It’s the stretch run for candidates courting voters in Tuesday’s primary elections.
In Metro Detroit, a pro-Israel group poured money into the campaigns against Rashida Tlaib — the first Palestinian-American elected to the U.S. House — and Congressman Andy Levin, who is Jewish but backs a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
Levin’s challenging another current House member, Haley Stevens.
At a recent rally in Pontiac, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders called special interest money used to attack Levin and Tlaib an affront to democracy.
“Even if you don’t agree with everything that they are trying to do, understand that we cannot allow billionaires to buy elections,” Sanders said. “That is what this campaign is about.”
Sanders also called the spending an attempt to de-rail the progressive agenda.
“If you think these super PACs and the billionaires who contribute give a damn about the people in Michigan or Detroit, you would be absolutely mistaken. They could care less about you.”
In the Republican gubernatorial primary, former conservative commentator Tudor Dixon gained a last-minute endorsement from former U.S. president Donald Trump.
The eventual GOP nominee will take on Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who often crossed swords with Trump while he was in the White House.