Zoe Clark
Political DirectorZoe Clark is Michigan Public's Political Director. In this role, Clark guides coverage of the state Capitol, elections, and policy debates. Her passion for understanding and explaining politics led Michigan Public to create the position in 2022 for the first time in station history. She offers regular on-air political analysis and hosts the November election-focused edition of Stateside on Fridays.
She co-hosted, with Michigan Public Radio Network's Senior Capitol Correspondent Rick Pluta, It’s Just Politics, a weekly look at Michigan politics. Clark regularly appears on WKAR’s Off the Record, WDIV’s Flashpoint and offers political analysis on NPR, PBS, and CNN.
Clark is an award-winning journalist, including the prestigious Peabody for overseeing the station’s first nationally distributed podcast Believed.
Clark previously was the station’s Program Director and is the founder and former Executive Producer of Stateside. She began at the station by producing Jack Lessenberry’s daily interviews and essays, and producing Michigan Radio’s Morning Edition.
Clark began her collegiate studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She holds degrees in Communication Studies and Political Science from the University of Michigan and lives in Ann Arbor, where she was born and raised.
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As more than 1,500 business leaders, lawmakers, lobbyists and philanthropists meet on Mackinac Island for the annual Mackinac Policy Conference, new election 2026 polling is released. -
Michigan House Republicans adopt a resolution to hold Jocelyn Benson in contempt for refusing to provide election-related materials. The Democratic Secretary of State (and gubernatorial aspirant) says she won’t be bullied. Plus, just how close Governor Whitmer came to being the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in 2020. -
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was in the news quite a bit this week - for all the wrong reasons. Plus, the political volleying over economic incentives for big business continues in Michigan. -
As budget deadlines loom, the state House and Senate fiscal agencies both project a softening economy will leave the Legislature with less money to work with than initially projected in January. Plus, state Representative Joe Tate jumps into the U.S. Senate race, and Governor Whitmer dodges on former President Joe Biden’s health. -
A ballot campaign wants to make Michigan a ranked choice voting state; plus nearly 800 earmark requests from state House lawmakers totaling an estimated $4 billion are made public. -
The takeaway from conversations with 100 Michiganders on where things stand politically and Republican state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt joins It’s Just Politics to discuss his run for governor in 2026. -
President Donald Trump takes preemptive legal action against state climate change lawsuits and Attorney General Dana Nessel’s unrestrained reply. Plus, Governor Gretchen Whitmer says her political approach with Trump is showing results. -
The “it’s complicated” relationship between Governor Gretchen Whitmer and President Donald Trump was on full display yet again this week in Michigan as the president came to, first, announce a new fighter jet mission for Selfridge Air National Guard Base and, second, for his first 100-day rally in Macomb County. -
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s appointment of Michigan Supreme Court Justice-designate Noah Hood might have been more consequential if it flipped the high court’s majority. But that’s not the case. Rather, it takes the court from a majority of Democratic Party-affiliated justices to a 6-1 super majority. Why it matters. Plus, President Trump will visit Macomb County next week for a rally highlighting the first 100 days of his second administration. -
The Republican-led Michigan House Oversight Committee has authorized a subpoena targeting Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over unreleased election materials. A look into the rare use of a subpoena in Lansing. Plus, former Republican Attorney General Mike Cox announces he’s running for Michigan governor in 2026.
