Blanchard: Duggan Wins If Government Shuts Down, Calls Hall's Proposals 'Show Business'

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 09/17/2025) Politically, former Gov. James Blanchard thinks Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan will be the biggest winner if a state government shutdown takes place after this month. In his 2026 independent bid for governor, Duggan made claims of Lansing dysfunction a major selling point for his campaign.

Former Gov. James J. Blanchard

"The thing is, it'll cost money to shut down and more money to start back up, and people lose confidence . . . Politically, by the way, it would help Mike Duggan become governor, and probably undercut any Republican running for governor," Blanchard said in a special Tuesday edition of the MIRS Monday Podcast, as MIRS used the program to explore what state-level government shutdowns look like.

If a budget deal isn't reached and implemented in time for the new fiscal year, beginning on Oct. 1, the state could enter a government shutdown for the first time since 2009, which was around the national Great Recession financial crisis.

The 2009 shutdown ended after two hours when then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a one-month continuation budget to keep the government functioning. At the time, legislators were faced with chopping local government revenue sharing by 11.1 percent, cutting per-pupil payments to schools by $154 and eliminating the state-funded Promise Grants for college students.

Today's circumstances are different.

August projections show how, on a year-to-date basis, General Fund tax revenue is off by $95.7 million and School Aid Fund revenue is up by $23.6 million.

The situation is less severe than the $1.7 billion budget deficit lawmakers had to work around in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, and the $1.6 billion budget gap faced for FY '10. In May 2009, Granholm advised a 4 percent cut in FY '09 spending.

"It's a lot of show business. It's a lot of play-acting. It's not serious," Blanchard said of today's budget-making process, specifically noting the House's proposal to cut the University of Michigan and Michigan State University's state funding by 65.4 percent and 18.9 percent respectively.

Blanchard said the question is whether House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) wants to follow the lead of Republicans controlling Congress in Washington, D.C., where a fall shutdown also might occur.

"He has a perfect right to hold out or negotiate, but he's got to do it with the Senate Democrats, not the Governor . . . he can't expect her to undermine the Democrats in the Senate," Blanchard said. "Personalities are always there, but it's a sign of the times that people want to run against the government, then they want to work to make sure it doesn't work so they can confirm their attacks on the government – it's kind of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party."

Hall has indicated having an efficient working relationship with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. However, six days ago, Senate Appropriations Chair Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) expressed frustration that while talk is happening, like phone calls and meet-ups, no decisions were being made around what a final FY '26 budget will look like.

As for Blanchard, he served as Michigan's 45th governor from 1983 through 1990. From 1984 through 1990, Mount Pleasant Republican John Engler served as the Republican-controlled Senate's majority leader, while the House was under Democratic control.

In 1990, Engler unseated Blanchard, becoming Michigan's 46th governor by defeating him 49.76 to 49.07 percent.

"I don't think even when he was running against me (that) John Engler wanted to shut the government down," Blanchard said. "There's a different mentality now."

He projects that a state government shutdown will result in construction jobs being paused and layoffs in the building trades. One of the reasons that could drive Michigan into a shutdown is the unfolding road funding debate, as the Governor and the House aim to generate $3 billion in new yearly road funding, while the Senate searches for a reliable and non-controversial source of new state revenue to do so.

"You stop a project and start it, it increases its costs, so it would really cost us more on our roads than it should," Blanchard said. "There's a lot here that's at stake, and the reality is the Governor gave the Legislature a budget over 200 days ago. The Senate met its obligations to come up with something by July 1, and the House came in only recently. They have to deal with each other.

"The Governor can help, but they have to deal with each other."

Meanwhile, Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee's past chair and current head of the Michigan Forward Network – an organization being backed financially by the Republican DeVos family – is using reports of Lansing dysfunction to target Whitmer.

"Whitmer has said for months that she wants a roads plan and that the budget cannot get done without one. Senate Democrats have shrugged her off and very few House Democrats are defending her," McDaniel said in a Sept. 10 opinion piece. "Her penultimate year as governor – the final fiscal year of her eight – could be crowned by a costly government shutdown. Instead of bringing people back to the table, she is putting taxpayers in limbo as they wait to learn if the essential services they depend on will be available come October."