DETROIT — Five minutes before 9 a.m. on Oct. 29 in Clark Park, 59-year-old George Storch Jr. of Detroit was waiting in line to do something he had never done before: Cast a ballot in an election.

Storch walked with a cane. He had recently had a medical procedure involving his spine and was still in pain, he said. But he was spurred into political action by his frustration with the country’s current leadership.

“I can’t complain,” Storch said of not voting in the past. “How can I complain?”

Storch said he wanted a change in Washington, D.C., where Republicans have been in control for two years, and to support candidates who weren’t influenced by campaign donors. While his story was unusual, Storch’s comments were echoed over and over again by Michigan residents who voted early last week.

A Detroit News reporter who traveled 200 miles across the state on Interstate 96 on Oct. 29 and stopped at 10 polling locations found many voters who said they cast their ballots for a change in direction and to send a message of opposition to Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.

While Democrats tend to cast ballots before Election Day at a higher rate than Republicans, Trump supporters who turned out for early voting said they were motivated to defend the president’s agenda and try to defeat Democrats pushing progressive policies.

The News interviewed 25 Michigan voters between 8 a.m. in Detroit and 7 p.m. in Muskegon on Oct. 29, finding 17 who said they were backing Democratic candidates in the election, six who were supporting Republicans and two who wouldn’t say. The collection of interviews doesn’t necesssarily present a representative sample of the electorate, but captured the mood of a variety of polling places a few days before the Nov. 3 election.

Their responses pointed to an energized electorate in the battleground state and how Michigan’s races have become dominated by national issues and countrywide disagreements over Trump’s policies, including his decision to launch military strikes against Iran and impose higher tariffs on goods from Canada.

Randy Storch, 66, of Ferndale, helped get his brother George Storch to the early voting site in southwest Detroit. Randy Storch said he already voted through an absentee ballot for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor.

“There’s a list,” Randy Storch replied when asked about why he was unhappy with the nation’s Republican leaders. “Where to start? Corruption, the war in Iran, all the cuts they made in the government to help the people with programs they need.”

El-Sayed acts like an adult and talks like an adult, Randy Storch said.

“I was going Democrat anyways, but I’m kinda glad I didn’t have to vote for Haley,” he added, referring to El-Sayed’s primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham.

While Republican voters weren’t as easy to find at Michigan voting locations along I-96, there were still GOP ballots being cast, including some for El-Sayed’s opponent, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake Township.

Lisa Marker, 69, voted at the Novi Civic Center, describing her ballot as “pure Republican.”

“We’re against universal health care and all of that kind of stuff,” Marker said. “We’re against people against cops. We’re against letting people out of prison.”

Lisa Marker and her husband, John Marker, 73, voiced frustration with the direction of the Democratic Party.

“We feel like the Democrat Party that we grew up with is just gone,” Lisa Marker said.

But Beverly Tolliver, 72, of Detroit, contended the main problem is the “mess” created by Trump in Washington, D.C.

“Anything that is opposite that is what I am for,” Tolliver said. “I want someone who cares about people. I want someone who has a heart.

“I don’t believe this administration has a heart for people.”

The following is a retelling of discussions with Michigan voters across the state at a pivotal moment in time, five days before the midterm election, with the eyes of the country watching their decisions.

Detroit’s Clark Park, 9 a.m.

About 10 people, including Randy and George Storch were in line at the early voting site inside Clark Park on the southwest side of Detroit as it opened at 9 a.m. on Oct. 29. Detroit is a longtime Democratic stronghold.

Others, including 26-year-old Jacqueline Ochoa, showed up a few minutes later. It was the first time Ochoa had ever voted in an election.

“Hopefully, I made a change,” she said after casting her ballot.

Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts have been affecting Ochoa’s community and family, she said. Gas prices and the cost of groceries were also on her mind, she said.

Ochoa said she was excited to cast a ballot for El-Sayed for Michigan’s Senate seat, which is open this year after U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, declined to seek reelection.

“He’s very vocal,” Ochoa said. “He gets to the point about a lot of things.”

Vincent Soto, 34, of Detroit, walked out of the voting site a few moments later. Soto said he’s noticed more young people getting involved in politics this year.

