Richard Helppie's Common Bridge
The problems we have in the country are solvable, but not solvable the way we’re approaching them today, because of partisan politics. Richard Helppie, a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist seeks to find a place in the middle where common sense discussions can bridge the current great divide.
Richard Helppie's Common Bridge
Episode 272- Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate Series: Mike Cox
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What happens when a state that was once the crown jewel of American prosperity finds itself near the bottom in employment, education, and population growth? Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox believes it's time for a dramatic course correction, and he's running for governor to make it happen.
The son of immigrants who chose Michigan in the 1950s because it was "the greatest state in America," Cox paints a stark picture of Michigan's decline. Today, the state ranks second-worst in unemployment, loses more young people than almost any other state, and sees its fourth-graders reading at levels only surpassed in underperformance by Alaska and New Mexico. Most painfully for Cox, three of his four children have left Michigan, with one choosing Mississippi where, surprisingly, her children now receive better education than kids in his Michigan neighborhood.
Cox's revitalization plan centers on two bold economic policies: eliminating the state income tax and reinstating right-to-work legislation. He points to compelling evidence that the eleven most prosperous states share one feature – they don't tax income. "If we're a society that values work," Cox argues, "that should be the last thing we tax." For workers, he believes freedom of choice should extend to union membership, creating an environment that welcomes all job creators, not just those creating union positions.
Beyond economics, Cox challenges conventional wisdom on education and diversity. After 50+ years of DEI programs at institutions like the University of Michigan, he notes African American enrollment has increased only marginally despite massive investment. His alternative approach focuses on fundamental educational improvements and merit-based opportunities like accepting the top 10% of graduates from every Michigan high school.
With Michigan positioned as a critical battleground in 2026, Cox brings a unique background as both successful public servant and entrepreneur. From Marine squad leader to homicide prosecutor, from two-term Attorney General to business owner who's met payroll and created jobs, Cox believes his proven leadership can restore Michigan's rightful place as a state where children can expect to do better than their parents.
Ready to see Michigan reclaim its status as the best state in America? Explore Mike's vision at MikeCox2026.com and join the movement to raise expectations for Michigan's future.
Engage the conversation on Substack at The Common Bridge!
Introduction to The Common Bridge
Speaker 1Welcome to this episode of Season 6 of the Common Bridge, where policy and current events are discussed in a fiercely nonpartisan manner. The host, richard Helpe, is a philanthropist, entrepreneur and political analyst who has reached over 5 million listeners, viewers and readers around the world. With our surging growth in audience and subscriptions, the Common Bridge continues to expand its reach. The show is available on the Substack website and the Substack app Simply search for the Common Bridge continues to expand its reach. The show is available on the Substack website and the Substack app Simply search for the Common Bridge. You can also find us on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. The Common Bridge draws guests and audiences from around the political spectrum and we invite you to become a free or paid subscriber on your favorite medium.
Mike Cox's Motivation to Run
Speaker 2Hello, welcome to the Common Bridge. I'm your host, rich Helpe. It's a very exciting season because, even though it's 2025, we're coming up to the midterms, many gubernatorial races, the Senate contests that are coming up, and we're going to be featuring the candidates that are vying for the governorship of the great state of Michigan. Now, michigan was always a leader in education and in industry and employment, the birthplace of organized labor with the United Auto Workers. We've been a little stagnant, we've shrunk a little bit, our education ratings aren't very good at the moment, and so this next governorship, I think, is going to have not only implications for Michigan, for the Great Lakes region, for the country and, because of the trading position of this great state of Michigan, potentially internationally. And today we have with us former Michigan Attorney General and announced candidate on the Republican ticket for the governor of the state of Michigan, mike Cox. Mike, good to see you. Great seeing you, rich, mike, I know the first question people are going to ask is you know you've been hugely successful since you left the attorney general's office.
Speaker 2What makes you want to be back in politics and be the?
Speaker 3governor. You know, rich, your intro said it all, which was we were a great state and now we're a state in decline. You know, the story for me, like for many folks, is or why you do something that really relates to your family and who touches you. So you know, my parents are immigrants, illegal immigrants, and they came here in 1949, 1951 separately, but they both came to the Detroit area, michigan, because it was the greatest state to be in America. And now, as Bill Parcells, the old giant Super Bowl winning coach, says, you are what your record says you are.
