People Over Politics

Two Michigan State Senate Hopefuls On Affordability And Trust

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The map changed, the seat opened up, and now the real test begins: can a candidate represent a quarter-million people across cities that don’t always see themselves on the same team? We sit down with Michigan State Senate candidates Ren (District 9) and Amanda Treppa (new District 10) to talk about redistricting, campaigning in “lawn sign season,” and what genuine representation looks like when your district stretches across Oakland County and Macomb County. 

https://www.treppaformichigan.com/

The conversation stays grounded in what they’re hearing face to face while door knocking: people want to feel safe about their money, their bills, their kids, and their neighborhoods. Affordability shows up everywhere, including places you’d expect to be insulated. Amanda shares how lived experience shaped her focus on workplace psychological safety and why leaders can’t stay stuck in a Lansing bubble if they want to fix the gaps people live with every day. 

Then we get into governing: what happens in the first 100 days when the Michigan state budget is already on the clock, why roads and infrastructure are not partisan problems, and how transparency and FOIA shape public trust. Ren makes the case for fixing revenue sharing so municipalities can fund real needs without constantly squeezing residents, and both talk about finding common ground where it actually exists. 

If you care about Michigan State Senate races, Oakland County politics, Macomb County issues, government transparency, and cost-of-living pressure, this one is for you. Subscribe, share this with a neighbor, and leave a review to help more voters find it. What’s the first question you’d ask someone asking for your vote?

https://www.treppaformichigan.com/

https://www.ren4misenate.com/

https://www.facebook.com/RenNushajForStateSenate/

Jamie Flanagan

All right, welcome back, people over politics. And we are it's it's uh it's it's it's turning the season. It's not just construction, it's uh it's lawn sign season. That's right. Uh Randy Shine. Uh welcome back to the show. And we got to guess Amanda is here. Amanda, thank you for for being here. Amanda Treppa, you are running State Senate New District number 10, and we're gonna find out what's new about that. Ren, remind me, what what are you which which seat are you running for again?

Ren Nushaj

That's Senate District 9. So our district seats are right next to each other. So District 9 is Troy, Rochester, Rochester Hills, and then Sterling Heights from De Quinter to Van Dyke, Utica, and a few neighborhoods in Shelby.

Amanda Treppa

All right.

Ren Nushaj

And then Amanda.

Amanda Treppa

Yeah, District 10, right next door. It's 14 in Van Dyke, all the way down through Oak Park.

Jamie Flanagan

So how is it new, District 10? Because you when you said that, is it is that a thing?

Amanda Treppa

Is it Yes, that is a thing. Or is it just new to you because you run a brother?

Jamie Flanagan

It's gonna be new to me when I'm winning.

Amanda Treppa

It could be a little bit of both. Uh no, because of the redistricting lawsuits uh that took place a few years back. This is part of that redistricting. So it took three current state senators and put their districts all in one. Two are term limited, and then one of them is currently running for the U.S. Senate. Okay. Um, and then I'd be taking her place in. So new boundaries, it's Oakland and Macomb County, which it previously was not.

Jamie Flanagan

So okay, that's kind of straddling the two worlds there.

Amanda Treppa

Yeah.

Jamie Flanagan

So we'll get to that in a minute. That's that poses some interesting challenges for representation, I would imagine. But Ren, let's go back to you. And uh, we've talked a couple of times, but let's get back to the basic of it. Why are you running?

Ren Nushaj

You know, the ultimate question that we always answer. I I think, and the more time that passes throughout the you know, the campaign as a whole, the more you know, everything that I do informs that earlier decision making. I think though, Jamie, overall it occurs to me and being involved in the last 20 or so years as I have in in our local politics and and in this community, that we've seen so many changes, you know, in our community over time. And and and I think we can all attest to this that these changes they haven't always been beneficial to us. And so uh after some time, one starts asking, who have they been benefiting? And it's not working families, it's not our families, it's not everybody in this community. And I think in in looking at all of that, it occurs to me, and I think it occurs to all of us who run for these offices, that we need fighters to be able to bring back the value of politics and the value of our legislature and the system as a whole to give back to our community. And I think that's the reason that I'm running. I'm running to give back to my community, I'm running to make sure that the changes going forward and everything that we do goes to the benefit of our families.

