Democrats Surpass GOP In Critical Early Vote Numbers

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In totals available for this year’s early vote, Democrats are outperforming their portion of the early vote in Michigan from the 2018 midterm elections.

On the ballot in Michigan this year is a critical governor’s race that could help determine who exerts control over the presidential election results in 2024. Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, the incumbent, is facing Trump-backed Republican challenger Tudor Dixon. Whitmer has faced criticism — although that puts it, well, very mildly — over her handling of the outbreak of COVID-19 in her state. Michigan was also among the states where Trump and his allies contested the results of the election after Biden prevailed — although, again, that puts the situation in overly mild terms. At a Detroit vote-counting center, those in charge eventually put cardboard on windows, protecting the privacy of voters’ information, as aggressive pro-Trump demonstrators gathered. Some banged on windows. Polling has shown a relatively consistent lead for Whitmer over Dixon, who has no experience in elected office — but you can never be too sure.

Former President Barack Obama recently stopped in Michigan to campaign for Whitmer, where he faced a heckler, whose presence he adeptly used for remarks about the impact of political polarization. “It’s also an example of how we get distracted,” Obama told onlookers. Obama later faced another heckler in Arizona, where Democrat Mark Kelly is running for another term as Senator and Democratic contender Katie Hobbs is hoping to become governor. As for Michigan, 1.4 million mail-in votes have already been cast, according to data from the U.S. Elections Project. TargetSmart, which is a political analytics firm, estimates that half of those who have already voted are affiliated with the Democrats, with Republicans at only 28.4 percent of the total. For 21.7 percent of those who have already cast their ballots, TargetSmart’s internal modeling wasn’t able to settle on any partisan tie. At this point of early voting in 2018, Democrats were at only about 34 percent of Michigan’s overall total.

The GOP share has steadily declined since that year’s elections. In the time since, of course, figures on the Right have spread conspiracy theories about the security of mail-in votes. Now, extremists in Arizona, including individuals who have been armed and wearing tactical gear, have even shown up near drop boxes for mail-in ballots, where those participating in the surveillance efforts have photographed voters and put images up online, potentially exposing these individuals to harassment. There remains zero evidence of any kind of widespread fraud scheme involving mail-in ballot boxes. A federal judge ordered a broad shutdown to much of what these Arizona extremists were doing, although indications have pointed to similarly minded people preparing similar actions in other locales.