Speaker 3And what's the record for Michigan Right now? Our unemployment rate is again second worst in the country. Only West Virginia exceeds us in the amount of young people leaving our state and unfortunately, our fourth graders read at a level that is very, very poor, and our fourth graders are as smart as any other kids in the nation. In fact, only two states read at a lower level than us Alaska and New Mexico and that's not the state my parents came to. I've lived a great life here. I've been very successful my brothers have but at the same time I suffer all the same problems as so many parents in Michigan. Right now, three of my four children are living outside this great state and we have too many great assets to not get up and fight again.
Michigan's Assets and Challenges
Speaker 2What are some of the great assets that we have here in Michigan and how might we as a people, and you as a governor, use those to make this Wolverine State great again? A number of things.
Speaker 3Let's just start with the natural resources, right. Let's just start with the natural resources, right. You know, one of the world's largest kind of the new thing with the new needs of AI is, you know, and other things is rich minerals or potash or other things. We have like the largest deposit of potash in North America, just as an example. But let's talk about the easy ones.
Speaker 3We have 10,000 lakes, we have four Great Lakes, we're on the international border, i-94, which is a great North American bisector highway between Canada and the US, not 75 or anywhere. 94, cuts through our state. We have perhaps the largest concentration of engineering talent not only engineers but engineering technicians in North America, perhaps the world right here, and we have a workforce that's underutilized, and so you have those talent. With two great universities. We're sitting here in Ann Arbor, michigan, right near the University of Michigan, so we have so many assets that are really been laying dormant or been untapped, and I think so much of it is. Unfortunately, we people, we Michiganders, don't expect enough. Don't expect enough from our local government, don't expect enough from our state government, and that needs to change.
Speaker 2There's a lot of things. What should this next governor whether it's you or another candidate upon taking office? What does that next governor need to concentrate on?
Speaker 3Well, there's three. When I go around and talk to people in the state and you probably hear the exact same things. What are our three biggest issues right now? It's the economy, it's education for our children and as a result of those two things is population loss. So, population loss, the economy and education those are the things that need to be fixed, and if we take care of the economy and education we have these great natural resources, one of the most beautiful places in North America the loss of our children and middle-class families will stop and it will turn around.
Speaker 2So when I think about that, two questions come to mind that might be interrelated. Right Is a child born in the election year next year, 2026, they're going to graduate high school in 2044. Right, what type of life should they expect and what should the priorities of the governor be, and why are you the best choice to be that governor?
Speaker 3They should expect the same things you and I got when we grew up. Okay, I know a little bit about you. You grew up in a pretty hardscrabble working class part of Wayne, michigan. I grew up 10 miles away in Redford same kind of places, you know. I grew up every one of my neighborhood worked at the Dearborn Rouge Foundry or UAW guy. No one in my neighborhood that I knew of had gone to college. Uh, until my dad went at age 41 while he was a union carpenter.
Speaker 3Oh, is that right? Yes, but what did we have? We had a couple things Rich. We had a state where someone could get good, solid working jobs where they could support their family, they could afford a home and they would get a good school, even if they were in a working-class neighborhood. And, most importantly, they could feel that their children would do better than they did. And that's been lost, that last piece, the idea, you know, that my children, if they stay here in Michigan, can do better than I can. That's when you have population loss, you know the economy sinking, educational achievement receding. It hurts that feeling that your kids can do better than you and that's what's really been lost.
Speaker 2You know, I think that's very well said because I know that when I was going through the public school system, it was the opportunity for those that were college bond. It was the opportunity for those that go into the workforce and it surely equipped me to go into business and into a burgeoning field. But I think it was because the people inside the system said we're going to take these children and help them launch, and I like the way you're talking about let's get that idea of the public institutions getting that kid ready for 2044. And we have a lot of people leaving and you and our current governor said well, we need to keep people here in the state. The out-migration it's multi-layered. It's people for some reason go to Chicago, which is a city in decline. We have the out-migration of the retirees going to Florida and I know you've got something to say about that relative to our taxing. What are some of the things we could do to stem the out-migration and maybe turn it around?
Economic Revitalization Plan
Speaker 3Well, let's start with the economy first and maybe we can go to the education later. So the economy. So, as I've done a lot of research the past couple of years preparing for this, the 10 most prosperous states, fastest growing states, generally have one thing in common Now there's 11, mississippi, where my grandkids live and that is that they don't tax work. We, you know, government calls it an income tax, but if you stop and think about it, the income tax is a tax on work. And if we are a society that values work, income tax is a tax on work. And if we are a society that values work, that should be the last thing we tax.
