Lately, the question of what defines the pursuit of justice apart from partisan political games weighs heavily on the minds of concerned citizens across a starkly divided America. In Michigan, that question hits a little closer to home, especially for those directly impacted by the Flint Water Crisis.

According to reporting from the Detroit Free Press, in 2014, while Rick Snyder was still governor of Michigan, city managers appointed by him switched Flint’s water supply off of the Detroit water system and began getting their water from the old Flint water system that connects to the Flint River. This was done to save money while a pipeline was constructed to reach Lake Huron as a new water source. 

Unfortunately for the residents of Flint, that water was eventually found to be contaminated with dangerous amounts of lead due to corrosion of the city's infrastructure. The contaminated water coming into residents’ homes via the old pipes is also reported to have carried Legionnaires’ disease, which is a severe form of pneumonia often transmitted by bacteria in water. Following Flint’s switch to the old pipes, Genesee County reportedly had at least 90 cases of Legionnaires’ as well as 12 deaths.

Residents complained about water quality for over a year before the problem was acknowledged by the state and the water system was switched back to Detroit water in October 2015, but problems with water quality remained because of the damage done to Flint’s infrastructure by the initial switch in 2014.

Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel is largely responsible for finally bringing charges against former Governor Rick Snyder and others for their role in the Flint water crisis. There was an investigation previously underway, headed by former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette who also ran a losing campaign as the Republican candidate for governor against current Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Democrat Dana Nessel was elected attorney general along with Governor Whitmer in 2018, and in June 2019 she threw Schuette’s investigation out the window and started from scratch, saying that Schuette’s investigation was not adequate.

Because Nessel and Whitmer are Democrats, while Snyder and Schuette are not only Republicans, but also Nessel and Whitmer’s predecessors, many Michigan Republicans are crying out accusations of Nessels investigation being about partisan political games rather than truly being about seeking justice for those affected by the former governor’s poor decisions.

This argument on the part of Michigan Republicans is very similar to the argument that is simultaneously taking place in the federal government, where Republican lawmakers claim that the second impeachment of President Donald Trump is about partisan politics rather than preserving the security of our democracy and holding  Trump accountable for his actions.

It seems that no matter how damning the evidence in any situation is at either the state or federal level, Republicans for the most part will consistently refuse to speak out or vote against leaders in their party who have obviously acted irresponsibly in the decisions they have made while holding public office. However, in the past two election cycles, Republicans have paid the cost for circling the wagons, as they lost the control of the House in 2018, while Democrat Gretchen Whitmer defeated former Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette in Michigan's gubernatorial race. Also,  in the most recent election cycle, they lost the Senate and the presidency in a blue wave response to the volatile Trump administration and the lack of response to that volatility on the part of Senate Republicans. 

Republicans can continue to argue that the pursuit of justice is simply partisan politics, but voters seem to be responding to their argument by voting in favor of pursuing justice, leaving the Republican party with a lot of soul searching to do before the 2022 mid-term election cycle.