Benzie County Democrats

10/06/2026

VOTING GUIDE: Y'all have been asking for it, and here it is... our 2026 voting guide!

Everyone that we have endorsed (even if it's the "nonpartisan" section of the ballot) and how we recommend voting on ballot proposals, at both the county and state levels!

It also includes important dates about absentee voting, early voting, registration, etc.

Please use it, and please share it far and wide--VOTE BLUE THIS NOVEMBER!

10/06/2026

We love that this event is happening in Leelanau County, and we would love to see something like it in Benzie County...

Join the Glen Arbor Sun, Interlochen Public Radio, and the Leelanau Enterprise on Monday, Oct. 5, at 7 pm at the Glen Arbor Town Hall for the 2026 Cherry Pie Debates. This year, we’ll hear fr…

10/06/2026

Make sure to "like," "comment," and "share" this post to get more eyes on it!

(This is modified from an ad that we recently ran on the front page of the Benzie County Record Patriot.)

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Contact the offices of our elected officials to let them know what you think about this.

Rep. Jack Bergman (R) 202-225-4735
Senator Elissa Slotkin (D) 202-224-4822
Senator Gary Peters (D) 202-224-6221
State Representative Betsy Coffia (D) 517-373-3817
State Representative John Roth (R) 517-373-1766
Senator Jon Bumstead (R) (517) 373-1635
White House Comment Line 202-456-1111

10/03/2026

To the Editor of the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

The Republicans, particularly President Trump, have again embarked on a dangerous trade war with one of our closest trading partners--Canada.

Why?

Is this more of Trump's petty whims, or do Republicans actually have an agenda?

I think it's clearly the latter. Tariffs are promoted ostensibly to protect U.S. manufacturing from foreign companies that exploit cheap non-union labor. But Canadian trade unions are covered by national and provincial statues patterned after U.S. labor laws.

Unions represent more than 30% of Canadian workers. In the United States, labor unions represent barely 10% of workers. This, despite evidence that unions enjoy overwhelming support in this country.

Many Republicans, including Trump himself, have repeatedly attacked labor unions and have even praised employers for firing workers who have exercised their statutory right to complain about working conditions to join a union or to strike over their working conditions.

Targeting Canadian employers, who pay good wages and benefits to their union-represented workers, with the latest trade war is simply another way that Republicans continue their longstanding war on workers.

For sure, this has absolutely nothing to do with protecting American manufacturing from cheap foreign imports.

I urge everyone to think very carefully about this when we go to the polls in November.

Brad Raymond
Frankfort

10/03/2026

One of the largest ICE facilities is located right here in Northern Michigan, in the otherwise quiet village of Baldwin, a quick 60-minute-or-so drive from Benzie County; there are 1,800 beds, most of them full currently.

Want to know more about the historical and current corruption behind the ICE detention facility down in Baldwin?

Our friends at Traverse Indivisible did a deep dive: https://bit.ly/4zcQPjM .

Please share this one far and wide--let's get some eyes on it!

NORTH LAKECONCENTRATION CAMP concentration camp (n) : a place where large numbers of people (such as prisoners of war, political prisoners, refugees, or the members of an ethnic or religious minority) are detained or confined under armed guard— Merriam-Webster Dictionary ↑ QUICK NAVIGATIONIntrod...

10/03/2026

TODAY: Did you know that we have an ICE detention facility here in Northern Michigan? Yep, down in Baldwin, the GEO Group's North Lake Processing Center--formerly closed down, but reopened once ICE activity kicked up earlier this year.

We've had 20-50 people showing up since we started doing this once-a-month trip back in February: every first Saturday of the month.

So on Saturday, October 3, we'll be carpooling to Baldwin, and we'd love if you joined us!

10-- Meet at our Honor headquarters for coffee, snacks, and sign-making

10:30am -- Carpooling and/or caravanning from our Honor headquarters

12pm -- Rally for one hour at the corner of M-37 and 32nd Street (instead of in front of the facility, as we have in the past)

1pm -- Head back to Honor

2:30pm -- Arrive back at our Honor headquarters in Benzie County

Please invite your friends to join us at ICE Protest #8 in Baldwin, too!

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And if you can't join us today, then put the first Saturday in November on your calendar, to join us then!

10/01/2026

THIS IS IMPORTANT: Keep this guide handy, as it has all of the dates you need to know about voting this fall! (Via MichiganVoting.org )

10/01/2026

KEEPING AN EYE ON ELECTED OFFICIALS: Rep. Jack Bergman was at the Benzie County Republican office earlier this month, on Wednesday, September 21.

Sure would be nice if he held a public town hall, so that all of his constituents since he was first elected back in 2017 could hear from him, wouldn't it?

Read more here: https://bit.ly/4hoAnac .

Speakers discussed federal infrastructure funding, public education, local government efficiency, judicial decisions and voter participation.

10/01/2026

Our friends at Mason County MI Democratic Party said it best:

"Does Sheriff Kim Cole for State Senate believe this is an appropriate way to campaign? For someone who has made law enforcement and multiple generations of family service central to his public identity, you would expect an especially strong understanding of what can happen when people are deliberately angered and then directed to someone’s phone. Political criticism is fair game. Encouraging strangers to confront someone directly after presenting inflammatory claims is something else. The mailer says he understands how we do things around here 🤔. We don’t think he does."