Speaker 3But just statistically Rich, it's like big states, little states. So you have Florida in the south, then you have New Hampshire in the north, out west, a Democrat state, washington, then you go to Nevada, a smaller state out west, then you go to Texas, now Tennessee, now Mississippi. Geographically different, their economies are all different, but uniformly all of them are outperforming Michigan in terms of income growth, in terms of employment, job creation, in terms of educational achievement and in terms of population growth educational achievement and in terms of population growth.
Speaker 2And so if those 11 states now in Mississippi can do it, why can't we? Right, I think that is a great insight. And just think about a retiree looking at Florida popular destination, you literally get paid to retire in Florida because you escaped the income tax, although lots of things are favorable about retiring in Michigan. But that would eliminate at least that incentive and when you tax something you get less of it, and so taxing work, that would be a game changer. And you're right about the. I can't remember which Dakota doesn't tax, but Texas, tennessee, washington, new Hampshire, florida, all no state income tax. So people get to reinvest more of what they make.
Speaker 3And I've had people tell me well, you know the four and a quarter percent, by the way, the income tax has grown in Michigan under the current governor. But they said, oh, four and a half percent, what's that? Well, you know, if you're a young kid 22, 23, getting out of college you know that could be your vacation or that could be help you get with a loan into a house.
Speaker 3Right and it's also a signal to the market, quite simply because it used to be. Michigan didn't have to compete with other states. We were. We were on top, we were kings of the hill, but didn't have to compete with other states. We were on top, we were kings of the hill, but now we have to compete with other states and we have to send a message to our own population, to our own job creators. You started your own business, so you know most small businesses start off as S-Corps and so eliminating income tax is a huge impact on those businesses and whether they reinvest in Michigan and so across so many pieces of our economy. It sends a real signal hey, there's more money in your pocket, but also an emotional and marketing signal that hey, we're changing, we're going to get out there and do business. Related to that, the second idea if anyone goes to my website, which is MikeCox2026, really easy M-I-K-E-C-O-X-2-0-2-6. If you go there. Second idea related to the economy it's not rocket science, but it's. Let's reinstore right to work. Ok, we had that right to work for four years.
Speaker 3The current administration enacted legislation to repeal it. So what's right to work? If you're watching, it merely says a worker in a workplace can't be forced to join a union. And why does that matter? Well, two reasons. It's part of my agenda is about freedom and prosperity. The more freedom you have, the more prosperity you have. So let's let workers decide whether they should have to join a union or not.
Speaker 3The second piece is a lot of job creators nationally and you've been part of creating business all across the state Look at what's the environment like, right, and is this a state that wants to attract investment? And if we're a state who says there's only one good kind of job, a union job then we're telling those who don't have union jobs, which can be like Amazon and Apple and high tech jobs that your jobs aren't good to us. We should welcome all jobs. So those two things eliminate the state income tax, reinstate right to work are two things that subjectively or materially move us forward. But also tell the rest of the world hey, michigan's changing, come here and invest and you will do well.
Speaker 2With right to work. Let's be candid that the unions have changed. There was a time when the union could appeal to a worker and say working conditions, pay and benefits, and the union member could say you know what I'll pay my dues to get that. It's been several decades now. There's been a bifurcation between union leadership and the rank and file. I grew up in the same unit at the UAW Teamsters and my friends that had that experience. They look with disdain on the union leadership and they don't want to be forced to pay dues. They want that union to be responsive to them. So unions do wonderful things. I'm generally pro-union, with the proviso that the people that are in it want to be in it. We're not going to stop you from being in a union, but we're also not going to do something nefarious, like the Democrats want to do card check, which is, you know, have people show up at your house and get your card checked. We don't want those kinds of things happening.
Speaker 3If I could, just touch on that. So yeah, you know, my dad was a union carpenter, four uncles and aunts. I had one aunt in the UAW. My brother-in-law it's almost time for the afternoon shift is going to work a deer-worn truck to build F-150s UAW. So it's not about being anti-union and realistically didn't impact unions, but it's about worker freedom and making choices and sending the right signal to the world out there.
Speaker 2Right and the unions, the good ones, will appeal to their rank and file and earn that support.
Speaker 3Yeah, and you and I both, you know we grew up in a day when unions for men and some women who came home at night with dirt on their clothes, Absolutely Not wearing collared shirts.
