Lansing — It was a new day in Lansing—opening day for the 103rd Michigan Legislature. Unlike its predecessor, in which Democrats held all the gavels, Republicans now control the Michigan House.

“There’s a new sheriff in town,” new House Speaker Matt Hall declared Tuesday on a conference call with independent media. 

But it’ll take more than a badge flash to convince the Republican voters, who pushed Hall into power. 

The last two years of Democratic rule in Lansing were bad, no question. Under their aegis, Michigan became the first right-to-work state to lose that freedom. As President Donald Trump looks to Make Detroit Build Again, Michigan has tied itself to United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who is angling for a global labor strike on May Day 2028.

But the Democrats’ power was short-lived. When Republican voters think of Lansing mishaps, they don’t think of Democrat wins. It’s the Republican surrenders that are top of mind. History is Hall’s biggest opponent right now.

And so Hall’s good news—that House Republicans will investigate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s weaponization of state government—was greeted with groans from people who remember that Lansing Republicans have acted as Whitmer’s Amen Corner.

Some people got a little too excited. They exclaimed relief that Whitmer would finally be impeached, or removed from office, or arrested. None of that will happen. The sergeant at arms is not walking through that door. 

But others minimized what it could mean.

Great, they said. Whitmer will be investigated, and Republicans will write a strongly-worded letter. What good will that do?

It’s a mistake to discount the importance of the truth, just because it won’t result in an arrest. A dog who sees its cat buddy climb a tree can’t climb the tree to save him; that’s beyond his powers. But he can bark like hell. 

What will you do when alerted? It’s easy to point the finger of expectation, but we the people have a role to play, too. 

Hall admits there are limitations to controlling a single house of the legislature, even with subpoena power. Yes, there will be reports, and yes, there will be strongly worded letters. But there will also be recommendations on what needs to change in Lansing. Recommendations that could whip up excitement for the Ultimate Battle for Michigan in 2026. 

“Winning the house is the first step in the rebuilding of Michigan,” Hall told Michigan Enjoyer. “We can do all that work now. We can have the committee hearings, we can have the public input. We can bring in the right people, and we can craft solutions that are ready to go if this governor won’t do, and we can start bringing those to the table on the first day of a future governor’s administration.” 

When Republicans ran the legislature during Gov. Whitmer’s first term, she signed 1,000 laws. The budget grew from $58 billion in fiscal year 2019 to $76 billion in fiscal 2022. 

Constitutionally, the House controls the purse strings. But the Republicans of that era didn’t have the courage to win many budget battles. 

On their way out of power, Republicans gifted Whitmer a train set in Detroit. They rerouted $85 million of hotel taxes rerouted to pay for years of the QLine, a three-mile Train to Nowhere on Woodward Avenue.

Remember what Traverse City Republican Wayne Schmidt, a term-limited House rep, said at the time?

“We need a healthy downtown Detroit or the state as a whole suffers,” Schmidt said. “We do know if we don’t work together—northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula helping Detroit—they’ll never be in a position to help us.”

In Schmidt’s limited imagination, downtown Detroit would slide into the river if not for the largesse of Michigan taxpayers. It’s the go-along to get-along mentality that Republican voters despise most. No amount of taxpayer money from other people was ever too much to stop Schmidt from getting a good headline. 

It’s that kind of Schmidt that Republican voters are on the lookout for as a new year and a new term begins. If they sniff Hall a little hard, and push back against his triumphal mood, it’s because they’re trying to trust him. They want to believe, but they’ve been burned before. They just need to be given a reason.

The last group of Republicans to run Michigan left a legacy of betrayal that voters are wary of—even with a new sheriff. 

All those news stories that portrayed Whitmer at odds with Republicans in her first term were kayfabe. The real dirt is that it’s a small club in Lansing, and the 10 million people of Michigan ain’t in it. 

More than any particular law or policy, Republicans don’t want to see their representatives in that club or angling for membership. Don’t smile so hard in those photos with Whitmer. Act like you’ve been there before, and remember the people who sent you there. 

Have things really changed in Lansing? Do Republicans in the legislature now represent their communities and their voters, rather than Lansing and the lobbyist? 

There’s only one way to find out. We won’t hold our breath, but we will be watching. 

James David Dickson is host of the Enjoyer Podcast. Join him in conversation on X @downi75.