The race for the Michigan governor’s mansion leads the list of Top 10 midterm races for Canadians to watch next Tuesday, according to POLITICO Pro Canada.
The candidate who replaces the outgoing governor, Rick Snyder, a Republican, could influence the future of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a planned crossing in the Detroit and Windsor area that has been touted as a crucial piece of border infrastructure by successive Canadian governments. Canada has agreed to finance its construction and operation to the tune of $5.7 billion and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally attended the ground-breaking last month. Snyder bucked his own party and ended years of political wrangling in the Michigan legislature to push the bridge through using the governor’s executive authority, overcoming longstanding opposition by owners of the existing Ambassador Bridge. Facing term-limits after eight years as governor, Snyder leaves office just months after the official groundbreaking on the project.
As Michigan voters prepare to the go to the polls on Nov. 6, Democratic candidate Gretchen Whitmer, a former state legislator, has the lead on Republican Bill Schuette, the state's attorney general, heading into the final stretch of the campaign, though it's narrowed to five points, according to recent The race has focused on classic kitchen-table issues like health care, education and infrastructure.
The Moroun family, which owns the competing Ambassador Bridge, has continued to challenge the new bridge everywhere from the courts to the Fox News airwaves. The next governor likely will have to keep contending with efforts to stop construction, though it's unclear what realistically could be done to halt it. Whitmer has said she supports the Gordie Howe Bridge, while Schuette has he's open to the Morouns' proposal to twin their aging span with a new one.
also includes races in Ohio, New York, Maine and North Dakota that could affect Canada-U.S. trade, the cross-border relationship, and the prospects for congressional approval of the USMCA, the new North American trade agreement.
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