Speaker 2Right, indeed, in fact. Well, I won't go into why computers were so good, but part of it was I didn't get dirty or have to lift heavy things. That was a good part of it. Before we leave the state income tax, you've done some work on the numbers and I had an opportunity to read those that our spending has gone up so much as a state under Governor Whitmer and that the portion of the state budget that comes from state taxes is about $12 billion if I recall, and that's about what we collect as an income tax or tax on work. So it's real doable to take out that income tax. It's not a far-fetched idea at all.
Speaker 3It is not. And so the state budget has grown from $65 billion under Governor Whitmer up to $83.5 billion. That's a 43% jump. And there are portions we can't get into here. There's restricted funds, general funds, there's federal funds, state funds, but the state portion has grown 12 billion under Governor Whitmer alone. And my point is could we do it on day one? No, but we ought to start chopping right away. Like you know, let's chop it right away for seniors, let's chop it right away for new job owners, or you know new graduates?
Speaker 2Yeah's a great idea. And look, we talked about Governor Whitmer, her term or her performance. How do you think that's going to play in the governor's race next year? As we start looking at this from a political level.
Speaker 3Well, I think it will place some OK, because the election and she won't be on the ballot, but in some ways it will be. It will be a referendum on her governance over the past eight years. And, secondly, it looks like right now the front runner for the Democrats is going to be Secretary of State Benson, and she's largely been in lockstep with Governor Whitmer in terms of her view of government and the economy and what we ought to do. And then it's most likely we're going to have Mayor Duggan as independent and he has largely supported many of the same policies as Governor Whitmer. So it will be a referendum in part on her, and that's just the way it's going to be, and so her legacy, such as it is, you know, is going to be on the ballot.
Education and Population Loss Issues
Speaker 2Indeed Mayor Duggan and Bernie Sanders independents, and there are people just disgusted with the Republicans and disgusted with the Democrats. Is it time for an independent or a third party In this state? Will that be an advantage for Mike Duggan?
Speaker 3Well, I can say adamantly no, it's not time for an independent. A couple of reasons. I'm a Republican. I believe in the principles of the Republican Party, and what are those? Personal responsibility I believe in the principles of the Republican Party, and what are those? Personal responsibility a smaller government empowering people. I think those are the ideals that made America great and will continue to make America great and Michigan great.
Speaker 3In terms of Mike Duggan and you know I worked for him for two years in Wayne County government he is at the end of the day if you go on taxes, unions and schools, on the role of charter schools, on so many issues he's been in lockstep with Democrat orthodoxy. When I'm the nominee, I view it as I'm going to be running against Democrat number one and Democrat number two. Now has he achieved a little bit more as a mayor than other Democrats? Yeah, and you and I have had this discussion off the record, but none of the prior mayors of Detroit had a clean balance sheet like he did. If you go back 10 years ago, I'm going a little bit by memory, but the budget in Detroit was $1.1, $1.2 billion and they had, I believe, 9,000 employees. Now the current budget is proposed at $3 billion with almost 12,000 employees. That means he had resources that no prior mayor ever had. And if you were to take those numbers 12,000 employees for a $3 billion budget you put that against a state with 83, you know that's what 25 times. So we have a problem of state. Government is too large and Mike Duggan's record has been growing government Me. When I was attorney general, the head count in our office actually went down 20%. You know people don't follow that when you're attorney general, but the reality is it went down 20% and people always talk about doing more with less.
Speaker 3Well, I've done that and in government and I think you touched on it at the beginning of the show. My wife says when I lost in 2010 running in the Republican primary, she said the voters told you to go home and make money and I'd never been in the private sector before, but I've been a career public servant. I'd spent 13 years in Detroit, wayne County's, a homicide prosecutor and then his AG, and you know what I figured it out. I made some money, I employed people, I paid their health care. I had the situation where I had a million dollars I owed, my house was mortgage, I was a co-guarantee on everything, and I remember at one time having a $77,000 payroll due on the 15th. It's the 11th and my wife and I are looking at the books and we have $405,000. Now we're going to make it. So I've been successful in the private sector and the public sector and I think that will stand me in good stead when I become governor.
Speaker 2Probably just won the vote of every entrepreneur, because if you haven't had that terror of the middle of the night that there's a payroll due and like, yeah, there's no way to find it, but somehow you do, it's real lived experience. Well, we, you know, we talked about the independents, talk about the Democrats and now in the Republican Party, clearly, donald Trump is now the leader of the Republican Party. He has cleared out the prior establishment. He's brought change in nearly every policy area. Do you think his successes or his policy headwinds or his approval ratings are going to fit into the decision for Michigan's choice for governor?
