Texted by a staffer from Abdul’s gubernatorial campaign sent
Simon D. Schuster
@simon.schuster.press
Political reporter in Michigan with @bridgemi.com covering the 2026 gubernatorial election, dad to @bridgemialerts.bsky.social Reach me: simon.schuster.press or text me at (517) 247-4949
Abdul El-Sayed has won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, per the Associated Press
Example No. 1 million of ideological labels and policy preferences being largely unrelated
This is a mess in the making for MI-8 Republicans. Thomas Smith dropped out. Reminder: this is Rep. Kristen McDonald-Rivet's seat and was considered highly competitive just two years ago
*smacks the roof of the U-Haul rented by the city of Detroit to ensure ballots arrive safely and securely* you can fit 3500 ballots the entire country is waiting on in this bad boy
after midnight, "too close to call" is journalism speak for "i'm going to bed"
Way too much MI-7 discourse has been about @wewill2026.bsky.social's ideology and message. But the reality is Lawrence's ground game and organizing ran circles around Brink and Maasdam, and honestly, those likely had an even larger impact on his rout tonight.
NEWS: Surviving a barrage of advertising and attacks from self-funded businessman Perry Johnson, US Rep. John James won the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination Tuesday evening. (via @bridgemi.com) bridgemi.com/michigan-gov...
John James wins Republican primary for Michigan governor over Perry Johnson - Bridge Michigan
John James defeated Perry Johnson in Michigan's Republican gubernatorial primary. He'll face Democrat Jocelyn Benson in November.
bridgemi.com
NEWS: Jocelyn Benson wins Michigan Democratic governor primary (via @bridgemi.com) bridgemi.com/michigan-gov...
Jocelyn Benson wins Michigan Democratic governor primary - Bridge Michigan
Jocelyn Benson won Michigan's Democratic gubernatorial primary and will advance to the general election.
bridgemi.com
Two teams of U.S. Department of Justice observers are swinging through polling places in Lansing, MI today. They sit off to the side, jot a few notes and move on. A Michigan Department of State official monitoring the monitors tells me they’ve been uniformly kind and cordial.
Reported on Friday this gaming industry group had spent nearly $3 million running ads under "American Conservative Fund" instead of the name they registered in Michigan, a violation of state campaign finance rules. The bot just caught them changing their name.
Bridge MI Campaign Finance Alerts@bridgemialerts.bsky.social · 2d ago📝 Committee Name Changed 📝 Old Name: 𝗠𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗔𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗗 New Name: 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗗 Type: Independent Expenditure Committee ID: 0614962
Lots of palace intrigue-y details in this CNN writeup of Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary edition.cnn.com/2026/08/02/p...
The fight for Michigan: How a marquee Senate primary became the Democrats’ latest proxy war | CNN Politics
Tuesday’s Michigan Senate primary between Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed has become a bitter referendum on many of the fights Democrats are having nationally.
edition.cnn.com
NEWS: A super PAC funded by two major online sportsbooks has dumped nearly $3 million into 15 Michigan state legislative primaries. It may seem small relative to the US Senate spending, but for these races, that much money is a big deal. (via @bridgemi.com) bridgemi.com/michigan-gov...
Sports gambling super PACs place big bets on Michigan legislative races - Bridge Michigan
Sports betting companies pumped nearly $3 million into Michigan legislative races this month. The spending mostly benefited current lawmakers and followed rejection of a proposed gambling tax.
bridgemi.com
Michigan voters have now cast, for this election, more than 50% of all the ballots cast in the 2024 August primary. That's more than 1 million absentee and early votes.
Three of Michigan's four gubernatorial candidates pledged to @bridgemi.com to open up their offices to FOIA — even if the legislature fails to act. US Rep. John James said he supports expanding FOIA, but didn't promise to act unilaterally. bridgemi.com/michigan-gov...
Bridge Listens: How Michigan's next governor would change elections, transparency - Bridge Michigan
From voter ID to government transparency reforms, Michigan gubernatorial candidates told Bridge how they’d like to change rules related to the democratic process.
bridgemi.com
Canada on fire. Top notch data visualization by CBC graphics.
💰 New Gubernatorial Filing 💰 John James (R) Status: Candidate Receipts: $3,108,356 Total Spent: $4,165,127 Debt: $0 Cash On Hand: $1,391,944 Link to all filings on profile.
Well @bridgemialerts.bsky.social was down for the last ~hour because X started blocking my code from making posts, and I couldn't fathom why. Turns out we sent too many campaign finance updates in the past 24 hours and hit their post limit. I had to buy premium for the damn bot.
Almost 700 committees being tracked today, including Michigan's gubernatorial candidates. Follow along with me.
Bridge MI Campaign Finance Alerts@bridgemialerts.bsky.social · 2w ago🤖From The Bot 🤖 State campaign finance filings will be rolling in shortly! Only filings >$10k will be posted. @bridgemi.com is a nonprofit — please consider donating today. View all filings from the July campaign finance deadline here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
💰New Pre-Primary Congressional Filing💰 Abdul El-Sayed (D-nan) Received: $2,305,929 Spent: $2,483,296 Debt: $0 Cash on Hand: $2,552,763 Filing URL Itemized donation maps: By state | By MI ZIP
Independent spending in Michigan's Dem US Senate primary since July 1, per FEC filings: Abdul El-Sayed: $1.4 million Haley Stevens: $23.9 million
This filing makes it pretty clear El-Sayed has more fundraising momentum. It's not nearly enough to match the super PAC spending coming in for Stevens, though.
Bridge MI Campaign Finance Alerts@bridgemialerts.bsky.social · 2w ago💰New Pre-Primary Congressional Filing💰 Haley Stevens (D-nan) Received: $920,859 Spent: $1,546,367 Debt: $168,411 Cash on Hand: $2,793,294 Filing URL Itemized donation maps: By state | By MI ZIP
Good couple of days to follow @bridgemialerts.bsky.social
Mike Cox is exiting the GOP primary for Michigan governor:
Missed this yesterday, but close to half of Rep. Shri Thanedar's fundraising, about $226k, was earmarked through AIPAC. I most recently wrote about Thanedar's AIPAC support and his about-face on Israel back in 2024: bridgemi.com/michigan-gov...
Bridge MI Campaign Finance Alerts@bridgemialerts.bsky.social · 3w ago💰New July Quarterly Congressional Filing💰 Shri Thanedar (D-13) Received: $515,407 Spent: $875,275 Debt: $12,270,000 Cash on Hand: $4,682,993 Filing URL Itemized donation maps: By state | By MI ZIP