Jamie Flanagan

I love it. So, Amanda, it's the same to you, right? So, what is it that made you want to run? Why are you running?

Amanda Treppa

I I totally agree with a giving back to our communities. That's definitely up there. But for me, when I made the decision, it was based on the fact of like my own personal like lived experiences that I had been through. Like I had started my life in foster care on and off the street. I encountered workplace abuse during a miscarriage and really tough pregnancy, two systems that were very much remnants of how we were founded. And seeing that and actually having lived it, survived it, overcome it, you know where the gaps are. You know actually how to address them, how to fix them properly in the way that you are in your community. And we also need leaders who are actually in their communities, who are not doing a hierarchical, I'm up here, you're down here, and that disconnect and bridging that disconnect. And I've done advocacy for the last few years in Lansing, and that has always been like the Lansing bubble versus everyone else. And we need new leaders and real representation, genuine representation of our communities that's able to bridge that and actually give back to everyone.

Jamie Flanagan

So this isn't your first time dipping the toe into politics. You have some experience in with city stuff. And in what city was that again? Royal Oak? Yes.

Amanda Treppa

I live in Royal Oak, yes. Okay. I'm on the local officers compensation commission. And then I'm the state bill director in Michigan and also still serve in some capacity on the Northeast in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island on the Workplace Psychological Safety Act. So specializing in anti-bullying, anti-harassment in the workplace, legislative-wise.

Jamie Flanagan

All right. So what qualifies you? What kind of uh uh uh what qualifies you to take on this role?

Amanda Treppa

What qualifies me the most obviously is having the professional experience and background, knowing how government works, knowing how to actually get policy across finish lines, but also the lived experience, which is really rare that we get to find across the board. So you haven't lived through it.

Jamie Flanagan

How are you gonna yeah? So some people are so disconnected. Yes. So and you've you've overcome those challenges, maybe you can help other people.

Amanda Treppa

That's the idea.

Jamie Flanagan

The same thing.

Amanda Treppa

That's the idea. That's the goal, and that's what we all want to actually do at the end of the day if you're putting people above politics.

Jamie Flanagan

Yes. Oh, absolutely. So hitting the community, how are you? How are you connecting right now through your campaign? How are you how are you getting out in the community and how are you connecting with people?

Amanda Treppa

Yeah, well, I've been running for over 400 plus days at this point. Wow. Um, started April of 2025. Yeah.

Jamie Flanagan

And we're getting into lawn sign season. We were out walking a dog. And Colleen was like, Is that that guy that you're doing the podcast with?

Amanda Treppa

And I'm like, Yeah, he's threatened. Yeah. That's the best part when you get text messages of pictures and someone's like, Oh, I saw your lawn sign, you love it. Yeah. But you were speaking on the district earlier and being Oakland and Macomb. Yeah. I'm born and raised in McComb County. Okay. And then now my home is in Oakland. So I love both counties very, very much. We can often be Hatfields and McCoys, but they are my but they are my homes. And I love being able to bring that perspective to be able to bring us together to do better work. And throughout this campaign, we have been at everything you could possibly think of, but also reconnecting with some people like all the way back to my high school, junior high teachers who've gotten involved in this campaign and their kids. And we do a lot of community conversations where it's not just us, we bring in outside organizations to go beyond the campaign.

Jamie Flanagan

So when you're talking to people in the street, what Ren, you're gonna answer this next, but what's the top concern you have coming from people that you're talking to when you're having coffee and knocking on doors?