Speaker 3Well, historically, there's always a little bit of sag for the incumbent president in the first midterm because that president isn't on the ballot. I don't see that happening next year, primarily because Michigan voters every eight years they look hard at whether we want to keep the same party in power, and we've had eight years. Next year we'll have eight years of Democratic control and I think that will be a stronger impulse. Like I said earlier, it'll be a referendum on do we want to continue the policies where we're now second highest in unemployment? Only West Virginia exceeds us in losing population and our fourth graders which is kind of like the canary in the coal mine aren't reading anywhere near what they're reading elsewhere.
Speaker 3Rich, I didn't mention this earlier, but I told you my parents came here because this was the best state to be in America. My daughter, when she got out of the Marines after Iraq, she went to Mississippi, and so I have two granddaughters one is graduating this weekend in Hernando Mississippi, hernando Mississippi who get a better education there than the kids in my neighborhood in Livonia, michigan. Now, who would have thought that?
Speaker 2That almost is like in the twilight zone. It really is, and that is because of focus. And one thing when you talked about your time as the Attorney General, you were very focused. I know that parents that were behind on their child support it was not a good place for them to be. When you were in the office of the Attorney General you went and said that was a problem. We're going to focus on them, get people to support their families. There's some other elections going on the race for US Senator, with Gary Peters' retirement Any of that noise going to impact the choice for governor?
Speaker 3Yes. So when you and I went to vote last November, at the top of the ticket was the President of the United States, right, yeah, in your ballot. Well, when Michigan voters go to vote in 2026, right, and your ballot. Well, when Michigan voters go to vote in 2026, there'll be an executive at the top of the ballot and that will be the governor's race. The Senate race and the federal race will be below.
Speaker 3So you will find not only internal money and volunteers, you know, because trying to influence who wins a governorship, because trying to influence who wins a governorship, but part of the control of the Senate will depend on, you know, do we keep the voters at the top of the ticket to hang around for the Senate races. So both the Democratic Party in the Senate caucus and Democrat Senate caucus or Republican Senate caucus, they're going to invest here for that open seat. Also, michigan has been at the eye of the storm the past three election cycles. That's not going to change in 2028. And so both the RNC, the National Republican Party, and the DNC, the National Democrat Party, are going to be big in Michigan.
Speaker 2It should be an interesting time, and in 2022, the governor race was largely obscured from the public. The debates were not held in the big population centers. They were late in the cycle, after early voting had started, and some of you had to stream them. Now, as a reporter or a political analyst, I found them. How would you like to see 2026's race be available to the public?
Speaker 3I guess all of the above, all forms of media, and I think people ought to demand that they hear from the candidates until they get sick of them. By that I mean there should be a lot of debates, inter-party debates for the primaries and then for the general election, and part of the reason I say, if you think back to 2016, it really started in 2015. Both parties at the national level for the presidential candidates had very robust debates, and those debates where people heard what the various candidates were standing for made a difference. Donald Trump would not have been here today people forget this without their, I think, 15 Republican Party debates. He would not have been the nominee. It would have been Jeb Bush and then it would have not have been the nominee. It would have been Jeb Bush and then it would have been Ted Cruz and then it would have been Marco Rubio.
Speaker 3But because people had the opportunity to hear their respective ideas and see their personalities I'm trying to reflect on Hillary Clinton, but at various times, like in 2008,. Another example very robust debates on the Democratic side with John Edwards, hillary Clinton and later President Obama Hillary Clinton went in as a leader and lost, and different times John Edwards got ahead and obviously President Obama won it and there was very robust debate, so I think that's very, very important that we have that over the coming year.
Political Landscape for 2026
Speaker 2Yeah, and it seems like the key to victory is to run against Hillary, because there's such a negative connotation on that and you know the incessant ads. Right, and as a battleground state, we are going to deal with that. Mike, we talked a lot about education, taxation. One of the things that Michigan has going forward is we have affordable housing, more so than any other state. Even in our biggest city, detroit, we have less of a homeless problem than any city, comparably even taken into account for climate and such. We're a hard place to live outside much of the year. Yet we have people that can't live in communities where they work. Is there a role for government in terms of housing and housing policy?