“Don’t let nobody ever tell you your vote doesn’t matter,” Soto said. “Because if you don’t vote, that’s a vote for the bad guys.”

Soto said he wants to get money out of politics and support leaders who look out for the people, instead of billionaires.

Soto said he voted for El-Sayed and Democrat Donavan McKinney for a U.S. House seat.

“We’ve got to get politicians in there that are actually going to represent their communities, not just themselves and not the corporations,” Soto said.

Detroit’s Northwest Activities Center, 10 a.m.

The pace of voting was slower at the polling location inside the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit, Michigan’s largest city.

Rachel Harding, 64, of Detroit, walked up to cast her ballot at about 10:10 a.m. She was voting because she’s “tired of Donald Trump,” she said.

Harding said she was voting for all Democrats and voiced frustration with Trump “spending of billions of dollars to go over and disturb another country,” referring to the conflict in Iran.

“It’s jacking up everything,” Harding said. “He’s acting like he doesn’t see it. You’ve gotta see it.”

A few feet away, Michael Wimbush, 68, of Detroit, was campaigning for a school board candidate. He voted early on Oct. 26, he said.

Wimbush said he was excited to vote for El-Sayed for Senate and Democrat Jocelyn Benson, the current secretary of state, for governor.

“If Republicans win the House and the Senate, we’re in trouble,” Wimbush said.

Asked what he meant, he replied, “Well, you might be able to see a live execution on TV. And that’s crazy.”

The Trump administration recently called off plans to livestream the firing squad execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.

Livonia City Hall, 10:45 a.m.

Mark Talarek, 62, of Livonia, voted for Republicans at the early voting site in his western Wayne County suburb, which was once reliably Republican territory but has become more Democratic during the Trump years.

Talarek said he likes just about everything that Trump is doing in the White House and wanted to send a message that he was against El-Sayed and other extreme candidates being nominated by Democrats.

He defended Trump’s record, saying people’s wages and retirement savings were on the rise. In the long run, things would be better for the country because of the president, he said.

“If it’s costing a little more in fuel, so be it,” Talarek said.

“You’ve got a couple wars going on, and those things need to be settled,” he added. “You can’t have people with nuclear weapons that say they hate us.”

Novi Civic Center, 11:55 a.m.

About 25 people were lined up down a hallway inside the Novi Civic Center as early voting opened at noon on Oct. 29.

The Oakland County city of about 68,000 was seeing bipartisan interest in Michigan’s midterm election. Novi was once reliably Republican but has elected a Democrat to the state House in recent years.

“It’s a nice day out,” voter Lisa Marker said of the turnout. “We have good weather.”

Lisa and her husband, John, voted for Republicans, they said.

“We need to keep capitalism,” John Marker said. “This crazy socialist movement is nuts.”

A handful of Michigan candidates with ties to the Democratic Socialists of America, including Donovan McKinney of Detroit in the 13th Congressional District and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, are poised to win races this fall.

Another married couple voted shortly before the Markers, said they supported Republicans but declined to give their names to a reporter.

“We have neighbors we still want to get along with,” the husband said.

People need to wise up before the U.S. turns into France, his wife cautioned. Young people should become better informed on socialism, she added. Rogers is strong on defending the country, and Trump’s policies are generally working, she said.

Voter Keith Walker, 20, had conflicting feelings about the Senate race.

“It’s a lot,” Walker said.

Walker wouldn’t say which candidate he supported. Walker said he was still unsure which candidate was better even after voting.

“Am I filling the black box for me and the community or is it just for me?” Walker asked. “Or does it actually not even benefit me in the end?”

Tatyana Dias, 46, said she was excited to vote for Democratic candidates, including El-Sayed.

She works in health care and supported El-Sayed’s push for more access to care for more people, she said.

“Vote against MAGA,” Dias said, referring to Trump’s “Make America great again” slogan.

Howell City Hall, 1:15 p.m.

In Howell, the county seat of Livingston County and a Republican area, Lucas Breidinger, 20, said he voted for the first time on Oct. 29. Breidinger said he supported El-Sayed.

“He’s a good guy,” Lucas Breidinger said.

