Kyle Whittingham made his U-M introduction at a hotel ballroom in Florida. Now, seven months later, he previews his team in a Chicago hotel ballroom.

“There’s those cool kids on the internet,” Ms. Stevens, a four-term Michigan congresswoman, said last week, rubbing her hands together at a rally for her Democratic Senate primary campaign, bobbing in a denim jacket with the sleeves rolled up. “They’re doin’ the cool kid chyaahhter.”