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11- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 4, 1998
ELECTION
'98
grater re-elected to state House
By Yael Kohen
and Nika Schulte
Daily Staff Reporters
Re-elected to her third and final term in the 53rd
district of the state House, Rep. Liz Brater (D-Ann
Arbor), defeated Republican challenger Garret
*arlson last night, allowing her to be a senior state
legislator.
As of 1:30 a.m., with 32 of 52 precincts reporting,
Brater had 71.67 percent of the vote, leaving Carlson
with 26.39 percent.
Because term limits will prevent her from seek-
ing another term, Brater said she was especially
motivated to secure a victory to continue her work
with environmental, consumer and mental health
issues.
"Running for my last term gave a real sense of
urgency," Brater said. "I want to go back to Lansing.
Jam grateful that the constituents gave me that
opportunity."
Carlson, whose campaign manager is a University
student, said he had strong support from students and
the campaign was not a dirty one.
"It was a great campaign," Carlson said.
LSA junior Josh Cowen, vice president of the
campus College Democrats, said another of Brater's
strength is her appeal to a wide range of voters.
"This district is very diverse and has a lot of inter-
ests that don't overlap," Cowen said. "Brater does a
good job of mediating between them."
Cowen also noted that Brater, who taught English
at the University and is married to English Prof.
Enoch Brater, is able to
Boland said.
Brater "came in with good name recognition ...
that's the value of being an incumbent," said Dave
Holden, a worker on the Carlson campaign.
Rena Soifer, Brater's campaign manager, said she
was very excited about the victory.
"Liz is a
tremendous
understand students'
concerns.
"She really knows
what's going on in the
University," Cowen said.
Because of that con-
nection, Brater receives
strong support from stu-
dents.
LSA junior Kelley
Boland, president of the
"She really knows
what's going on in the
Vice versitf"
Vice president of the+
woman," Soifer said. "She rep-
resents us all really well."
Volunteers, Carlson said,
played an integral role in his
campaign.
"We built up a very large
grass roots organization" walk-
ing from door-to-door meeting
people, Carlson said.
Carlson said he plans to "go
back to work selling real
C-- Josh Cowen
College Democrats
campus College Democrats, was a paid worker for
Brater, answering phones, finding volunteers and
going door-to-door with the candidate.
"I worked 20 hours a week for a month and a half,"
Boland said.
In the past two weeks, Boland said she had been
putting in even more time.
"Nights like tonight make it all worthwhile,"
estate."
But Carlson said he does not plan to run for a state
representative seat again.
Carlson said that next time he runs it will be for
U.S. Congress.
"I'd like to see him try again in the same office, or
maybe county commissioner" said Matt Gutchess,
who worked on Carlson's campaign.
ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Daily
Liz Brater toasts her victory over Garret Carlson, securing her third term in the
53rd District of the state Legislature.
Student vote leans toward Dems
AUIANA YUUVIGN/Uaily
Democrat John Hansen talks to reporters at Conor O'Neill's bar after his victory
over Republican Julie Knight.
HsendefHeats
Knght1 for House
Student groups,
campus visits
boost turnout
By Jewel Gopwanl
Daily Staff Reporter
Although yesterday's election did not include a
presidential race, Ann Arbor saw a higher voter
turnout than in recent years.
"We've had a strong turnout all over the coun-
ty," said Peggy Haines, Washtenaw County
Clerk/Register of Deeds.
Voice Your Vote has been working since
September to increase voter turnout.
Voice Your Vote co-founder Ryan Friedrichs
said the group tried to increase student voting by
hosting political debates and distributing regis-
tration forms to first-year students with their
leases.
"Voice Your Vote did a lot to encourage vot-
ing," said LSA first-year student Lisa Moore.
"Otherwise, it might have been hard to find out
how to vote."
In addition to Voice Your Vote's efforts, the
high-profile races in this year's election led to a
higher voter turnout.
"There's a lot of factors involved. Fieger has
something to do with the turnout," said Arthur
Bolzman, elections chair for 3rd Ward's First
Precinct, which voted in East Quad. "It all comes
down to the candidates."
Political advertisements affected political
interest and student voting in different ways.
"The campaigns seem to be more negative,
which made me want to vote," Engineering senior
Mathew Niedleinger said.
But some students seeking information on can-
didates said advertisements were not helpful.
"The ads could have been more informative,"
LSA first-year student Liz Bell said. "They real-
ly didn't influence me."
Students said campus visits by candidates had
a greater impact on voting.
"It really shows the students that they care
what we have to say," said LSA junior Kelly
Boland, president of the campus chapter of
College Democrats.
Certain visits to campus inspired student vot-
ers.
"Knowing that Fieger stopped by campus
siE £idhigrnz & I student exit poli
The Michigan Daily surveyed 235 students as
they finished voting at campus polling sites. This
is not a scientific survey.
Governor
Geoffrey Fieger/James Agee (Democratic) 119
John Engler/Dick Posthumus (Republican) 116
Ann Arbor Mayor
Chris Kolb (Democratic) 152
Ingrid Sheldon (Republican) 68
US. Representative
Lynn Rivers (Democratic) 168
Tom Hickey (Republican) 67
University Board ofRegents
Kathy White (Democratic) 149
Philip Power (Democratic) 147
David Brandon (Republican) 61
Jessie Dalman (Republican) 61
By Michael Grass
and Daniel Weiss
ly Staff Reporters
wDespite tabulations plagued by
mechanical problems with punch card
counters, Democratic House candidate
for the 52nd District John Hansen
appeared last night to have beaten his
Republican challenger Julie Knight.
