawmakers returned to Lansing Friday for an unexpected special session.

Legislators wore homemade masks, and went through temperature screening before entering the capitol for the second time under the stay-at-home order.

The Republican majority called legislators back to create an oversight committee on pandemic response and vote on bills to curb the governor’s emergency powers.

In a Wednesday briefing, Governor Whitmer said there will likely be a short-term extension of the stay-at-home order in Michigan.

“There will be some kind of a stay at home order in effect for a long-time here. And I know when I say that, people will speculate ‘What does that mean?’ And what it simply means is that for the near future we know that it’s not going to be safe for especially the vulnerable population to be out and about publicly.”