20 things that happened the last time Michigan Democrats had full control of the state government

By Alex Washington on Wed, Nov 9, 2022 at 3:01 pm

Following Tuesday's election, Michigan Democrats now control the governor's office, the state House, and the state Senate. The last time this trifecta happened was in 1983, which lasted until the following year.

Here's a list of things that happened the last time the Dems had that much political strength in the Great Lakes State (inspired by this tweet from MLive's Jordyn Hermani).

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Public domain, Wikimedia Creative Commons

James J. Blanchard was Governor.

The attorney and former U.S. Rep. was the first Democratic governor of Michigan elected in 20 years, leading to what Newsweek called "one of the most dramatic economic turnabouts in the recent history of state government."

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Public domain, Wikimedia Creative Commons

Martha Wright Griffiths was Lt. Governor.

The attorney and former U.S. Rep. was the first woman elected Lieutenant Governor of Michigan. (Republican Matilda Dodge Wilson was appointed the first female Lieutenant Governor of Michigan in 1939.)

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piotr iłowiecki, Flickr Creative Commons

Michigan turned its economy around.

Before Blanchard took office, Michigan's 14.6% unemployment rate was among the nation's highest, and the state faced a $1.7 billion deficit. Under the Blanchard administration, both figures were reversed in what The Washington Post called "a remarkable economic turnaround."

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Einar Einarsson Kvaran, Wikimedia Creative Commons

The Detroit Tigers won the 1984 World Series.

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Screenshot via YouTube

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial lost Best Picture at the 55th Academy Awards to Ghandi.

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Michael Jackson performed the Moonwalk for the first time.

The King of Pop performed his signature move during the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special celebrating the record label's 25th anniversary.

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Wikimedia Creative Commons

Mario Bros. made its arcade debut.

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Screenshot via YouTube

The Detroit Lions defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the NFC Central championship.

The Lions moved on to the playoffs and lost by one point to the San Francisco 49ers.

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Marvin Gaye made his performance debut at the 25th Grammy Awards, performing "Sexual Healing" and taking home an award for Best R&B Vocal - Male for the song that night.

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Screenshot via YouTube

Scarface made its debut.

"Say hello to my little friend!" The '80s cult film favorite wound up grossing $4.5 million opening weekend, coming in second to Sudden Impact.

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Cabbage Patch Kid mania took over the holiday season.

In 1983, demand for the dolls incited riots in stores across America.

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CBS Television / Wikimedia Commons

MA*SH ends its decade-long run on TV.

The comedy series' final episode aired in February 1983.

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Michael Jackson released the 14-minute short-film music video for "Thriller."

The song was the final single from his album of the same name, which was released a year before the video made its debut.

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Screenshot via YouTube

The Detroit Pistons hired Chuck Daly as their new head coach.

Daly would go on to coach the team to two back-to-back NBA championships during the Bad Boy era. (This screenshot is from the locker room celebration of the 1989 win.)

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Madonna released her self-titled debut album.

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Cristian Bortes / Wikimedia Commons

Care Bears debut as plush toys.

The characters were introduced in 1981 in an American Greetings card, and became plush toys in 1983.

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In 1983, Detroit-bred singer Anita Baker released her debut album The Songstress. Three years later she would release the Grammy-award winning Rapture.

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Wheel of Fortune made its syndicated debut.

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The A-Team premiered.

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Rico Shen, Wikimedia Creative Commons

The first commercial wireless call was made.

The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X was approved by the FCC in September of 1983. The early mobile phones allowed for 30 minutes of talk time and took about 10 hours to charge.

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