America Votes - Michigan

The bill was originally introduced to help limit unemployment fraud and help the unemployed get state relief, however, conservatives slipped the limitations in at the last minutes:

The original bill was aimed at reducing unemployment fraud and making a
technical change so the state’s current long-term unemployed could
continue receiving extended unemployment benefits from the federal
government for up to 99 weeks — benefits that would have been phased out
next week without a change in the state law to make the unemployed in
the state eligible to continue receiving benefits. Republican lawmakers
amended it to cut the length of benefits starting in January.

“It turns the clock back 50 years at a time when unemployment is at
historic highs since the Depression,” Representative Sander M. Levin,
Democrat of Michigan, said in an interview, adding that he worried that
the state would set a precedent that would be followed by other states,
including Florida, that are thinking of curtailing their unemployment
programs. “I think that Michigan should not be to unemployment insurance
what Wisconsin has become to collective bargaining.”

Read the full article here.

We've talked about how the path to victory for Democrats is through a strong ground game
this year, and unions are coming through.  Kevin Bogardus at The Hill
is reporting that labor unions are making their final campaign pushes to get out the vote on November 2nd, if not before then. The SEIU has spent $200,000 in the last week on billboards, direct mail, and radio ads, upping their spending total to $1.3 million since mid-September.  The spending was in support of several house candidates including Reps. John Boccieri, Mark Schauer, Betty Sutton, and Dina Titus.

"This election is a clear choice," said Teddy Davis, a SEIU spokesman. "One side wants to strengthen the middle class and put people back to work. The other side wants to turn Social Security over to Wall Street, end Medicare as we know it and abolish the minimum wage."

Bogardus also reports that AFSCME has spent $5.2 million in support of Democrats thus far.  They've supported not only Boccieri, Schauer, and Titus, by Reps. Kathy Dahlkemper and Steve Kagen as well. The American Federation of Teachers has spent over $430,000 on canvassing for Democrats in New Hampshire, Florida, and Pennsylvania.  Meanwhile the AFL-CIO and Working America have spent over half a million dollars on canvassing and report that over 5,000 canvassers have knocked on over 100,000 doors, distributed 17.5 million fliers and sent 14.5 millions pieces of direct mail.

What are the results of this late push? We won't know for sure until Election Day, but early polling seems promising.  AFL-CIO Political Director Karen Ackerman told the Wall Street Journal that in Pennsylvania, Joe Sestak has increased his lead among union members from 45-39% on Labor Day to a current 55-29% edge.  This comes on the heels of a PPP poll released this week that shows Sestak leading Pat Toomey 46-45%.

Finally, Darren Goode reports for The Hill that the League of Conservation purchased $250,000 in ad buys supporting House members who voted for the contentious "cap-and-trade" climate bill last year.  Goode reports that the LCV's recent ad buys push its independent expenditures up to $3 million for the cycle, nearly eclipsing the $3.3 million it spent during the 2008 election.  This cycle, the LCV has been especially supportive of several candidates including, Schauer, Boccieri, Titus, and Sen. Michael Bennet.  Furthermore, the LCV partnered with Vote Vets to make a $250,000 ad buy in support of Sestak's Senate bid.

Tomorrow marks another round of primaries as voters in Michigan, Missouri, and Kansas head to the polls to narrow select their party’s candidate. Tim Sahd for Hotline On Call lists the 12 most competitive House primaries that will take place tomorrow, along with what makes them all newsworthy here. What makes the story newsworthy for America Votes is that of the 12 races Sahd selected, seven of races are in Michigan.

Of the 12, some noteworthy races include Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick trying to become the fourth House incumbent to lose a re-election bid in the primary in MI-13, Sander Levin outraising his primary opponent by a $1.1M-$32K margin, and Reps. Gary Peters, Mark Schauer and state Rep. Gary McDowell finding out their Republican opponent in what promise to be tough campaigns.