Metro
Statewide Stump
Leyton victory in November would bring first Jewish attorney general.
Art Aisner
Special to the Jewish News
A
s a candidate, David Leyton
likes to talk about how he has
patrolled the sidelines for more
than a dozen high school football seasons
donning referee stripes in the Flint area.
The hopeful for Michigan's next attorney
general said the ability to make reasoned,
quick decisions in pressure-packed situ-
ations shows voters that he's a capable,
trustworthy leader.
But that tale would have to wait on a
picturesque August morning overlook-
ing a sun-soaked Oakland County lake
from the opulent living room of one of the
area's biggest Democratic Party donors.
What everyone in the room wanted
to know was how Leyton, the Genesee
County prosecutor, planned to keep a sus-
pected serial killer who was on a multi-
state slashing spree behind bars. Just a few
days earlier, a manhunt stretching from
Michigan to Virginia ended with Elias
Abuelazam's arrest before he boarded a
plane for his native Israel.
The local and national media frenzy
the case created was intense and exhaust-
ing, but Leyton's closest advisers believe
it proved worthy exposure and training
for what will be the biggest political chal-
lenge of Leyton's two decades in public
service.
"It's been a long and demanding week,
but the people of Flint are resting some-
what easier today;' Leyton, told the small
group of distinguished current and for-
mer elected officials, judges, donors and
activists.
"We're at the start of a very long pro-
cess."
A process and case that, he said, he'd
love to see to the end, but also one that,
ironically, he hopes he doesn't have to
prosecute.
A Bigger Vision
If Leyton has his way, his handling of
Abuelazam's case will be a key draw for
Democrats and independent voters that
help propel him past Republican Bill
Schuette on Nov. 2. If elected, he'd become
the first Jewish attorney gen-
eral in Michigan history and
would become the only
Jew to reach the state's
top three executive
positions.
Any potential trial
date for Abuelazam,
an Israeli Arab, on
the attempted murder
charges he already faces
and five pending homi-
cide cases is not expected
until well into next year. By then,
Leyton hopes to be using his position as
the state's top law enforcement officer to
change Lansing.
Primarily, he's running on a platform
of improving public safety, but not just
to enhance a community's quality of life.
Grasping the sentiment of the recession-
weary voters, Leyton argues that law
enforcement, and the state's attorney
general in particular, can have a dramatic
impact on the economy.
Beyond the enforcing state business
regulations, Leyton said reducing crime is
an economic issue and has a lot to do with
job creation.
"We want to get people working again
but companies won't want to come here
unless they feel their investments in prop-
erty are secure, and that their employees
have a safe, comfortable environment to
work in and safe communities to live in,"
he said. "It's going to be a big part of any
economic revival."
He's also casting himself
as a reformer, proposing
a political crimes task
force to root out public
corruption and to
institute pay and ben-
efit cuts for elected
officials.
"He's a solid candi-
date said Southfield
attorney Steve Bernstein,
who became a supporter
after meeting Leyton through
mutual friends earlier this year.
"He's a really good man, a great pros-
ecutor, and he cares about the environ-
ment. If people take a minute to listen
to him and his ideas, they will really like
2010 Election
David Leyton
him."
The Long Wait
Leyton, 56, always had an interest in
politics, but his professional life as a
trial attorney and obligations to his wife,
Therese, and their four children left little
time to pursue public office.
He eventually cut his teeth in the field
as a member of the Flint Township Board
of Trustees for a dozen years. He also
served as township clerk before running
for Genesee County prosecutor in 2004. He
ran unopposed in 2008.
He said that Judaism developed his
sense of right and wrong and piqued his
interest in social justice enough to draw
him to journalism.
Despite the profession's boom during
the "Watergate ere Leyton said he turned
Schuette: Congressman, State Senator, Appellate Judge
By Art Aisner
Special to the Jewish News
B
ill Schuette is one the few public
servants to work in all three
branches of government during
an accomplished career. And he's banking
on the experience and wisdom gained as
a congressman, state department head
and appellate judge to become Michigan's
next attorney general.
The Midland Republican is campaign-
ing hard on the notion that the state's
next chief law enforcement officer will
18
September 30 • 2010
have to be tough enough to deal with
a tidal wave of parolees sweeping back
into communities across the state due to
budget cuts at a time when public safety
funds are dwindling.
He also claims to be efficient enough to
maintain successful special enforcement
programs underway in the attorney gen-
eral's office and wants to provide more,
even if the state's economic situation
doesn't improve shortly.
"At the same time that prisons are clos-
ing and more prisoners are being released
back into our neighborhoods, there are
thousands fewer law enforcement offi-
cers patrolling our streets," he said. "I am
strongly opposed to the process of clos-
ing prisons and releasing thousands of
dangerous criminals early, without any
effort to reduce the cost and improve the
efficiency of our corrections system."
As someone who has written laws
during three terms in the U.S. House of
Representatives, and then two more in
the Michigan Senate before interpreting
them as Michigan Court of Appeals judge,
Schuette believes he is uniquely qualified
for the attorney general post. If elected,
Bill Schuette