Amanda Treppa

Yeah, I would say the overarching theme, if I could put it under an umbrella, has been safety, as in, I want to feel safe about my money that I'm gonna be able to pay for my bills. I want to feel safe within my community and make sure we're all protected, or my kids in their schools. And everyone's trying to find their groundedness in this right now, in these uncertain times, because we can't afford a lot of things right now, and the bills are just going up and everybody's coming for us, whether it's utility companies, and people are really trying to find their safety in that.

Jamie Flanagan

Yeah. Right. Yeah. So what do you what are you hearing from people as concerns?

Ren Nushaj

Same. I mean, it's true, it's very true. I think the affordability portion of it is huge everywhere you go. And I think, and Jamie, you know, because you and I both live in this community as well, and and and you know that we live, we're fortunate where we uh to live where we live. We live in affluent areas that you would think are doing well. But if you're having those conversations, even in a city like Troy and like Rochester Hills and well-to-do neighborhoods, and they're still talking affordability, that you know we've reached a point where that perhaps we haven't been in a long time. And and for no reason, obviously. So I think those conversations have been top of mind for everybody that when you knock on the door. And one of the one of the ways when I first approach a door, one of the things that I first say is like, I swear I'm not here to sell you new windows. Not interested. Right, right. And and so usually you get that reaction, everybody chuckles, and it's like, what are you here for? And then I tell them, I'm like, Well, I'm one of your neighbors, I'm running for office, and and it it just happens every time it feels like nobody even waits for you to tell them what you may want to say. They're they they jump right in, like, what the hell is happening? Yeah, you know, and I think that that that is a perfect illustration for what we're undergoing as a community, as a larger whole. And I think those are precisely the kind of things that we need to address.

Jamie Flanagan

So, how big are your districts? How many people are in the districts that you're going to be representing?

Amanda Treppa

It's like, well, Senate districts, state Senate districts are generally 270,000 people, and there are 12 municipalities uh in district 10.

Ren Nushaj

All right, and then district nine is the same thing, it's about 260,000 people, and that, like I said, we have you know three communities, you know, Troy Rochester, Rochester Hills, and in Oakland County, and then same in uh Macomb, we have Sterling Heights, Utica, and Shelby.

Jamie Flanagan

Yeah, and those those areas right there, there's a lot of growth, absolutely is what I'm seeing. It's like why it it seems like it's it's getting it's it's dense, yes, and it seems like it's getting denser. I I live slightly adjacent to it, and it but it's a nice place to live. And and you're right, is it is Royal part of your district, right? Yeah, yeah. So I mean you live in the district, and it's it's I like it. I like I like the area. I can see why why people want to be there. It's but it's a big chunk, right? It's it's uh it's a it's a big chunk of of of the population. How are you gonna be able to connect with everybody in your district? And then, you know, making it work and and work with with other politicians that may have other goals and objectives. It's a lot to manage. How are you gonna make that how are you gonna make that work, you know, across the aisles and then with all your constituents who may not see things always the way you do?

Amanda Treppa

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're doing a lot of it right now with knocking doors, because that's what it comes down to is coming and meeting people where they're actually at. I hate when people say that and don't actually go knock on a door, but we go and actually speak with everyone everywhere we can. And we are people who actually work. I don't know, like we have like real jobs. It isn't just legislative all day, all this elected official. We are actually in it so we know where to find people and where to meet them at. But as far as working across the aisle and working with other others, you have to. That's what it takes to be effective. And you have to be able to look at someone and say, Listen, I know you're not gonna agree with me on X, Y, and Z, but over here, where can I find a yes? Where can we find that common ground? Because there are things that are just not bipartisan. Everyone wants infrastructure, nobody wants to be planning on the flooding of the roads and how it's gonna wreck their car, right? Those are things and how you actually meet people that way. And it's really nice to be able to be next to another democratic person if you can, right? You know, Senate district-wise.

