Lansing, Michigan

A new Detroit News/WDIV poll of likely Michigan voters finds President Trump's job approval largely unchanged since late summer, with about 59% disapproving versus 39% approving—among the weakest pre-midterm numbers for a president in recent history, comparable to George W. Bush in 2006. Disapproval is even steeper on Trump's handling of the Iran War and U.S.-Canada relations. Pollster Richard Czuba says Trump's approval has become the central dividing line in Michigan's 2026 races, including the competitive U.S. Senate contest between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, where Rogers currently trails. Analysts say the dynamic echoes the 2022 midterms, when abortion politics drove Democratic wins statewide.

A federal grand jury has indicted Mohinder Singh, operator of Romario's Party Store in Old Town Lansing, Michigan, on nine counts of SNAP benefit fraud and one count of theft or conversion of public money. The indictment follows an October 16, 2025 search of the store by Michigan State Police, the USDA, and the IRS, which seized surveillance equipment. Prosecutors allege Singh exchanged cash and goods for SNAP benefits at roughly 50 cents on the dollar, let customers pay off debts with benefits, and charged fees payable in SNAP funds, intending to cause more than $1 million in government losses. He faces up to 10 years in prison and is among more than 40 people charged nationwide in a DOJ enforcement push targeting nearly $45 million in SNAP-related fraud.

The Kalamazoo City Commission unanimously passed a resolution opposing a Nov. 3 ballot measure that would amend the city charter to create a seven-member Citizens' Advisory Healthcare Action Board. Officials argue the city has no authority over health policy and the board would produce reports without power to enact change, creating ongoing costs for residents. The measure, also on ballots in Portage, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Lansing and East Lansing, is backed by Community Action Michigan, which raised $1.4 million and has run ads targeting two Republican congressmen. A GOP consultant says the effort is really aimed at influencing a congressional race, which organizers dispute. Voters can still spoil submitted ballots this week.

Former Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger, a Republican, has filed suit in the Michigan Court of Claims against the state over a 2024 law that designates home caregivers as public employees for the purpose of union representation. The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation brought the suit on Bolger's behalf, arguing the law unconstitutionally sidesteps the state Civil Service Commission's authority over public employees while benefiting the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Michigan, which the Mackinac Center calls a "dues skim" affecting roughly 35,000 family and friend caregivers in the state's Home Help program.

The lawsuit seeks to void the October 2025 union certification election and block the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services from acting as the caregivers' employer in collective bargaining. It follows an earlier Mackinac Center challenge filed in 2025 on behalf of two caregivers, which was dismissed in 2026 after both lost their caregiving roles, leaving the constitutional questions unresolved. Opponents, including AARP Michigan, have raised concerns about the arrangement's effect on caregiving oversight.

Michigan's Secretary of State's office reports absentee ballot returns running 30% ahead of the 2022 midterm cycle, with 201,909 ballots returned as of Oct. 6, compared with 155,142 at the equivalent point four years earlier. More than 2 million Michigan voters have requested absentee ballots this year, an increase officials attribute mainly to growth in the permanent absentee voter list rather than a surge in overall turnout enthusiasm. Michigan's ballot features races for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, the Legislature, and a competitive open U.S. Senate seat between Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers.

Other states are moving into their voting windows. California counties including Stanislaus have begun mailing ballots ahead of an Oct. 19 registration deadline. Virginia's early in-person voting runs through Oct. 31, with mail ballots due by Election Day, Nov. 3; its ballot includes a U.S. Senate seat and all 11 House seats. Iowa's absentee window opens Oct. 14, with written ballot requests due by Oct. 19 and completed ballots due by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3; its ballot includes governor, U.S. Senate and House, and other statewide offices.

Saginaw Valley State University has signed a memorandum of understanding with Lansing Promise, becoming the scholarship program's first partner school outside the tri-county Lansing area. Under the agreement, eligible Lansing Promise Scholars can attend SVSU tuition-free by combining the Lansing Promise Scholarship and Promise Guarantee Scholarship with SVSU's Cardinal Commitment Scholarship or other federal, state, and external financial aid.

Lansing Promise executive director Jayme King said the partnership broadens options for the program's students, while SVSU vice president of enrollment management Ken Fettig said the university looks forward to welcoming more Lansing students to its campus. SVSU's residence halls, ranked No. 2 nationally among public universities and No. 3 in Michigan, are currently at full capacity, and fall enrollment stands at 6,849 students. The deal gives Lansing Promise participants another higher-education destination as the program continues to grow its network of partner institutions.