NO CAT LADIES
About 65 women came out to an Oakland County home on an early August evening for the inaugural Michigan Vote Mama event, a national PAC that supports Democratic mothers with children under 18. According to Political Director Kristy Pagan, the goal of Vote Mama is to find moms who are eligible and interested in running for office, whether local, county, state or national, recruit them, support them and endorse them. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is unofficially running for the governor’s office in 2026, which was once again announced at this event, helped bring Vote Mama to Michigan and is the honorary chair. “Legislators vote based on their experiences. This is an effort to get candidates elected with experience with minor children,” Benson said to the crowd of mostly women, noting that if citizens want legislators to vote in ways which represent their interests and not just wealthy men, it is imperative that women with families, including those of color, must be supported so “they can get elected and do their jobs, and be able to stay in their jobs.” Others with Vote Mama noted that many state legislators are not paid a livable wage, and candidates cannot use campaign funds to pay for child care in Michigan, an effort Vote Mama PAC is working to change – as they have in a couple other states. State Reps. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) and Mai Xiong (D-Warren) were in attendance, along with Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, who are all mothers with young children running for re-election. Mai Xiong, a Laos refugee, told the stirring story of coming to this country at the age of three, attending college at College for Creative Studies, marrying and having four young children and struggling to make ends meet, and realizing if she didn’t work to help herself and others, “Who would?” Pagan and other Vote Mama leaders said this election cycle they are focusing their efforts on four battleground states – Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan, with “13 mamas endorsed by Vote Mama.”
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