Speaker 3Well, you know, as you know, for 50 years the one way that Metro Detroit competed was cheap housing, that you'd come here and you could own your own home, own your own castle. So, yes, I don't want government in the nuts and bolts of home building. So part of that means get government out of the nuts and bolts of home building. If you talk to the Michigan Home Builders Association, they'll tell you and maybe it's a little overstoked, a little overcooked They'll tell you as much as 23 or 4% of the price of a new home is related somehow to a regulation. Now, we want safe homes, but let's face it, safe homes, good quality homes, are largely driven by customers, not by government.
Speaker 3So, yes, I think, with stopping the governmental overreach that increases the price of homes. That's one way. Stopping the governmental overreach that increases the price of homes. That's one way. There's other ways. If you embrace the idea of the economic ideas I'm talking about be more money in people's pockets, you'll be able to afford more homes. I think there's just a wide variety of things. A couple other states are doing low-cost housing in a very efficient way that we aren't doing, For instance, our MSHDA, most other states, the housing credits that MSHDA puts out to build lower income housing or more affordable housing is decentralized into local banks. We do it in one state agency and, as you can imagine, most times, the more you put it out through private actors and create the right rules, there's going to be more availability, which will lead to accessibility and affordability. So hopefully it's not a little too jumbled, but the reality is there is a role and part of the role is pulling back and decentralizing.
Speaker 2Yeah, and the best studies that I've read on housing is that the cure for homelessness or unshelteredness is more units, and there are places like here in Ann Arbor. They want to build affordable housing. I did go to one of the hearings and you know they said well, you know, you want your police officers and your first responders and such living teachers living in the community. That's good, yeah, and I asked the question well, if you had a police officer married to a school teacher and the officer becomes lieutenant and the teacher becomes principal? Now they're making more money Do they?
Speaker 2have to move and they didn't have an answer for that. So it's pretty tricky, Mike, in the area of affordability, healthcare and health insurance. As we sit here today, the final contours of the Medicaid bill is coming through. What are your thoughts relative to health care, health care policy, supporting our providers and getting insurance out to people?
Speaker 3Well, I don't know if you remember, Rich, when I was Attorney General, because at that time the Attorney General regulated Blue Cross I had a number of fights with Blue Cross on affordability, especially for individuals who weren't part of company plans, and this was before Obamacare. And then subsequently then I worked at Times Blue, Blue Cross, where we ever where we tried we set up a state drug cost website. It was abandoned subsequently but I got then Governor granholm to set it up and we I advertised ernie harwell on the lk line to get people to understand if you're a cash payer, you go to the drug cost website, you could compare prices and drug stores around your, your house. You're a sophisticated buyer. You know that if, if you don't have an insurance company negotiating for you, you can face dramatically different prices for prescription drugs even now depending on the drugstore you go to.
Speaker 3So I'm a big believer in the more information, more transparency leads to lower costs and better outcomes, and I think that's important in healthcare. We don't have enough of that in the hospital world, right, and you know, having been in the healthcare technology end there's a lot of puffering pricing with the expectation that the price is going to have to go down. I think we need to push that to have more transparent pricing, whether it's prescriptions, whether it's hospital stays, whether it's other forms of healthcare delivery. That will inure to everyone being smarter shoppers, more informed and better healthcare outcomes.
Speaker 2Some areas that are sensitive and your background as an attorney and a very successful attorney and some of the work that you did on behalf of plaintiffs around the University of Michigan. We have the DEI phase and yet we can point to affirmative action did a pretty fair job at giving opportunity. What's the forward look for the policies that would help maybe underrepresented groups?
Speaker 3I think it's providing quality education and availability of jobs. So DEI started in earnest between 1965 and 1970. So if you think about that, rich, that's almost 55 years, almost 60 years ago. And I remember when I came out of the Marine Corps in 1983. Marine Corps didn't have DEI. It was all merit-based and we had a lot of races but a homogenized unitary group all going the same way.
Speaker 3I got to U of M and there was DEI and there was divisiveness. Now, moving forward in my professional life, I worked in Wayne County where the quota system was alive and well. Where there's a person wasn't judged always on their individual talents, but on which box they fit in under a number of my bosses. You know, whatever one thought of DEI in 1970, 1980, 1990, it's really outlived its usefulness. When it becomes a quota system right, I think really we have to. If we offer better educational outcomes and more jobs, society will work it out and I support the president of DEI. I don't know if you remember I was one of the few, the only statewide Republican, who supported banning affirmative action. One of the few, the only statewide Republican who supported banning affirmative action. I worked with Jennifer Gratz to get a constitutional amendment added. Now the current AG has a chief DEI officer.
