The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, November 3, 2010 - 5A ATTORNEY GENERAL GOP candidate Schuette cruises to Mich. AG win JAKE FROMM/Daily Democratic state Senator-elect Rebekah Warren celebrates her win at the Arbor Brewing Company last night. In A, Dems. capture state senate, rep. rac",es Former court of appeals judge beat out Dem. Genessee Prosecutor Leyton ByROBINVEECK Daily StaffReporter Republican Bill Schuette won against Democratic candidate David Leyton in yesterday's Mich- igan attorney general race. The election was called with Schuette leading with 53 percent of the vote to Leyton's 43 percent with 98 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press. Schuette had consistently outscored Leyton in polls lead- ing up to the election, and raised more than twice as much funding throughout the course of his cam- paign, according to the Detroit Free Press. At the Michigan GOP's "One Chance Election Night Party".last night at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit Hotel, Schuette told the crowd he was honored that the voters chose to elect him to office. "I am both exhilarated about the outcome of this evening, and I am humbled," Schuette said. "I am humbled ... by the trust Michigan has put in me." After commending Leyton's endeavors, Schuette turned his attention to his goals as Michi- gan's next attorney general. "We must put Michigan back on track," Schuette said. "Our new Michigan needs to be a safe Michigan with less taxes, less spending, less government and more freedom." Throughout his campaign, Schuette - a current senior coun- sel at the private law firm Warner, Norcross & Judd - emphasized his tough stance on crime and his desire to create "safe communi- ties" throughout the state. "I got fed up and tired and just sick of the problems in Lansing," Schuette said in an Oct. 26 inter- view with WLNS TV 6. "The lack of leadership and closing prisons, 'U' alumni Rebekah Warren, Jeff Irwin win state Senate, House seats By KAITLIN WILLIAMS Daily StaffReporter Democrats Rebekah Warren and Jeff Irwin, both University alumni, claimed victory in their respective races for the state Sen- ate and state House of Represen- tatives last night. According to the Washtenaw County Clerk's Office, with about 94 percent of precints report- ing, Warren won with about 65 percent of the vote. Irwin beat his opponent, Republican Chase Ingersoll, with about 81 percent of the vote as of 4 a.m. Wednesday. Irwin will represent Michi- gan's 53rd House District in the seat that Warren currently holds, and Warren will serve as state senator of Michigan's 18th Sen- ate District. The t8th District State Senate seat is now occupied by Democrat Liz Brater, who was unable to run for the position again due to term limits. Warren said at her watch party at the Ann Arbor Brewing Com- pany on East Washington Street last night that she is most excited to ,focus on job creation as state senator. "We need to make sure we don't leave anyone behind," Warren said. Warren ran against Republi- can candidate John Hochstetler of Manchester, Mich. The candi- dates differed in their plans for boosting Michigan's economy, with Warren supporting job cre- ation through legislation and Hochstetler focusing on support- ing local business. Though Warren is a Democrat, she told The Michigan Daily in March that her work has crossed party lines. "I've been able to work pretty successfully on some important bill packages that were done in a bipartisan way and were able to become law," Warren said at the AG-elect Bill Schuette celebrates his win last night with the GOP in Detroit. time. Warren is a strong advocate for reproductive rights and environ- mental protection. While serving as chair of the House Great Lakes and the Environment Committee, Warren worked to pass the Great Lakes Compact, which aimed to protect the Great Lakes Basin water supply. Irwin also advocates for envi- ronmental protection, and plans to focus on these issues as well as homelessness and budgeting problems in the state. Warren endorsed Irwin's can- didacy for state representative, and said tonight that it was "sur- prisingly more personal" than she thought it would be to watch him run this year. Irwin said he has big shoes to fill in succeeding Warren. Ingersoll told the Daily on Sat- urday that he expected Demo- crats to sweep the elections. "I've already congratulated Mr. Irwin," Ingersoll said. - Mary Hannahan contributed to this report. now more than 10 prisons, releas- ing dangerous criminals early, more than 8,000, and cutting the number of cops on the street." Schuette also focused on his breadth of political experience as a former Congressman, state senator and judge on the Michi- gan Court of - Appeals. One of Schuette's television advertise- ments described him as: "A Reagan Republican then, A Reagan Repub- lican Now." Schuette will succeed Republi- can Attorney General Mike Cox, whose term expires this year and is prevented by term limits from running for re-election. Cox made a run for governor earlier this year, butwas defeated inthe Republican primary by governor-elect, Rick Synder. Leyton, currently the Genessee County prosecutor, centered his campaign on his experience as a prosecutor and his lack of ties to Lansing. In a radio interview with WKZO earlier this month, Ley- ton criticized Schuette for being "shoulder to shoulder with special interests." "I'm a prosecutor, with that background that we talked about, and (Schuette) is a career politi- cian," Leyton said in the interview. "He's been in and out of elected office for the last few years. When