Who Said That
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, announcing he will run as an independent for governor of Michigan in 2026. He’s served as a Democrat as mayor. Like other swing states, Michigan tilted to the right in November, with Donald Trump carrying the state and Democrats losing their state House majority. Other prominent Democrats might have been tough for him to beat for the nomination, but Duggan argues an independent can govern more effectively and detoxify the political environment in Lansing. (AP – Dec. 4, 2024)
Mitchell Rutherford, a high school biology teacher in Tucson, Ariz. Rutherford explained that students’ cellphone use in his class was so pervasive that it distracted him to the point of being a bad husband and suffering mental health challenges. Numerous states and school districts have implemented policies to restrict or ban cellphone use during the school day due to concerns about students becoming distracted, anxious or depressed. (NPR – Dec. 3, 2024)
Jared Polis, the Democratic governor of Colorado, reacting to President Biden’s Sunday night pardon of his son Hunter. Polis said that he could understand Biden’s desire as a father to protect his son, but argued that this decision could be used as precedent by future presidents and will tarnish Biden’s legacy. (X – Dec. 1, 2024)
Democrat Andy Kim. The New Jersey congressman won a Senate seat last month. He argues that for his party to regain power, it must convince voters it’s working for their interests. Kim twice carried a district that voted for Donald Trump and was able to present himself as an anti-establishment candidate this year, running for a seat vacated by Democrat Bob Menendez, who was convicted on corruption charges. (Philadelphia Inquirer – Nov. 26, 2024)
Lauren Book, a former Florida state senator, announcing her intention to run again. Book has served as the Democratic leader in the state Senate but had to leave office a few weeks ago due to term limits. She intends to run either in 2026 or 2028 to represent a neighboring district. (South Florida Sun Sentinel – Nov. 26, 2024)
Macon, Ga., Mayor Lester Miller, in reference to the city’s plan to implode a vacant 16-story hotel at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Last year, Macon-Bibb County spent $4.5 million to buy the hotel in a federal bankruptcy proceeding. The city-county has hired a demolition firm to blow up the building for $2.6 million. Miller says the city hasn’t yet decided on how the land will be used. (Associated Press — Nov. 20, 2024)
Staten Island, N.Y., Borough President Vito Fossella, calling upon Whoopi Goldberg to apologize to a local bakery for suggesting on air that the business had declined to make her a batch of desserts because of her political beliefs. The 145-year-old bakery said that their decades-old boiler had malfunctioned and had to be replaced, so the establishment could not commit to making a large order. (Associated Press — Nov. 16, 2024)
Dr. William Morrone, the medical examiner for Bay, Midland, Tuscola, Arenac and Iosco counties in Michigan, regarding the news that at least three deer hunters have died of heart attacks so far during the 16-day season. Morrone said he had never seen three people die in 48 hours from heart attacks while deer hunting before and that hunters should better prepare themselves for the rigors of the outdoors. Two of the men who died were trying to haul away the heavy animals. (Associated Press — Nov. 20, 2024)
Brian Rice, president of California Professional Firefighters, the state’s largest firefighter organization, responding to a threat President-elect Donald Trump made at a campaign rally in October to withhold firefighting aid from the state. (CalMatters — Nov. 8, 2024)
Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, reassuring residents in a news conference that his administration is ready to fight against Trump administration policies that could harm Illinois’ most vulnerable populations including LGBTQ+ people, immigrants and people with disabilities. (State Journal-Register — Nov. 8, 2024)
Sharyn Vane, a Jewish parent of two Texas public school graduates, at a September public hearing on the state Education Board’s vote on Bible-infused lessons in public schools. (New York Times — Nov. 18, 2024)
Lich Vu, a 70-year-old resident of Oklahoma. Vu was stopped by Oklahoma City police officer Joseph Gibson for making an illegal U-turn. Vu, a Vietnamese immigrant, refused to sign the ticket, even though Gibson warned him that could mean going to jail. The two argued and miscommunicated due to a language barrier. Gibson is now under investigation, with body cam footage showing him slamming Vu to the ground. (NPR – Nov. 14, 2024)
Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, regarding the Pentagon’s latest report on UFOs that revealed hundreds of new reports of unidentified and unexplained aerial phenomena. (Associated Press — Nov. 14, 2024)
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, urging people to avoid lighting fires as the state has had to manage approximately 200 fires this month. (Associated Press — Nov. 12, 2024)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, regarding the nearly 90,000 DACA recipients in Texas, and more than 500,000 across the nation, who are now eligible to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act through Jan. 15. (Associated Press — Nov. 12, 2024)
The Yemassee, S.C., Police Department, regarding the escape of 43 monkeys from an Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center last Wednesday. Officials urged residents to lock their doors and windows until the primates were captured; as of Sunday evening, 25 of the monkeys have been recovered. The female rhesus macaque primates are very young and weigh between 6 and 7 pounds. (NPR — Nov. 11, 2024)
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, regarding the distribution of racist text messages to Black college and high school students on Thursday and Friday following the election. Jones’ 17-year old son, a high school student, was one of those who received the text on Wednesday night. The message, which said the recipient was “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation,” is from an unknown sender. (NPR — Nov. 7, 2024)