Jamie Flanagan

When you guys win, that's right. Positive thinking.

Amanda Treppa

Yeah.

Jamie Flanagan

So, yeah, is there a plan? Since you're gonna be next to each other, is there a plan for working together?

Ren Nushaj

Well, absolutely. And I think it's it's you know natural because obviously we share so much as far as belief systems, but and our our ideology. But at the end of the day, um, Amanda's exactly right that so much of what we do both in the legislature, but you know, overall in the system, is not political by design or or naturally. When it becomes political, I should say that is by design because potholes are not ideologically driven, and so much of what we do in in our cities, and you know, as far as our daily life is concerned, has nothing to do with who's in charge, Democrats or Republicans. You know, water has to flow a certain way and everything else along with it. So working together with uh when we're elected with Amanda is the most natural thing. We I I feel like we see each other what, like daily, just about now. We're constantly in the same places, same events. And I feel like our separation is uh only takes place when we're out there knocking doors because we're knocking in different communities. But our some of the uh the places that we go attend, like things like the Warren Sterling Heights Democratic Club, home defenders rising, and organizations like that are organizations that span uh uh uh, for example, all throughout Macomb County, and because we're there, we're constantly seeing each other, and then the same thing with respect to the Oakland County Democratic Party and the like in Oakland County.

Jamie Flanagan

Yeah, so all right, so failing to plan is is a is a fail plan to fail, right? To use uh a little cliche there, but campaigning is so hard and so much work. But all right, you get elected when you guys get in, what's the plan, right? Because they talk about oh, the first hundred days in the presidency, the first hundred days of the mayor. Right. So, you guys, your first hundred days, what do you have for a plan in those first hundred days? What uh what's that what's that gonna look like for you?

Amanda Treppa

I mean, when we walk in the door, it's already gonna be time to do the budget and start working on the budget. Well, there you go, right? That's gonna be right out of the gate. That's what happens at the beginning of that process in January in the legislature. So we there are gonna be some things that we will not know until we get there because we have to see how much is on fire.

Speaker 1

Right. Right, right.

Amanda Treppa

However, there are things that we'll be able to tackle right away, individual needs for our districts and our communities that they're already putting up there. If there's certain projects, programs, community CBI funding, things like that that we already know we need to move on sooner than later. And we're already connected in this process, not only to our community and to each other, but also to Lancing already as it stands, right? We have support and we're able to see what they're going to be leaving behind and being able to ask the right questions in real time. So that way it is a handing of the baton and not so much a good luck.

Ren Nushaj

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, budget's gonna be critical. I couldn't agree more. And I think those are those those are that's one element, even though it's huge, because we're talking 81 billion dollars last time around, right? And it it's it's a massive undertaking and it's gonna be undergoing, and of course it's gonna take a lot of our time. But I think we also have to be deliberate as well. And you know, you and I have talked about it this this before. You know, we are you know at the absolute bottom when it comes to transparency in this great state compared to every other state in the country. And because we're only one of two states who does not make their legislature and the governor subject to FOIA, you know, small, you know, yeah, uh when you think about it conceptually, given some of the nature of the problems that we have and we experience in this great state, you feel feel like with transparency, I mean, what is that? But transparent government is at the root of all other things, right? If we do that right, everything else, simply on account of the fact that you're gonna air it out, is going to have uh proper decision making attached to it. And we're gonna see so much benefit if we address and if we're deliberate about something like that. And I think one of the and I've been like a broken record on this for so long, but I feel like we need to fix revenue sharing once and for all, and it is absolutely you know, that's the ability as we've talked about before, uh Jamie. That's when you know we take money from people just on account of the fact that we've parked our homes in the cities that we do, right? And then that money gets dissipated in Lansing, and some of it biased by by the constitution of this great state and the statutory authorities needs to come back to the municipalities, and it hasn't been coming back in the way that it's supposed to for decades. And I feel like if we fix that retroactively, we're just gonna fix so much, right? Right? We're gonna be able to give that freedom to municipalities to be able to finally spend money on the things that they need to without having to raise taxes every other day.

