Michigan had 2.16 million people cast a ballot in the Aug. 2 primary election – the second-most of the past 12 governor primaries in Michigan, dating back to 1978. The only primary with more votes was in 2018, when Whitmer won the Democratic vote and Bill Schuette won the Republican nomination. Overall, 34 out of 35 of the Sierra Club’s endorsed candidates for State House, 19 out of 19 endorsed candidates for State Senate and 17 out of 24 of our endorsed candidates for local office won their primaries. Combined between all races, 79 of 86 endorsed candidates are moving onto the general election (92%).
Sierra Club contacted tens of thousands of members multiple times in support of these pro-environment winners. In the primary election, the Michigan Chapter’s Political Program had four categories of work:
- The work of the Political Committee to help candidates get elected and endorsed.
- The Political Intern team’s work.
- Raising funds for the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Political Action Committee.
- Investments in targeted contested primary races.
One race in particular really stood out to the Michigan Chapter. Jenn Hill in House District 109 won her contested primary with 55%. This is huge because it is the first time in decades that the U.P. has the potential to have an environmental champion representing them. Sierra Club has been power building in this district for two years leading up to this primary. The Enbridge-backed candidate running against Jenn Hill had ads on TV since the Superbowl, making this victory incredibly powerful. Sierra Club invested heavily in this through a layer of digital communications, campaign contributions and phone banking. Through these strategies, thousands of voters were reached who supported Jenn.
Lastly, once again, the Michigan chapter summer Political Internship Program generated results with great success. This summer nine interns worked on various races across the state. hese interns helped plan events, managed social media, analyzed voter information, phone banked, wrote letters to the editor, took part in Sierra Club advocacy work and attended and organized virtual events. Below are some highlights of the combined work of these dedicated interns.
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Numbers of hours worked: 400
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Number of doors knocked on: 4000+
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Number of phone calls: 1,700+
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Number of Sierra Club sponsored canvass walks put together: 6
- Number of letter to the editor (LTEs): 10. Check out Sierra Club intern, Nolan Cooks letter to the editor on clean energy!