Michigan Democrats are blacklisting any candidates who endorse Mike Duggan for governor 

No Labels’ chief strategist Ryan Clancy said it best: 

“If you’re trying to get on the ballot, the two parties do absolutely everything they can to make your life impossible… They really have what is in effect a cartel in all 50 states that these two parties control. And cartels don’t like competition.” 

Last week, we saw cartel politics play out in Michigan. 

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a three-term Democrat, is running for governor as an independent in 2026. He recently unveiled endorsements from more than 200 Republican, Democratic, and independent elected officials across the state. 

That kind of show of support sent the Democratic establishment into panic mode. The Michigan Democratic Party responded by blacklisting any official who endorsed Duggan. 

Specifically, Democratic candidates who support Duggan were cut off from the Party’s voter database, a crucial campaign tool that tells candidates which doors to knock on, which voters to call, and how to reach the people most likely to support them. 

In one egregious example, Mo Baydoun – a candidate for mayor of Dearborn Heights – spoke at a Duggan campaign event earlier this month. The very next day, Baydoun lost access to the Democratic voter file.  

Curtis Hertel Jr., chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, made it clear that this isn’t just about the voter database; leaders who support Duggan are no longer welcome in the Party. “I look forward to their independent campaigns,” Hertel said of the endorsers. 

Mayor Duggan wasn’t surprised. “This is today’s Michigan Democratic Party – toe the line or suffer punishment,” he said. “No room for anyone who thinks on their own. And they wonder why their party image is at an all-time low.” 

This is the cartel playbook. When independents or reformers threaten the cartel’s grip on power, the parties don’t try to win voters over – they change the rules or weaponize the tools they control. Whether it’s ballot access laws in New York and Georgia, or cutting candidates off from voter files in Michigan, the goal is the same: keep power in the cartel, keep competition out. 

And voters are the ones who lose. Fewer candidates get a fair shot. Fewer voices are heard. And the choices on Election Day shrink. 

That’s not democracy. That’s cartel politics.