Unity behind House leader part of Dems’ ‘winning’ strategy

Democrats, nationally, are getting close to anointing their standard-bearer for 2020.

The Michigan House Democrats, likewise, are coalescing behind a leader for their next term in 2021-22 in a sign of unity not seen in an open race for at least 20 years. (In 1998, term limits wiped out anybody with any experience, so the caucus got behind Rep. Mike Hanley because he’d been around for a whole four years).

Rep. Donna Lasinski, D-Scio Twp., 51, who ran a K-12 education technology company before she was sworn into the state House in 2017, cleared the field of potential opponents last week. If the Democrats can pick up the five seats needed for a majority, she would be the first female Michigan House speaker in history.

The final piece that fell in place for Lasinski came when first-term Lansing Rep. Sarah Anthony, who chairs the House Democratic caucus, dropped her interest and supported the Washtenaw County Democrat.

“Our caucus is ready to row in the same direction,” Lasinski said. “I’m personally honored that I have earned their trust. It was the product of a lot of hard work and meaningful conversations.”

The significance of the House Democratic caucus’ avoiding a leadership fight before the November General Election is notable. It typically doesn’t go down that way. The diverse interests of the large caucus — labor, urban members, progressive suburban women, moderate-to-conservative blue-collar types, Bernie Sanders-like liberals — tends to make unification a struggle until it’s absolutely necessary to do so.

In 2018, the UAW gave Rep. Brian Elder, D-Bay City, $200,000 for his political action committee to spend on competitive House races while Rep. Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills, counted on pro-choice, left-of-center support to ultimately win the leadership spot.

In 2010, the Rich Hammel-Woodrow Stanley battle consumed the caucus’ attention until members realized, much too late, that they were in serious trouble of losing a majority. They did. The 20-seat swing was the state House’s most lopsided change in 46 years.

This go-around, the Democrats peeked across the aisle to see how getting behind a common leader keeps everybody’s eye on the ball. The Republicans were all in behind Rep. Jase Bolger’s “J-Team” in 2010. They won big that year.

Rep. Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, led the caucus through a tough 2018 cycle for Republicans with a majority still intact. For 2020, the R’s rallied around Rep. Jason Wentworth as their next leader months ago.

Why does it make a difference?

Too often competitive leadership races — while exciting for the press to cover — creates palace intrigue that can have members working against their own interests.

Candidate A may dump a ton of PAC money into a long-shot candidate in hopes of picking up an extra leadership vote when that money may be better spent on a candidate with a better shot to win. Candidate B may throw PAC money behind a candidate that already has the race in the bag, but needs a little extra to pay off some outstanding primary debt.

The caucus campaign operation is doing one thing. The leadership candidates are doing something else. Members are split on which district they should spend their time campaigning. It can be a mess.

“Really, for the Dems, answering this question now instead of having it hanging over every single choice and interaction for the next however far away we are from the general helps settle things down,” said progressive social media commentator Angela Vasquez-Giroux. “In the last cycle, it was difficult to read every decision and every move through the lens of who was jockeying to be the potential next speaker.

“So, getting it done now: big fan. Donna Lasinski: big fan.”

The House Dems have 52 of the state House’s 110 seats. The focus of the caucus is “Four to Win.”

Doing that will mean convincing more suburban voters in metro Detroit that a Democratic House majority will put the priorities of clean water, road and water infrastructure repairs and public education on the front burner.

They plan to run local races detached from the national noise that can quickly consume election.

If it works, Lasinski will make history Jan 13, 2021, when she accepts the gavel for the first time. If it doesn’t … well, this is the House Democratic caucus. History has shown that “best-laid plans … .”

(Kyle Melinn of the Capitol news service MIRS is at melinnky@gmail.com.)