With half of 54 precincts reporting,
Hansen had received 57 percent of the
vote. But to a gathering of Democratic
supporters at Conor O'Neill's in down-
town Ann Arbor, he cautioned the
jmaining precincts were mostly town-
'ps, and his support in those areas
would not be as strong as in Ann
Arbor.
For the key townships, Hansen said
he relied on direct mail, phone-calling
and newspaper and radio ads.
Hansen, who calls himself a "career
educator," worked as a principal and
then superintendent at Dexter Schools,
and said education was an important
Sue to him. "Preserve, protect and
, omote education" was a slogan he ran
on.
"You don't need to pass a law" to
protect public education, Hansen said.
"I'm more concerned with how we feel
about public education," he said, adding
that while some favor privatized
schooling, he said he believes the best
course of action is to start out by
respecting teachers.
Arguing that legislation is not the
er to everything, he said, "If you
I~nchange it overnight, someone else
can change it back the next night."
Knight said she backs charter
schoojs and greater choice to students
in the school they attend. He also sup-
ports better roads and expanded county
bike paths. An ally of Republican Gov.
John Engler, she agreed with Engler on
the issues of tax cuts, welfare reform
and job creation.
She charged that Hansen was a one-
issue candidate, focusing only on edu-
cation.
Although other races in the state
involved a large amount of mudsling-
ing, the race between Hansen and
Knight was remarkably amicable.
"We wanted a clean campaign, and
we ran a very clean campaign," said
Kristina Lyke, Knight's campaign man-
ager and Eastern Michigan University
senior.
Hansen also noted the good relations
between him and his challenger. "We
know each other, we respect each other,
but we don't agree on anything."
Knight and her supporters blame the
Republican defeat on the lack of unity
in the 52nd District.
"The low turnout (of Republicans in
Ann Arbor) was probably a factor ...
the city numbers do not look good,"
Knight said.
The race for the 52nd district House
seat was marked by an unusual turn of
events when Jane Lumm, who was
defeated by Knight in the Republican
primaries, endorsed Knight, then with-
drew the endorsement, only to again
throw her support to Knight late in the
campaign.
Knight's supporters point to Lumm's
indecision and the general dislike of
rural candidates by Ann Arbor
Republicans as factors in the loss.
Lumm's supporters "would rather see
Hansen win," said Della Blanchard, a
Dexter resident.
makes me want to vote," LSA sophomore Gina
Claeys said.
Many students said Fieger did not do an ade-
quate job in his campaign.
"Engler has had an easier time because Fieger
is so far behind," LSA senior John Tsien said.
"There's a lot of bafflement about how Fieger
has been handling his campaign."
Engineering junior Adam Silver, president of
the campus chapter of College Republicans, said
the organization expected Engler to win the elec-
tion, but other races were more difficult for
Republican candidates.
"There were a lot of voters that thought Engler
had it made, 'so what's the point of voting?"'
Silver said. "But grass roots campaigning can
help the whole ticket."
Some students, however, stayed away from the
polls.
"I didn't vote because I didn't do any research
on the candidates," LSA junior Nisha Shahjahan
said.
S mietana concedes to Granhoim
DETROIT (AP) - Michigan was
poised to get its first new attorney
general in 37 years yesterday as
Democrat Jennifer Granholm was
elected to the top post, defeating
Republican John Smietanka.
With 66 percent of the precincts
reporting, Granholm had 1,022,269
votes, or 53 percent. Smietanka had
899,000 votes, or 47 percent.
Around 2 a.m. this morning,
Smietanka conceded the
race to a small group of
supporters, many of them
crying.A
"I congratulate her for
a hard-fought race and
would urge everybody as,
is traditional, but I also,
mean it, to work hard to
this attorney general's'
office work well for the
people of this state," he Granholm
said.
"To the extent that I
can have any positive impact, I'll be
happy to do so."
Just before that, Granholm had
said she was excited but not vet
Campaign that started
friendly turned to
m ud-s linging
Schumer beats D'Amato
Gran oi will replace
Democrat Frank Kelly, who
served as attorney general
for nearly 40 years.
Granholm served four years as an
assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit
before becoming Wayne County's
corporation counsel.
The campaign started friendly,
but grew hotter in the weeks before
the election. In a debate last Friday,
with fingers pointing, Smietanka
said the state Democratic Party was
misinforming the public about his
child support record and lying about
how much money he loaned
to his own campaign.
Granholm countered that
the Republican Party was
lying about her conviction
g:record.
The problems began in
mid-September, when
Granholm distanced herself
from Fieger's crime plan
because she didn't agree
with putting non-violent
drug offenders in treatment
instead of prison.
Smietanka literature, however,
referred to the crime plan as "the
Granholm-Fieger plan."
Later, ads sponsored by the
The Washington Post
ONEW YORK - A Republican in a
Democratic state, Sen. Alfonse
D'Amato dared to annoy New York vot-
ers by scolding President Clinton and his
wife in acidly partisan hearings into the
Whitewater affair.
But yesterday, in his fourth attempt at
living danaeronilv. Senator Pothole was
D'Amato in TV attacks.
The result was a frantic and frequent-
ly ugly race that subjected New Yorkers
to two months of incessant TV commer-
cials that, according to late polls, soured
the stomachs of many voters and raised
the negative feelings they had for both
candidates.
In an acceptance sneech last night -
general.
Smietanka, a former U.S. attorney
for western Michigan, was fighting
once again for the office he lost to
after serving since 1962.
Both Smietanka and Granholm
had solid backgrounds, backing
from law enforcement and newspa-