Our focus this election is our readers, so we need your help

As a key swing state that played a pivotal role in 2016 and 2020, what voters do in Michigan will once again be center stage in this year’s presidential election. And while that brings with it a lot of politicking and punditry, the Free Press is focusing its election coverage on something even more important: you.

Our political team has a combined 96 years’ worth of reporting experience, and when it comes to elections, we’ve seen it all. We’ve got politicians we call regularly, sharp analysis up our sleeves and we can dissect inside baseball political talk with plain-spoken precision. And what all that experience and expertise tells us is that Michigan voters — you, our hard-to-predict purple state citizens — are at the heart of everything.

Over the next eight weeks, we, along with student journalists from Michigan State University, are going to bring you up to speed on the political landscapes and how people are feeling about the upcoming election. Together, we partnered with the American Communities Project to take a data-driven look at where we should go talk to you to get a full range of voters with varying life experiences, ideas and opinions. Our collective analysis identified eight Michigan counties that represent a geographical and demographic cross-section of the state:

h Wayne County: This is the state’s only “Big City” county, with an identity and economy wrapped up in Detroit. The county is densely populated and diverse racially and economically.

h Ingham County: The home of Lansing and MSU is one of several “College Towns,” in the state, with a younger and more transient population and higher levels of educational attainment than Michigan as a whole.

h Livingston County: An “Exurb,” between Detroit and Lansing that is wealthy, educated and less racially diverse, with a mix of small towns, suburbs and rural lands.

h Osceola County: This “Working Class Country” community in rural northern Michigan is sparsely populated and fairly remote, with a heavy reliance on blue-collar and service jobs.

h Schoolcraft County: This Upper Peninsula community is part of “Graying America,” where the population leans older, with income and educational attainment figures slightly below the state averages.

h Kent County: The home of Grand Rapids is considered an “Urban Suburb,” where population clusters are fairly dense, increasingly diverse and highly educated with a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds.

h Newaygo County: Just north and west of Kent, this is a “Rural Middle America” county with some commuters, but lots of countryside and a reliance on agricultural and service jobs.

h Saginaw County: Part of the Interstate 75 manufacturing corridor, it’s a “Middle Suburb,” that leans on blue-collar factory and shop jobs, and is home to a mostly middleincome population.

Those are a lot of different experiences and areas you may not regularly see represented in political coverage. We’re sending reporters out to learn about all of them, while also pulling together a group of people from all of these areas (and a few more!) to tell us which issues are most important to them and what affects their communities.

Then, we’ll put it all in action: As we interview power brokers, we’ll be asking your questions. As we decide which policy issues to dive into, we’ll be taking your voice into account. As we paint a picture of Michigan voters, we aren’t going to paint you into a box where you don’t fit.

Does that sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d love to hear from you. Email VoterVoices@freepress.com with a little bit about yourself and what county you’re from (it’s fine if it’s not one of our main eight!) What should we know about you and your community?

This election year, that’s what we want to figure out.