No Scrubs

My first car was a used Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

I loved that car and I was so dang proud to drive it. I remember driving to school with the windows rolled down, grinning from ear to ear with my CD player blasting TLC’s “No Scrubs.”

I couldn’t wait to drive that car around Michigan. It meant I owned a small piece of my state.

An Oldsmobile: a car designed in Michigan by a Michigan company – somebody’s dad, somebody’s mom, somebody’s neighbor, somebody in my state who literally clocked in and created the thing I was driving. Incredible.

You don’t forget that feeling. Driving around your own state in something your own people made possible. That’s a specific kind of pride, and I don’t know if folks in other states quite have that feeling.

My friend Debbie Stabenow says something I think about a lot: In Michigan, we make things and we grow things.

That’s special.

The Cutlass Supreme seats were plush. Big, soft, cushy bench seats, like taking your grandma’s den for a drive down I-96. And the engine was relentless – from cold Michigan winter mornings or zipping up a hill. Tough as nails.

That’s Michigan right there. Tough, with a big heart. Made of grit and kindness. Michiganders work hard, get covered in grime – and then at the end of the day we clean up and bring a casserole to the neighbor who’s having a rough week.

I’ve been thinking about that Oldsmobile a lot lately. Because that engine could take a beating – and right now, a whole lot of folks in this state are taking one.

I was knocking on doors in Detroit on a hot afternoon, standing on a porch while a mom told me about her insurance premium going up again and again. I was in a grocery store watching folks put hamburger meat back on the shelf because the price was just too darn high.

I’ve been in union halls and diners and on picket lines, drinking coffee with folks and doing a lot of listening because here’s my honest belief about this job: Listening and learning come first. You cannot fix a problem you don’t truly understand.

And I understand things are hard right now. Washington is a mess. Michiganders have been paying the price of Trump’s affordability crisis every single day – at the pump, at the register, at the pharmacy counter. And instead of giving relief to Michigan families, Republicans want to hand Trump tens of billions of your tax dollars for a reckless war in Iran.

It’s unacceptable.

Some people just want to yell about it. I’m fighting to fix it.

That’s the whole reason I’m in this race. Slogans and celebrity don’t win elections. They sure as heck don’t lower anybody’s grocery bill.

I’m running to be the relentless engine for Michigan. Somebody who gets the job done.

That’s what I’m trying to do right now in this race. But we’re speeding toward the finish line, and I need your help to fill the tank. The primary is Tuesday, and tonight at midnight is our final end-of-month deadline.

Right now, it’s all about having the resources to fund our get-out-the-vote push. The next four days are the whole ball game. The polls show I’m the best Democrat to defeat Mike Rogers, but that doesn’t mean anything if we don’t reach critical voters.

Our organizers are heading into the busiest weekend of this entire campaign so far – phones, doors, texts, and a whole lot of reminding folks that Tuesday is the big day. It’s unglamorous work. But those good folks do it with clipboards and sore feet because they believe in sending somebody who was made in Michigan and ready to get stuff done to the U.S. Senate.

That grit and doggedness is how close primaries get won – not with likes on an Instagram account, just Michiganders talking to our neighbors.

If you’re able, will you chip in before midnight tonight to power that final push and help us hit our last end-of-month deadline before the primary? No pressure, and I’m not asking for a fortune; 20 or 30 bucks would help support our team’s work more than you know.

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That Cutlass is gone, but I’m still the girl who loves Michigan, still so proud to be a Michigander, and ready to keep fighting for the people I love.

Tough as nails, big hearts, full speed ahead.

With grit and gratitude,
Haley

A personal note from Haley 👋
I’m a lifelong Michigander and the daughter of small-business owners. I’ve spent my career fighting for Michigan’s working families – and now I’m running for the U.S. Senate to keep standing up for the people I love.
But here’s the truth: Senate control could come down to Michigan. And Trump and his megadonors know it. That’s why they’re gearing up to spend tens of millions to defeat me and hand this seat to a MAGA Republican.
I need your help to fight back. This race will be one of the most competitive – and expensive – in the country, and I’m counting on grassroots support to win.
If you’re with me, will you chip in today?

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