Director Dave Dulio of the Oakland University Center for Civic Engagement and reporter Russ McNamara of Detroit's public radio and NPR station describe the issues Democrats and Republicans are honing in on this spring (2:02).

The MIRS team was also joined by Republican commissioners Rhonda Lange and Erin Wagner of the state's citizens redistricting commission. The panel recently changed 15 state House districts in response to federal judges, ruling that several Detroit area districts they first adopted were racially gerrymandered.  But Lange and Wagner have some concerns about how the do-over went down (30:28).

State Representative Andrew Fink, an Osseo Republican, explains why he believes talks on immigration status are inescapable when it comes to a man arraigned last week on felony murder charges in Grand Rapids. The man was a Mexican citizen, was reportedly in the country illegally and admitted to shooting his girlfriend multiple times in the head (55:09).