election 2012

Michigan Republican leader concerned with election change

The Associated Press — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:26:45 +0000

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The top Republican in the Michigan Senate says he has concerns with calls to divide the state's Electoral College votes proportionally.

Changing from a winner-take-all system would have helped Mitt Romney, who lost Michigan to President Barack Obama by 9 percentage points.

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville said Tuesday he doesn't think the current system is broken, so he doesn't know if he wants to fix it. He says that Michigan got more attention from presidential candidates because they could win all 16 electoral votes.

A bill is expected to be reintroduced in the state House to divide the votes by congressional districts. Such a change would give the GOP an advantage, at least for now. That's because Republican voters outnumber Democrats in more congressional districts.

So... did last week's election really change anything in Michigan?

Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 23:40:35 +0000

It’s time for a post-mortem edition of It’s Just Politics and, as the saying goes, it’s time for political reporters to come down from the hills after the battle to bayonet the wounded. Are your blades sharpened?

All six of the state’s ballot questions were voted down with a majority of “no” votes. “No” was what the people who put Proposal One on the ballot wanted – voter rejection of the state’s super controversial emergency manager law. That was bad news for Governor Rick Snyder. Public Act Four was one of the first laws he signed as a big supporter of tough medicine for cities and school districts that find themselves in big financial trouble. The Governor’s chosen candidate for U.S. Senate, former West Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra, lost to incumbent Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow. His endorsement didn’t seem to do Mitt Romney much good in Michigan either. But still, he’s a happy guy… you can’t keep this nerd down.

In fact, the Governor has five reasons to be happy: Proposals Two through Six went down in defeat, just as he wanted. It’s pretty interesting to note that after millions and millions of dollars were spent – on both sides of the proposals – that they all went down by pretty large margins. Proposal One made a race of it. But we just have to wonder if it didn’t get pulled down by the “just say ‘no’” campaign waged by Snyder, business groups, and many Republicans.

On the very top of the ticket, however, voters said “Yes” to Democrats. For the sixth time in a row, Michigan voted for the Democratic candidate for President. And, the Obama machine was just that – a machine. Data-driven, organized and relentless. Republicans thought they had a shot at Michigan – never happened. Meanwhile, as we mentioned, incumbent Senator Debbie Stabenow won a third term in the U.S. Senate. The GOP thought they had a shot at the seat. Never happened. Pete Hoekstra never seemed to recover after the China Super Bowl ad debacle. He won the primary, true, but his campaign never picked up steam.

The week in review

Rina Miller and Jack Lessenberry — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 14:00:00 +0000

On Weekend Edition, Rina Miller talks with Michigan Radio's political analyst Jack Lessenberry about some of the biggest news stories of the week. This week they discuss election turn out, how marijuana laws have been eased in some cities in the state, and the possible change to how public defense attorneys are appointed in Michigan.