LANSING, Mich. (MIRS News) – If House Democrats bring up the National Popular Vote (NPV) on the floor any time soon, House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Kalamazoo) foresees the number of Republicans supporting it will be “Zero.”
Over in the Senate, the situation is much the same. Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) hasn’t whipped his caucus yet, but “I doubt I need to . . . I would think Zero.”
While folks in the NPV movement say they believe they have as many as five or seven Republican votes in the House and two or three in the Senate, the dynamic is still the same. Grassroots Republicans don’t believe the National Popular Vote would help a Republican nominee.
Former Michigan Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis penned an editorial today that this bipartisan reform will draw out more Democrats and Republicans from across the country because they’ll feel their vote will actually matter.
He estimates that only four battleground states will truly be in play in 2024 and Michigan won’t be one of them. Michigan Republicans’ best shot at having their vote count will be under a NPV compact.
“By ensuring that candidates appeal to voters in every state, the compact ultimately makes every state a battleground state,” Anuzis wrote. “It is also not a partisan scheme, but a reflection of the values and principles upon which our nation was founded.”
Steve Mitchell of Mitchell Research and Communications said Republican voters simply don’t buy it. Under NPV, they’re convinced that Donald TRUMP wouldn’t have won the presidency in 2016, when he lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes.
“They don’t buy it at all,” Mitchell said. “The Democrats have more money than the Republicans. They can play in more states than Republicans. No matter how you analyze it, it doesn’t benefit Republicans to change the method of how you elect the president.”
Among those in the “Liberty Caucus,” opposing NPV has become a pillar issue.
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“National popular vote would be yet another step in the rapid destruction of state sovereignty as it would centralize power, leading to not only national but international ramifications,” said Rep. Steve Carra (R-Three Rivers).
Rep. Carrie A. Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor)’s HB 4440 moved out of committee last week with both Republican committee members voting no.
In related news:
Group Forms to Fight Popular Vote
Michigan Votes for Michigan Voters was recently granted a 501(c)4 status and will begin raising money to fight the National Popular Vote (NPV) movement in the House.
Former Rep. Peter Lund, who served as an official for Americans For Prosperity after leaving the House, wants to make sure NPV does not move.
As the executive director of MVMV, he has joined hands with three other notable Republicans to lead this opposition.
The roster includes former Michigan Republican Party Chair David DOYLE, former Sen. David Robertson and former Rep. Robert Genetski, who is now the Allegan County clerk.
The interesting twist here is that Doyle finds himself battling another former Michigan GOP Party chair, Saul Anuzis, who is a hired hand for the California-based NPV team.
Lund said, “I’ll give Saul the benefit of the doubt (but) there are a ton of little and major problems with this proposal. It could eventually lead to mob rule.”
The group was recently formed and the leaders agree that the Electoral College needs to be preserved as the Founding Fathers created it. “It has kept this country great and with a stable government,” Lund said. “Lots of things could go wrong,” if the Popular Vote is adopted.
He reported the effort begins with $0 in the bank, but he quickly added, “We are working on that.”
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