ICYMI: Mallory McMorrow on Detroit in Black and White: “We’ve Got to Recognize the Stakes Here”

MICHIGAN — Tonight, Mallory McMorrow joined hosts Adolph Mongo and Allan Lengel on Detroit in Black and White to talk about her track record of showing up for Michiganders and delivering on the issues that matter most to them. McMorrow highlighted her record of delivering in Detroit and how she would bring that fight to the U.S. Senate. 

Check out excerpts from tonight’s episode below: 

On what it takes to win: 

“This is a job interview, and it is about nominating the right person to meet this moment and to do the job at this moment and, of the field, I am the only candidate who beat a Republican incumbent to get into office… I then helped flip control of the entire state Senate for the first time since 1980, and, as Majority Whip, I helped hold the Democratic Party together and deliver on everything from expanding civil rights to voting rights to affordability, bringing funding back into the communities that I represent, particularly those that haven't received funding in the past. This is not just about rhetoric. It's about knowing how to fight MAGA Republicans and win, but also knowing how to get in and work a legislative body so that you can deliver. 

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On why she chose Michigan: 

“I chose to move to Michigan. I got engaged to my now husband here. We got married in the Eastern Market. My daughter was born at Beaumont Royal Oak, which is the same hospital where my husband was born. Michigan welcomed me with open arms, and what I hear from residents is we want more people to move back home. I don't think that it's something to run away from. I've never shied away from the fact that I chose this place, and it gives me a perspective of realizing just how special it is. 

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On investing in Detroit: 

“I have now represented the most diverse district in the state for going on four years in the State Senate, and I have been very intentional about prioritizing the focus of my budget work to ensure that communities who have historically been underinvested in receive more investment. I've helped bring more than $20 million back to Marygrove. I've helped invest in CDFIs that support Black-owned small businesses along Livernois and along Six Mile, supporting after-school programs like the Detroit City Lions and Detroit PAL, who I got to go to their first day of football season out on Marygrove's campus. And it was awesome to see it. So I'm really proud of my track record, but I also show up, and I listen, and it's always a process.

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On how Democrats can win: 

“We got to recognize the stakes here. And what I believe is we cannot lose sight of what Donald Trump and the Republicans are trying to do to this country through the Supreme Court, through the House, and the Senate. And that's not to say that we just ignore the tension that exists in our party. We are a big tent party, and that leads to a lot of conflict. Sometimes, we got to come together, and we got to listen to each other… We, as a party, as Democrats, have to have a message and a plan and a platform that is about solving that problem. How can people afford their daily lives? How are we going to fight Republicans, and how are we going to make people's lives better? And that requires a hell of a lot of showing up and listening and being willing to bring everybody. 

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On why she has what it takes: 

“I'm the only one who's beaten an incumbent, the only one who helped flip control of an entire chamber for the first time in my lifetime, and in leadership in the state Senate delivered on every single issue that we care about, not only as Democrats, but as Michiganders. That is a blueprint on how to fight, how to win, and how to actually build a federal government that people believe in again, because it's actually doing things that benefit people in their lives.”

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