Amanda Treppa

Yeah, correct. We're not current, we are not current, and like that is a $10 billion balance. Yes, right, it's it's unbelievable. And that's important for us to remember is we have to stay current, and that's why everyone's feeling the pain where they are.

Jamie Flanagan

So, Amanda, in in New District 10, is there is there a project or is there something that's unique to your district that you're like, I really want to sink my teeth in into this in in my district in this area? I I'm kind of going off script. I'm sorry.

Amanda Treppa

You are. Um, I'm I'm here for it. I love it. I really do. Oh, trying to think. There are so many. The best part about this district, and it was a big part of me deciding to run for it, is it's so diverse, and there's just so many different communities all together. And every every city has its own thing, and I absolutely love it. So, you know, there's great projects. There's like one in Ferndale happening right now. They're trying to restore one of the community centers and try to really bring that back. So a lot of the seniors, so yes, let the seniors have a place to be able to go and do more community activities at, like there's something like that. But in general, I'm just really excited to really sink my teeth into making sure that this district really feels all lifted up together because it is all so different. Yeah, and there are parts that have felt forgotten at times, and we know we don't want anyone to ever feel forgotten or left behind.

Jamie Flanagan

Was district 10 split between two counties previously, or is that new with the new 10?

Amanda Treppa

Okay, it was it was Oakland and Wayne. Okay, oh, yes, it had it went a little bit into moving a little bit, yeah. It went in, it went into Detroit.

Jamie Flanagan

Okay, fair play.

Amanda Treppa

Yeah, and so and then it shifted over now to Oakland and Macomb.

Jamie Flanagan

All right, so Oakland went from Wayne to Macomb and still the the Oakland party going on, right?

Speaker 1

Yes, yes, yes.

Jamie Flanagan

All right, just curious. All right, what was what else I don't want to talk to you guys about? So, oh yeah, new district 10, right? And uh who do who are you facing? Who you teeing off against here?

Amanda Treppa

Yeah, so it's an open seat. There's there's I say technically, I I've if this third person is listening, sorry, I have not met you yet, but there are three people running in this primary. There's one person who has has run before. I have not met them. And then the other opponent is a current state representative, representative price out of Berkeley. Okay, yes, and we've we know we're in a rare circumstance where going up against a formidable opponent and in a sitting election.

Jamie Flanagan

So is this a primary? Is this for the heading into the primary? So you have three seats, you have three people for this primary.

Amanda Treppa

Yes.

Jamie Flanagan

Okay. All right. So we're doing really well.

Amanda Treppa

Okay. It's been it has been a great long journey, and we're continuing to push ahead. And you know, I I see a really great outcome coming on August 4th.

Jamie Flanagan

So what what's what makes you stand out from from the others?

Amanda Treppa

What makes you stand out most is like I said, being actually born and raised here in front of the district. Like that that starts right there. Yeah, but it does, and it matters. We want, you know, I think that's also like true to Michiganders as a whole. Like, we really want to see someone who we know is part of our lives and understands it and actually knows the mile roads and knows replaces our and here, you know.

Jamie Flanagan

Can pronounce Shane here, right? Literally.

Amanda Treppa

Well, then it's like even schools, right? Like I recently was talking to folks over at MEA, and like I've actually been through the public schools here, and that matters. I'm like, I'm I'm a product of our public school system, and I'm really proud of that. And that is amazing to get a chance to give back to people who have supported me my entire life and make me who I am today. So that's definitely the really definitive standout by far. And it's like I said, having professional experience that if you run my resume in AI, y'all, I know we have things on AI that we can talk about, but if you run it through, I'm like a I'm actually a 98% match for state senate. There's only two things I haven't done that they currently do. Oh, so right up there, professional and actually being here and from the community.