Speaker 3To me, that's divisive, because you're never going to get equity. You and I are never going to be able to run as fast as each other. We're never going to be as smart as each other. You're always going to win those things. But, as attractive, you know, equity means guaranteed outcomes. You can never have that.
Housing and Healthcare Policies
Speaker 3I think it's much more important. Like, for instance, say, detroit 48% of the kids go to charter schools. Another 10% go to schools of choice. The public schools get slightly over 40%. Let's provide parents choices so they can go to charter schools, so their kids are going to get better outcomes. That's going to lead to natural merit showing through, and so I just think, constitutionally, dei is the wrong idea and I just think outcome wise in 2025, where we had a president elected in 2008, who was African-American, with what people thought was a funny name before he was elected. That kind of shows the openness of the American people, I believe. And last time we had an African-American woman who was running for president and was considered a real candidate.
Speaker 3So I think the time has passed and we need to extend. We help the disadvantaged. It's got to be on the fundamentals making sure they get good schools. One last thought on that. We're right near the University of Michigan. I'm a proud graduate of University of Michigan but the University of Michigan wants to maintain its snob mentality right? African-american students were about 4.2% in 1970. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the subsequent 50 years and now in any given year it's at 5%. So it's moved from 4.2% to 5% in 50 years and hundreds of millions of dollars. So what have those programs done? Not much. Now if Michigan said to every school public high school in Michigan we'll take the top 10% of your graduates, that would provide for more than 5% African-Americans if we consider all the DPS, other schools.
Speaker 1But it also offers.
Speaker 3people forget, like you go mostly up north. There's really disadvantaged white populations there and it will give those folks a chance as well and that will lead to true diversity. So the bottom line is I think DEI is morally bankrupt and practically worthless.
Speaker 2Yeah, and when they're being educated, physics is physics, right, math is math, chemistry is chemistry, and if we're teaching those basic building blocks, it doesn't matter. I was in the computer industry and one of the things I liked about computers is it did the same thing for every person. It didn't care how old you were, it didn't care what your ethnicity was, it didn't care what your sex was, it just did the same thing. It was the most equal thing ever, and there were talented people of literally every description, because they just happened to bring that talent. And, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, if we're going to be free, we're not all going to be equal, and if we're all equal, we're not free, and that's really the stark contrast that we need to look at. Mike, is there anything, any other policy areas that we didn't cover or any other topics that we didn't discuss that we should have?
Speaker 3Well, I think that when you talk about this race, it's really about leadership and execution. So one thing I tell people on the Republican side is you know, I've won twice statewide already and I won during down years for Republicans, and when I got there I got things done. And because at the end of the day, when you're picking a governor, you have to look at his or her ideas and whether they will provide the leadership necessary to build the team to execute on those ideas. And so I think it's really leadership Leadership from the time I was a 19-year-old squad leader in the Marine Corps to the time I led the homicide unit in Detroit under a Democrat so I could work with and for Democrats.
DEI and Education Reform
Speaker 3To the time I was AG and then later on, on U of M cases, 1,078 men and women were granted justice through not granted. They grabbed justice from the University of Michigan. I was a leader of that 63 lawyers, 1,078 clients. There were three of us court appointed. We brought it home by building coalition, the team to execute, and that's what leadership does, and I think that's going to matter in 2026 and it should.
Speaker 2Any closing thoughts for the voters in Michigan?
Speaker 3Raise your expectations. You know, dare to dream and demand that your leaders respect your dream and deliver it. You know my parents came here because this was the dream. It may be a little tarnished but it's still there, the assets are still there and we can deliver that together.
Speaker 2We've been talking today with former Michigan Attorney General, two-time winner of statewide office, mike Cox, very successful in private practice as an attorney, built a great firm and now candidate for governor for the state of Michigan. And with our guest, mike Cox, this is your host, rich, helpe signing off on the Common Bridge.
Speaker 1Thanks for joining us on the Common Bridge. Subscribe to the Common Bridge on substackcom or use their Substack app, where you can find more interviews, columns, videos and nonpartisan discussions of the day. Just search for the Common Bridge. You can also find the Common Bridge on Mission Control Radio on your RadioGarden app.