Republican Elijah Haahr, a former speaker of the Missouri House. He was explaining why state voters approved ballot measures to protect abortion rights, raise the minimum wage and guarantee paid sick leave for workers, while also voting by wide margins to elect Republicans who oppose those proposals. Haahr noted that out-of-state progressive groups spent millions of dollars to support the ballot measures. (Missouri Independent — Nov. 7, 2024)
Cybersecurity expert Chris Krebs about the integrity of the 2024 election. In an otherwise quiet day, there were roughly 10 bomb threats to polling places from the Russian (.ru) email domain. (NPR - November 6, 2024)
Misty Jones, director of San Diego’s public library system, who before becoming a librarian worked as both a probation officer and a mental health technician in a psychiatric ward. Like many libraries across the country, San Diego's Central Library has been plagued by overdoses, vandalism, fights and thefts as libraries have become gathering places for people experiencing issues like homelessness, drug dependence and mental illness. (New York Times — Oct. 31, 2024)
Faye Roberts, a Trump supporter from Whitsett, N.C. (Politico — Nov. 2, 2024)
Dr. Perry Jansen, medical director for Southwest District Health, a regional public health department in Idaho. The department’s board voted to restrict SDH from providing COVID-19 vaccines despite the vaccines’ medical necessity. The members in favor of the decision argued that people can get vaccinated elsewhere and that providing the shots was equivalent to signing off on their safety. At the Oct. 22 board meeting, there were more than 290 public comments against the vaccines. The board’s decision will block administration of COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties along the Idaho-Oregon border, including three counties in the Boise metropolitan area. Southwest District Health appears to be the first regional public health department in the nation to be restricted from giving COVID-19 vaccines. (Associated Press — Nov. 1, 2024)
Des Moines, Iowa, Assistant City Manager Jen Schulte, regarding the city’s decision to move its Beggars’ Night celebration to align with Halloween this year due to predicted heavy rains and thunderstorms. Typically the Beggars’ Night celebration in Des Moines occurs the day before Halloween, Oct. 30. (Associated Press — Oct. 29, 2024)
Allison Santorelli, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, regarding the lack of precipitation this month. More than 100 different long-term weather stations in 26 states, including Alaska, are having their driest October on record. In June, less than 12 percent of the country was experiencing drought, but now it’s almost 50 percent, and growing. (Associated Press — Oct. 29, 2024)
Krista Gulbransen, of the Berkeley, Calif., Property Owners Association, regarding a proposed rent control measure in California that will appear on the statewide ballot next week. The measure, Proposition 33, would repeal a state housing law that limits cities from enacting rent control measures. More than 30 California cities already have some rent increase limitations, with caps ranging from 3 to 10 percent annually for covered units. (Associated Press — Oct. 29, 2024)
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, in their “PFAS Do Not Eat Advisory” that was issued last week. The department has detected high levels of “forever chemicals” in some deer and wild turkey that were harvested in portions of Albion, Fairfield, Freedom, Skowhegan, Unity and Unity Township, and has therefore advised residents to avoid consuming wildlife from those areas. (Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife — Oct. 24, 2024)
John Suthers, a former U.S. attorney and Colorado attorney general who is now representing the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Boulder, Colo. Suthers responded to the NonHuman Rights Project’s (NhRP) claim that five elephants in the zoo should be able to dispute their detention. The NhRP unsuccessfully tried to have an elephant at the Bronx Zoo named Happy legally considered a person with the ability to pursue a petition seeking release. The New York ruling said giving such rights to an elephant “would have an enormous destabilizing impact on modern society.” Now, the NhRP is again arguing that the five elephants, Missy, Kimba, Lucky, LouLou and Jambo, are such intelligent and social creatures that they are, essentially, being held prisoner in the zoo. The Colorado court will issue a ruling in the coming weeks or months. (Associated Press — Oct. 24, 2024)
South Carolina state Rep. Brandon Cox, regarding the state’s installation of its first individual statue for an African American on its Statehouse lawn. The statue will honor Robert Smalls, a congressman and ship pilot who helped to rewrite South Carolina’s Constitution to grant civil rights to Black men after the Civil War. (Associated Press — Oct. 22, 2024)
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, responding to tech billionaire Elon Musk, who published false claims about the state’s voter registration on social platform X. (The Hill — Oct. 21, 2024)
Republican Stephen Richer, top official for voting by mail in Maricopa County, Ariz. The state has become an epicenter for threats against election officials leading up to this November's election. The county's election headquarters has become a fortress, adding metal detectors and armed guards. On Election Day, as workers tabulate ballots behind new fencing and concrete barriers, drones will patrol the skies overhead, police snipers will perch on rooftops and mounted patrols will stand ready. Across the state, election workers have gone through active-shooter drills and learned to barricade themselves or wield fire hoses to repel armed mobs. (The Wall Street Journal — Oct. 19, 2024)