Jamie Flanagan

I'm gonna give you another bell for the so Ren, you were last time the first time we talked, you were you you were it was unopposed, and it's it's it's grown since then. You you've had a couple people join the fray. What uh what does your primary look like?

Ren Nushaj

Same thing. We have there's three of us. There's two other people that have joined the fray, and and but similarly situated, we've we're feeling very good about our race, and obviously there's tangibles and intangibles, and the intangibles we'll never know, but the tangibles we know, we can see we can measure those, and based on our measurement, things are looking very good in every department. But it is it is a race, and at the end of the day, I I I I welcome it, and I think we all do, and because primaries at the end of the day, hone our skills make us better candidates, and I think it's desirable overall for the community. At the end of the day, you want candidates who go through you know the you know the uh the the in the entire campaign season having to articulate their thoughts, having to articulate their positions, so we don't show up in November and we're unknown quantities, right? And I think that primary this primary is certainly making sure that that happens. And you know what? Your earlier questions to Amanda, I'll tell you, yeah, with respect to one uh you know, with respect to one thing that you would do in district. Mine was sort of unique as I I started to think about that. Well, what would I do here specifically? My wife and I, it doesn't look like it when you look at me, but we usually every other weekend we go for a run. We we pick a 5k somewhere in in the district and go for a run. So 6'5, 260 pounds, you'd think like runs, not a thing, but but we do, and one of the last ones that we did was in Utica because the Hansen store in Utica does organizes them every Wednesday, you know, you know, throughout the all throughout the summer. And you run inside the city, right? You know, Utica is a small little town, and it's a beautiful little town. And when you run those roads, you get a different appreciation than when you drive those roads. And as I was running, my wife was completely happy, she's in her element, she is just you know, just joyous. And I was completely miserable. Like, these roads are terrible, like the injustice that we're doing to our community. It's real. I'm talking about inside the neighborhoods, right?

Amanda Treppa

It's so real, the inside the neighborhood roads, yes, abysmal.

Ren Nushaj

And so, like, you know, and of course, we like as soon as we were done, and I started posting right away, like you think I'm giving you roads, that's you know, that's the first thing I'm gonna do. But it is one of the first things we need to be able to get back, and so like you know, I think your your comment, you know, Amendest comments uh were perfectly appropriate. If you're a part of this community, if you spend time here, if you grew up here, if you've lived your formative years here, and you're involved in everything that you do, I think those are the things that you notice, right? Those are the things, and that's what makes you want to give back to the community, those are the things that stand out.

Jamie Flanagan

So while you're campaigning, and most politicians, while they're campaigning, make a lot of promises. Yes, you're making promises, your your your primary folks are making promises, and then the the other opponent's gonna make some promises. What what unique promises are you making, and and and how are you gonna keep them as opposed to what other people may be doing?

Amanda Treppa

The biggest promise that I'm able to make. Make and deliver on is understanding that when you're given an opportunity, that you go all the way with it. I realized that I might not, I may only have one opportunity to run. And I said, we're gonna do it our way, we're gonna do it. No holds back. Like give it everything you've got, and how you run your race is how you're gonna usually run your office. And where that is different from my opponent is having already been in the trifecta. You know, they did good things, but everyone has said they could have gone further. And then they lost the trifecta. And so the biggest thing that I've heard coming from my opponent is when we get back the trifecta, when we get back, and I'm like, listen, let's put someone there who knows what to do. When we are given that responsibility, when we have that opportunity, you take it and give it everything you've got. Because you can't be so worried about keeping your job that you forget to do your job. And that is the promise that I can definitely stand on 10 toes down every day.

Jamie Flanagan

I like it. What about you? Rose for Utica? Is that the promise? Rose for Utica.

Speaker 1

Let me get some old cartoon.

