A year ago, I all but declared the Republican Party dead in Michigan. It wasn't exactly a full-blown obituary, but at that point, it felt like the GOP's hopes of making Michigan more competitive had slipped away.
In 2016, Trump shocked many by winning the state. Michigan had long been written off as a battleground state in name only. The last time it voted for a Republican presidential candidate was in 1992, and there was little reason to believe that Hillary wouldn't take the state. But Trump narrowly edged her out, offering a glimmer of hope that with the right messaging, a Republican can win in the state.
