House
Republicans Retain Majority 59-51
The
House Republican Caucus, entering the night with a 64-46 edge over Democrats,
came within 3,000 cumulative votes of having 55-55 shared power; however, they ended
the night losing five seats maintaining a 59 – 51 majority for the 97th
Legislature.
Most
significant among the races was that of Speaker of the House Jase Bolger
(R-Marshall), whose re-election efforts only became a question after the
Representative Roy Schmidt party-switching issue and related fall-out. Speaker
Bolger ended the night pulling-off the victory by approximately 860 votes, of
more than 43,000 total cast.
Among
the highlights of the night were five current GOP members that won’t be
returning in January:
·
Incumbent Representative Mark Ouimet (R-Scio
Township) was defeated by Democrat Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell in the 52nd
District.
·
In the 71st House District, Theresa Abed
defeated incumbent Representative Deb Shaughnessy (R-Charlotte) in a rematch from 2010.
·
As expected, Representative Roy Schmidt (R-Grand
Rapids) was defeated by Democrat Winnie Brinks in the 76th District.
·
In the 91st House District, incumbent
Representative Holly Hughes (R-White River Township) lost a very close race to
Democrat Colleen Lamonte,
a math and science teacher at Muskegon High School.
·
Incumbent
Representative Matt Huuki (R-Atlantic Mine) lost to Democrat Scott Dianda, an
MDOT employee and former union president.
Other close races include:
·
Democrat
Henry Yanez of Sterling Heights defeated Republican Sean Clark of Warren in the
25th District.
·
Klint
Kesto of Commerce Township, a Republican, won a relatively comfortable victory
over Democrat Pam Jackson in the 39th District to replace
Representative Lisa Brown (D-West Bloomfield).
·
Incumbent
Representative Nancy Jenkins (R-Clayton) held off a challenge by former State
Senator Jim Berryman, a Democrat from Adrian, in the 57th District.
·
Former
Representative Terry Brown will reclaim his office in the House after winning
election to the 84th District over Dan Grimshaw.
Republicans Continue to
Control Supreme Court
Republican-nominated
Justices will continue to hold the majority on the Supreme Court in Michigan as
Justice Stephen Markman and Justice Brian Zahra were re-elected on Tuesday.
Democrat-nominated Bridget McCormack was elected and will succeed Justice
Marilyn Kelly, who could not seek re-election due to age.
Interesting
Dynamics in Oakland County
Although
the Board of Commissioners in Oakland County remains a Republican Majority
(14-7) following Tuesday’s election, Democratic candidates were far more
successful in county-wide races, defeating two incumbents. County
Clerk/Register of Deeds Bill Bullard was defeated by House of Representatives
member Lisa Brown and Water Resources Commissioner John McCulloch narrowly lost
to Democrat Jim Nash. Additionally, incumbent Democrats County Treasurer Andy
Meisner and Prosecutor Jessica Cooper held off challenges by Republicans current
State House member Marty Knollenberg and former
Senator Majority Leader Mike Bishop.
Michigan Voters Reject
All of the Ballot Initiatives
Michigan
voters defeated all of the ballot initiatives on Tuesday’s ballot; five of the
six initiatives were overwhelmingly rejected.
·
Proposal
1 (the referendum on Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager Statute) was narrowly
defeated, the effect of which will be felt during lame duck session.
·
The
most expensive showdown between unions and business groups over Proposal 2,
which would have placed the right to collective bargaining in the Constitution,
was easily defeated 58-42 percent. A combined $45 million was spent by
those opposing and supporting Proposal 2.
·
Proposal
3 would have established a constitutional amendment to increase the state’s
renewable energy standard to 25 percent by 2025, up from the current 10 percent
by 2015. This proposal failed by a 63-37 percent tally.
·
Voters
overwhelmingly defeated Proposal 4 to allow the state’s home care workers to
unionize and have a registry. Although absent an organized opposition, the
initiative was still easily defeated by a 57-43 percent margin.
·
Proposal
5, a constitutional amendment to require a 2/3 vote from the Legislature or a
statewide vote from the people to raise taxes, was defeated 69 – 31 percent.
·
The
Moroun family spent over $42 million to require a statewide vote to build any
new international bridge or tunnel in an effort to create a big divide to the
Governor’s proposed new bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Canada. The
endless commercials, mailings and phone calls proved futile in the end as Proposal
6 was defeated 60-40 percent.