Ren Nushaj

And I think it's funny because it's roads everywhere. It's not that they're different, but yeah, having, you know, like running on those roads, you gave me a very different perspective than even driving. But yeah, I think you're right. We do a lot, we do make a lot of promises over the course of time. All politicians do, and it goes without saying that that's that's not new and it's going to continue no matter what, with us in a race, without us in a race. But I was having a conversation to answer your question, Jamie. I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine who was a former state rep. And at one point or another, she pointed out to me, she says, you know, like I was, you know, she she wanted to she wanted our community to give her credit with respect to something that she had done for our community. And and she says, Don't you remember how long I worked for that? And I said, Yes, I do. And she said, Don't you recall how, you know, and you know, she says, how difficult it is to get bills out of the legislative writing office in the state. And it took me sort of back for a second, but it didn't consider, but what it is is the office that actually drafts the legislation. And they draft legislation because, of course, in the legislature, which as you know stands for you know the place where we pass laws, right, from Latin. We don't have, among others, too many. Well, we don't have too many professionals periods, but we don't have many attorneys. We only have one attorney on the other side. And it had never occurred to me that I would have to submit something that I would want to be written and passed as law to some other people. Because as an attorney, as a particularly as a municipal attorney, I draft all my own ordinances, I prepare them, finalize them, give them to counsel to vote up or down, and that's the law, right? Having always done it myself, right? It never occurred to me that I would have to do something different, and I wouldn't. So we would never have to wait. So if there's a promise, it's an overarching promise, right? We have all these items, things that you know, revenue sharing, uh budgets, of course, everybody does budgets, uh transparency, transparency and ethics and all the things that we need, then we must have. But overall is the ability to actually get it done without having to wait on others, right? Without having to wait on, you know, to learn the skill set because this is what I do, this is what I've always done. This is my career, this is my profession, this is you know, and this is how it should be, I think.

Jamie Flanagan

At the end of the day, I it's I always say it's uh as a voter uh in politics, it's like I I I hired you to do a job, get it done. That's right. I mean, I don't want to know about it, just just get you know or forget. Yeah, and just in and I want to see things get done. I put I put you there, I don't want to see the fighting, I just want to see and if all goes well at the end of the day, right?

Ren Nushaj

You should never hear, you should never know who is in the seats. There's no reason why we should. We only know when things are not well, and we only pay attention when things are not well.

Amanda Treppa

It's not about a gold star, it's not about the parades, it's about the work. Just get the work done.

Jamie Flanagan

That's right. It on the campaign trail, is there anything that has surprised you as you've been going through your campaign?

Amanda Treppa

How much time do we have? Uh there's been so many things that have surprised me, but I think the best surprise is how engaged everyone is right now, more than ever.

Speaker 1

Okay.

Amanda Treppa

Because that gives extra hope that you need some days, you know, on the really hard days that people really care and they're paying a lot more attention. They're paying attention to social media, they're reading, they're reading multiple sources. They really, when I'm coming to a door, they sometimes they are ready with a list of questions and they are well thought out. They are researched and they're like, let's get into it. And I'm like, okay, let's do this. But I think that's great. And that's what we need more of. And that tells me that we are shifting in a way that I think is it's progress. We need progress. Progress is essential to us to keep going. Yeah.

Jamie Flanagan

Any any surprises?

Ren Nushaj

Yeah, but I think I'll echo that 1000%. I think that is you see that the doors quite a bit. I'll give you the to stand out. I'll give you the individual example that I have, which is just happened literally like a couple of days ago. One of our, you know, one of the volunteers uh that we have for the campaign, Terry was amazing. She's one of my neighbors. Terry had been knocking on some doors in our neighborhood, and and and she says, like, and this was you know, this caught me off guard. She said, You have great name recognition. I said, Really? Yeah, like, yeah. I mean, I've been around here for a long time, but I'm like, I don't, I didn't have it's like, oh yeah. I said, Well, well, what was your experience? And she was like, Well, everywhere we go, we sort of like people like, oh yeah, we know he's running. You're like, we've seen his name, or like we recognize him. Like, I'm like, Well, that's good. He's like, Yeah, and then there was this guy. I said, What guy? He's like, Well, he's like, Yeah, I know he's running. And I said, How do you know? And he's like, Well, that's my lawyer. So I was like, Well, I said, What'd you do? He's like, Well, I took the lid back and like I wouldn't leave him, you know, like why would we waste the letters around the other? I was like, Maybe I didn't do a great job, you know.

