State Rep. Jason Morgan and Republican challenger Miriam Corvino both say they want to lower costs for District 23 families, but they offer competing approaches.

Morgan, a Democrat who has represented the 23rd House District since 2023, told WEMU reporter Patrick Dunn in a WEMU race profile that affordability is his top priority. Housing sits at the center of his pitch. He said he wants to build more housing options across income levels so residents can find homes within their budgets.

"I think that's one of the biggest drivers of costs that I'm seeing," Morgan told WEMU.

Morgan also said health care costs are "out of control" and that he would push to lower prescription drug prices, hold insurers accountable and invest more in Michigan's health care system, according to WEMU.

Corvino did not respond to WEMU's requests for comment. Her campaign website describes her background in finance and project management in the banking and automotive industries. She grew up in a single-mother household in Canton Township and graduated from Central Michigan University as a working adult, according to the site. WEMU reported that her platform calls for cutting wasteful spending, providing tax relief and creating higher-paying jobs. Her campaign biography page does not outline a health care proposal.

The district includes Ann Arbor, South Lyon, Superior Township and Salem Township, along with parts of Plymouth, Northville, Lyon and Ann Arbor townships, according to Morgan’s legislative biography.

Both candidates push back on data centers

Both candidates want a tougher approach to data centers in Michigan, a live issue across Washtenaw County.

Morgan told WEMU he "unequivocally" supports more state regulation of data centers and backs a moratorium until protections are in place. He said data centers are forcing their way into communities that do not want them.

Corvino’s campaign biography page calls for pausing new data-center projects while their effects on electricity rates, water, farmland and communities are examined.

Corvino's campaign website also criticizes Morgan's voting record. According to the site, Morgan voted yes on a 2023 House bill extending sales-tax breaks for large data centers before voting no on a later substitute bill. On a companion use-tax bill, he did not vote when the House passed it in September 2024, the site states. MichiganVotes’ records corroborate the 2023 vote, later no vote and nonvote on the companion bill.

Corvino's site says a data center "should not get a sales-tax break while families pay the power bill and townships lose farmland." The laws originating as Senate Bill 237 and House Bill 4906 extend sales- and use-tax exemptions for qualifying data-center purchases through 2050, with certain enterprise data-center sites eligible through 2065, according to Michigan Treasury. Those later dates apply to qualifying brownfield or former industrial power plant sites.

How to vote

Early voting for registered city of Ann Arbor voters begins Wednesday, Oct. 21 at the University of Michigan Museum of Art and Duderstadt Center and Saturday, Oct. 24 at other city sites, according to the city clerk’s office. Early voting runs through Sunday, Nov. 1. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.