His mom, Kathy Breidinger, 59, said she was frustrated by the prices of gas and groceries and wanted a change in national leadership.

“People running the country are allowed to be a——- and get away with it,” she said.

An older couple also walked into the Howell early voting location, saying they would be voting for Democrats. They wouldn’t give a reporter their full names and noted that Livingston County leans heavily Republican.

Before entering the building, the woman, who identified herself as Donna, leaned over to a reporter and said the president is not a good person.

Handy Township Voting Center, 1:55 p.m.

On the western side of Livingston County, only three people entered the polling location for Handy Township over a period of 30 minutes on Oct. 29.

Handy Township, which surrounds the village of Fowlerville, has only 9,000 residents.

One of the voters who showed up, an older man, refused to give his full name or say which party’s candidates he was supporting. Everyone has affordability concerns, the man who identified himself only as John said.

The man said he hates that the country got into another war, but it had to be done.

Michigan State University, East Lansing, 2:45 p.m.

Joseph Jackson, 21, cast his ballot at the early voting election on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, a reliably Democratic area.

Jackson said he was excited to vote for El-Sayed.

“I feel like he’s actually trying to appeal to not only the Democrats but the moderates and just the common man,” Jackson said of El-Sayed.

Jackson encouraged people to take the time to get the know the candidates.

“I feel like the people in power are happy when we vote for them,” he said. “But I feel like they’re equally as happy when we stay home and don’t vote for their opposition.”

Ionia early voting site, 4 p.m.

People were trickling in and out of the early voting site in downtown Ionia in Ionia County about 30 minutes before it closed on Oct. 29. The region is a Republican stronghold.

Dave Brunsell, 84, of Lake Odessa, said he was concerned about gas prices and voted for Rogers for Michigan’s open Senate seat.

“Well, I’m Republican, and I wanted to make sure that Republicans make it,” Brunsell said after casting his ballot.

Jarod Oswald, 48, of Belding, was working on a construction project across the street. Oswald said he was hoping to get done and cast his ballot before the site closed.

Oswald said he was tired of not everyone having the same basic human rights and would be supporting El-Sayed in the Senate race.

“He talks to people,” Oswald said of El-Sayed. “He lets people be dissenting toward him.”

Grand Rapids early voting site, 5 p.m.

The early voting site on Fuller Avenue NE in Grand Rapids, a Democratic area, was the busiest of the 10 that a Detroit News reporter visited on Oct. 29.

The flow of voters in and out of the Grand Rapids Public School building was heavy.

Among them was Corey D. Bordo, 40, of Grand Rapids, who said in the past, he’s split his ticket, voting for candidates on both sides of the aisle. However, he said Republicans had become “simps for Trump.”

Bordo said he had previously supported Republican gubernatorial candidate John James, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2018 and 2020.

“But you know what? He sucks,” Bordo said. “I’ve met him in person, too. I’ve seen him in debates. The dude has got no charisma.”

“These guys would get more credibility by being authentic and just being like, ‘What Trump is doing is wrong,'” Bordo said of the GOP candidates on the ballot.

José Rodriguez, 33, president of Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education, also showed up to cast his ballot on Oct. 29.

“Folks are really looking for more from their elected officials,” Rodriguez said of the turnout.

Rodriguez said he expected El-Sayed to do well in west Michigan, where the Democrat has built broad coalitions.

“I welcome differing opinions as long as we’re all trying to do what’s best for our children and for our communities,” Rodriguez said when asked about Republican efforts in Grand Rapids, the state’s second largest city.

Muskegon City Hall, 6:15 p.m.

As the sun began to set in Muskegon, a Democratic stronghold near the shores of Lake Michigan, 42-year-old Summer Tice exited the city’s early voting site.

“I’m Democratic straight through and through,” Tice said.

A few minutes later, Guadalupe Solis cast her ballot. The 26-year-old Muskegon woman said she supported El-Sayed over Rogers in the Senate race.

“He comes off as the most passionate,” Solis said.

She encouraged others to show up on Election Day.

“People should do their due diligence and vote,” Solis said.

cmauger@detroitnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Drive across Michigan finds angry voters who want to send a message

Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News

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