Amanda Treppa

Um they say that you're still their lawyer, that's a good thing. I know my lawyers, I know my lawyers, I love them very much.

Jamie Flanagan

All right, Ren, you're on the spot first. Five words, describe yourself for your voters.

Ren Nushaj

I'd say, I think I would say husband, father, attorney, and lover of this great community. That's great, like a few of them in there.

Amanda Treppa

That was that was that was more than the 607.

Jamie Flanagan

Amanda, how about you? Five words or less to describe yourself to voters.

Amanda Treppa

I can tell it's gonna be fun and caucus to go over the time. Five words lived experience, right experience. I only have one word left.

Ren Nushaj

Because after you know, after you threw down on my stuff, no, I'm just like it's lived experience, the right experience for all of us.

Jamie Flanagan

There you go.

Amanda Treppa

If you're gonna go over, I'll go over it.

Jamie Flanagan

Fair plan, fair plan. So good luck as we're as we're moving forward, because uh you guys are fighting for the championship here, basically. Uh so here in Detroit, right? We got some teams, we got a a team on the cusp of success. The tigers, right? How what what advice would you give uh the tigers to to maybe make it to to the big game?

Amanda Treppa

I'm gonna say this having played softball through my many years uh growing up in Sterling Heights, by the way. Oh, yeah, we won multiple championships, but I would say finish the play, just the classic, finish the play, so simple, no unforced errors, make sure you're paying attention in the moment because those are the moments that they keep living and dying by. And I'm like, come on, it's finish the play, pick up the ball all the way, complete the throw. It's basics. They need to get back to basics.

Jamie Flanagan

Back to basics.

Ren Nushaj

All right, what would say ditto and add to it Justin Verlander?

Jamie Flanagan

All right, that's it. All right, that's it. Fair enough. So, how do people find out more about you if you haven't knocked on their door yet? So you got some social media, some websites. What do you got?

Amanda Treppa

Absolutely. Our website is TrepaForMichigan.com. If you go there, we have tons of links that go right to some of our social media on Instagram, just Amanda Trepa. You can find me right there. On TikTok, we're on there as well, and Facebook, Amanda Trepa. And love to slide into my DMs in a good way. Yeah, clarifying. I've had lots of people send messages. I will respond to you. I really believe in that kind of engagement that my predecessor, Senator McMorrow, she really set that standard in this seat. So I like to take my cue from her and her successor with championing that reach out.

Jamie Flanagan

All right, Ren.

Ren Nushaj

You we we've talked about yours, but what are your what's your connection? Same. So mine is Ren4Misenna.com, and you know, we're uh all those social media websites, whatever you want, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and probably a few others that I'm not even aware of. So uh you know, just you know, so long as you throw Ren in there, I'm sure it gets you to the right place.

Amanda Treppa

And they can find us on a lot of things, like course we're on some slates together that we've been endorsed by. So you can also find us together on those platforms. People's coalition. People's coalition, yeah.

Jamie Flanagan

Wonderful. All right, so I will put all those links in the in the in the descriptions and everything. And anything, any final thought, anything else you wanted to add? Did we hit everything we wanted to talk about? I think we think so. All right, I just I didn't so I jumped around a little bit. It's okay. It was great. Thank you so much. All right, so people over politics, we'll do it again and and good luck with both of your races. Thank you so much, David.

Speaker 1

Appreciate it.