The MeidasTouch Podcast: Mallory McMorrow on Senate Race and Fighting for Michigan

Date: September 28, 2025
Guest: State Senator Mallory McMorrow
Hosts: The Meiselas Brothers (Ben, Brett, Jordy)

Episode Overview

This episode presents an in-depth conversation with Michigan State Senator and Senate Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow, who’s running for U.S. Senate. The discussion centers on the real-world economic challenges facing Michiganders—particularly affordability and job loss—the failures of MAGA Republican leadership at both the state and federal levels, and McMorrow's vision to build a new “American Dream” responsive to working families. The dialogue captures the resentment everyday citizens feel about political gamesmanship, corporate greed, and the neglect of basic governance, offering both candid critique and an actionable, people-focused approach.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The MAGA Regime’s Impact on Michigan

• Shutting down essential programs:

  • McMorrow and the hosts highlight recent testimony (audio at [03:00]) revealing that Trump’s administration ended a Michigan program bringing solar energy to low-income communities, which could have lowered bills and created hundreds of jobs.
  • Michigan Senate Republicans avoided a hearing on this, revealing their disregard for working families’ concerns.
  • Quote from Sen. Dana Pole Hankey (played by hosts):

    "I'd like for the record to show that every single Republican, five of them on this committee either did not show up or left during your presentation. Is that how much they care? I am burnt up over this."
    — [03:00]

• Healthcare under threat:

  • GOP actions may close up to 13 rural Michigan hospitals—threatening the largest employers in these communities and forcing women to travel 50+ miles to give birth.
  • McMorrow:

    “Wouldn't you know, a hospital in the Upper Peninsula just closed its birthing unit, so there are women in the UP who are going to have to drive over 50 miles just to give birth.”
    — [07:38]

2. Affordability Crisis and Corporate Greed

• McMorrow’s viral campaign ad:

  • Highlights the everyday impact of rising costs—chicken wings at $19, $5 chips, and expensive event tickets—driven by tariffs and unchecked corporate behavior.
  • Memorable excerpt:

    “Chicken, chips, tickets, beer, everything's getting more expensive. All the while, Donald Trump is telling us that prices are down at tremendous numbers while he's selling us out to the same corporations who are jacking up prices on the things that we love.”
    — Mallory McMorrow [05:56-06:47]

• Out-of-touch leadership:

  • Hosts slam Trump’s lavish lifestyle and the disconnect between his reality and everyday Americans:

    “It's like they're just giving us the middle finger. That's what I feel like every day. It's like, f you, f you. That's how I feel they're treating us.”
    — Podcast Host [09:01]

3. Michigan’s Political Reality: Shutdowns, Gridlock, and the "MAGA Takeover"

• Avoiding government breakdown in Michigan:

  • Despite MAGA Republicans attempting to create dysfunction, Michigan’s Democratic Senate and Governor Whitmer secured a budget to avoid state shutdown and protect social programs.

    “Late last night. We have a budget deal to avoid a government shutdown on October 1 ... unlike on the federal level, we are protecting a lot of the programs that we put in as Democrats under Governor Whitmer. But on the federal level, if Republicans want this shutdown, they got to own it.”
    — McMorrow [12:23]

• Federal dysfunction and blame games:

  • Republicans plan to blame Democrats and marginalized groups for shutdown consequences despite controlling all branches of government.

    “They control the presidency, the Congress, and the Senate. You hold all of the power. If you want to avoid a government shutdown, do your job. Otherwise, it is on you.”
    — McMorrow [12:23]

4. What Michiganders—and Americans—Really Want

• A broken system, a desperate public:

  • McMorrow emphasizes voters’ fatigue with endless partisan bickering and their desire for politicians who listen and truly represent them:

    “They're also just tired. They are sick of the fighting. They are sick of the political gamesmanship. They're frankly tired of Donald Trump. They're tired of the security theater that he is putting on ... they just want somebody to show up and be normal.”
    — McMorrow [14:32]

• Economic pain is real and widespread:

  • Affordability, unemployment (with Michigan suffering the second-highest rate), and pessimism about the job market—especially for young people—are urgent, unaddressed crises:

    "We are at a place for the first time since 2021 where there are fewer jobs than people to fill them. It is a terrible job market right now ... But people just want to know that there's a way out of this and that is the type of campaign that I'm running."
    — McMorrow [14:32]

• Authenticity and engagement:

  • McMorrow’s campaign is grounded in direct community engagement, prioritizing conversations with everyday people, especially the youth and workers rarely heard in politics.

    “I'm asking to be put in a room with apprentices who are younger and just starting their careers and may not be as politically plugged in ... they have been unloading on me in a way that is helpful to share how angry and frustrated they are at a very deeply broken system.”
    — McMorrow [14:32]

5. Noteworthy Moments & Quotes

• On Republican neglect:

  “I've been in some of the reddest counties, some of the most rural counties. Michiganders do not want a handout. They do not want the government to do things for them. Farmers want to be able to sell their crops ... But if there are no customers for farmers to sell them to, having pennies put back in your pocket while Donald Trump is building this ballroom or filling the Oval Office with gold decor from Home Depot just feels insulting. It is beyond insulting.”
  — McMorrow [09:57]

• On Democrats delivering:

  “We have a budget deal to avoid a government shutdown ... we are protecting a lot of the programs that we put in as Democrats under Governor Whitmer. But on the federal level ... if you want to avoid a government shutdown, do your job. Otherwise, it is on you."
  — McMorrow [12:23]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment | |------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:00 | Testimony on Republican walk-out from solar program hearing | | 05:56 | McMorrow’s affordability campaign ad (chicken, beer, tickets) | | 07:12 | Host transitions to McMorrow interview: "What's really going on?" | | 07:38 | McMorrow: Real Michigan impacts (hospital closures, ticket prices) | | 09:01 | Hosts on Trump/MAGA “grift” and the elitist disconnect | | 09:57 | McMorrow: Farmers don't want handouts, they want fair markets | | 12:23 | McMorrow: Budget agreement avoids shutdown in Michigan | | 14:32 | McMorrow on Michigan’s pain: affordability, jobs, cynicism |

Conclusion

Mallory McMorrow’s appearance delivers a pointed critique of MAGA Republican policymaking and its consequences for Michigan families, while offering a vision of politics grounded in listening, accountability, and everyday reality. She situates affordability and jobs as the central challenges, calls out political theater for what it is, and insists on the value of authentic representation.

To get involved or learn more, McMorrow encourages listeners to visit: [mcmorrowformichigan.com]

Notable closing quote:

“People want to get to know the people who represent them, not as politicians but as real people.”
— Mallory McMorrow [14:32]