Michigan Governor Rick Snyder easily won re-election Tuesday night in an election that was once deemed as too close to predict and unpredictable. Months before the Nov. 4 election pundits and polls put the governor’s race in a dead heat, suggesting that it would go down the wire on election night. But Snyder won handily against his Democratic opponent, Mark Schauer.
Also winning on the Republican ticket on Tuesday were Attorney General Bill Schuette and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, defeating Mark Totten, the Democratic candidate for AG, and Godfrey Dillard, the Democrat for SOS.
“One of the challenges we had in this particular race is there were millions and millions in outside special interest money coming in against me, and we simply didn’t have all of the resources to counteract that,” Snyder said Tuesday night. “I mean, literally it was a million dollars a week for a month there, again largely lies with respect to education cuts and other things. We responded the best we could.”
However, Democrats were not without political fortunes. The good news for them was the election of Gary Peters as the next U.S. Senator from Michigan. Peters is going to replace outgoing Senator Carl Levin who has only a few weeks left in office.
Debbie Dingell, the outgoing chairwoman of the Wayne State University Board of Governors, was elected the next Congresswoman from the 12th District to represent her husband, the retiring Dean of Congress John Dingell.
Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence also won in the 14th Congressional District as the next Washington lawmaker from Southeast Michigan as well as Congressman John Conyers who retained his seat in the 13th District. Conyers is the incoming Dean of Congress.
In Wayne County, Warren Evans, predicted to be the next County Executive, won.
The Republican sweeps in the 2014 election come as a huge surprise for Democrats who were expecting to energize the 900,000 voters who sat out the 2010 election but came out for the 2012 presidential campaign. The numbers are yet to determines as to whether or not those voters came out in droves for the Democratic ticket this year.
A visit by President Barack Obama in the last days of the campaign in Detroit did not stop the GOP wave and even as Snyder’s critics bombarded him with television ads highlighting his cuts to pensions.
Schauer mounted an aggressive campaign, describing himself as a leader who would be the “education governor,” if elected and chastising incumbent governor Snyder for cutting education, a charge Snyder has repeatedly denied.
The candidates’ only face-to-face forum, a town hall style debate held in Detroit, appeared to present two different visions for voters. During the forum, Schauer described Snyder as a governor whose balance sheet is missing a column labeled “People.”
“Gary Peters bucked a trend tonight, by standing up to the Koch Brothers and other outside special interests who tried to buy an election in Michigan. Gary won because he didn’t let dishonest attacks go unanswered — and because thousands of grassroots volunteers helped him carry a winning message all across the state,” said AFL-CIO Michigan President Karla Swift. “We’re disappointed, of course, that Mark Schauer was not successful in his campaign for governor. Mark spoke loudly and clearly about the concerns of real people who work for a living.”
Swift said the results of the election will not stop them from fighting for working people.
“Our campaign to stand up for working families doesn’t stop on Election Day. Michigan workers will continue to advocate a positive agenda in Lansing and in Washington, based on creating the job and income growth for the middle class that is a proven path to broadly shared prosperity,” Swift said.
Dingell, the Congresswoman-elect, stated on Tuesday night, “Tonight is one of the greatest honors in my life as the people of the 12th District of Michigan elected me to be their next member of Congress. This campaign has been a giant job interview and now the results are in. I’m going to Washington to be their voice on the issues that matter to this district and the country — creating good jobs, making sure health care is affordable and available, keeping college an option for middle class families, protecting Social Security and Medicare.
“I want to reaffirm one point I have consistently made throughout this campaign. In representing the people of the 12th District, I am more interested in finding solutions than looking for fights and I believe by working together we can move our country forward. That will be my approach in Washington. I’ve spent my life bringing people together, finding common ground and figuring out ways to move forward. That’s who I am and I’m not going to change. I want to thank all of you for your support, your time, your advice, your donations and, most importantly, your vote.”
Peters said, ““I look forward to representing the people in this wonderful state of ours. Together we will build a better America, a stronger America, a stronger Michigan, and together our best days are yet to come.”
Bobby Shostak, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, said the governor’s leadership record proved correct among voters who supported his re-election.
“Congratulations to Governor Rick Snyder, who ran an exceptional re-election campaign that stayed positive, factual and focused on one mission — continuing Michigan’s comeback. The progress we have seen in the last four years is outpacing the rest of the nation, and we owe it to the leadership we have in place today,” Shostak said. “Governor Snyder, Lieutenant Governor Calley, and the rest of our Comeback Team, will continue moving this state forward over the next four years, and we’ll look back on today and realize we made future generations brighter with this governor’s re-election.”
Bankole Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle. E-mail bthompson@michronicle.
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