Michigan Lawmaker Uses Road Trip, Virtual Town Halls to Govern Amid Coronavirus

Shortly after her Ford Explorer pulled into her driveway late Saturday night, Rep. Haley Stevens (D., Mich.) posted a short tweet. “Home,” she wrote, adding emojis to reflect her love for the Mitten State.

Ms. Stevens had been bracing for fallout well before her road trip. During a Feb. 10 meeting, she had brought up the supply-chain risk the new coronavirus’s rapid spread in China posed for the companies in her district.

Afterward, she began consulting contacts from the “Manufacturing Monday” visits she has been holding during her term. She also solicited stories related to Covid-19 from people she represents, reading them every night.

By mid-March, the weight of the crisis had grown heavy. Shortly after midnight on March 14, Ms. Stevens voted on an initial stimulus package in Washington. She then boarded a flight to Detroit along with others in Michigan’s congressional delegation.

“We could certainly feel the economic storm brewing,” she said. “For most of us, that was the last flight we took.”