it comes to public safety, I've been on the front lines of that battle." Michael Traugott, professor of Communication Studies at the Uni- versity, said in a phone interview last night that Schuette's victory reflected Michigan's high Republi- can voter turnout yesterday. "I thought that Rick Syn- der would win the gubernato- rial election, but I didn't realize his coattails would be as long as they were," Traugott said. "It's a Republican night in Michigan and across the country, and (Schuette) has also benefitted from Snyder leading the ticket and his sizeable victory over Bernero." But the result of yesterday's elections don't necessarily indi- cate a long-term trend in Michigan politics, Traugott said. "The electorate in Michigan has always been fairly evenly divided, and we've had Democrat and Republican attorney gener- als, Democrat and Republican governors," Traugott said. "This happens to be a Republican year, and so the Republicans all up and down the ticket are benefitting." - Daily Staff Reporter Bethany Biron contributed reporting from Detroit. PROPOSALS I AND 2 Michiganders vote yes on felon law, no on convention SECRETARY OF STATE In close race, Republican Johnson takes sec. of state Johnson is the third Republican in a row to assume position By SUZANNE JACOBS Daily StaffReporter "You know what brought us this far? You. Absolutely everyone of you that got out there," Republican Ruth Johnson, Michigan's Secre- tary of State elect told the crowd at the Michigan GOP Watch Party Westin Book Cadillac hotel in Detroit last night. With about 98 percent of the precincts reporting, Johnson won with 52 percent of the vote, beat- ing Democratic opponent Jocelyn Benson who garnered 44 percent, according to the Associated Press as of 4 a.m. Wednesday. A resident of Holly, Mich., John- son is the current Oakland County clerk - a position she's held for the past six years. Johnson will be tak- ing the secretary of state seat of incumbent Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, who isn't eligible to run for a third term due to Michigan's state term limit laws. During her time as Oakland County clerk, Johnson reduced office costs by more than $1 million and decreased the office staff by 20 percent, according to her campaign website. Johnson also served three terms in the Michigan House of Representatives starting in 1998. During her time in the House, she was chair of the House Land Use and Environment Committee. As a state representative, John- son investigated state government corruption through subpoena power, which resulted in the oust- ing of an official who used taxpayer dollars for personal use, Johnson's campaign website states. Throughout her campaign for secretary of state, Johnson prom- ised that, if elected, she would continue to fight against election deception and fraud, make sure all voters are Michigan residents and reform the secretary of state office to ensure transparency and accountability. Johnson already began implementing the latter initiative during her campaign by making campaign donation records publically available online. Michael Traugott, professor of communication studies at the Uni- versity, said last night that Snyder's projected win throughout the gov- ernor's race most likely encouraged voters to support other Republi- cans running for office in the state. "I think it was clearly a Repub- lican year, and they had a very strong candidate at the top of the Michigan ticket - Rick Snyder -- so I think that all of the statewide Republican candidates benefited from that," Traugott said. The two candidates' varying levels of experience was a point of contention throughout the race. Benson, a 33-year-old law pro- fessor at Wayne State University Law School, worked on the Har- vard Civil Rights Project from 2002 to 2004 as the Voting Rights Policy Coordinator. And in 2008 Benson put a stop to voters' eligi- bility being challenged on Elec- tion Day based on foreclosure lists, according to Benson's campaign website. "We fought a good fight, but it just wasn't our time. It wasn't our race," T.J. Bucholz, a spokesman for Benson's campaign, told The Michigan Daily late last night. As of now, Benson plans to return to teaching law at Wayne State, Bucholz said. "We're hopeful that the fight continues, and Jocelyn is going to do what she's always done in her career, and that's be an advo- cate for the people of Michigan," Bucholz said. Traugott said Benson's lesser experience compared to Johnson's most likely contributed to her loss in the race. "This was her first campaign, and if the Democrats had been better organized statewide ... she might have done better, but I think Johnson's experience clearly worked to her benefit," Traugott said. Benson came to campus last month and told students she dis- agrees with Johnson's plan to ensure only citizens are able to vote, which would involve having everyone carry licenses. Instead, Benson said she would have people present an ID card other than a license that doesn't indicate a per- son's citizenship status, according to a Sept.17 Michigan Daily article. "To treat two sectors of the pop- ulation separately is a violation of the equal protection clause," Ben- son said at the time, Like Johnson, Benson's cam- paign promises included fighting government fraud and increas- ing transparency in public office. According to her campaign web- site, Benson specifically wanted to expose corporations' influence on elections. - Daily Staff Reporter Bethany Biron contributed to this report from Detroit. Voters split decision on state-wide ballot proposals BY CLAIRE GOSICICKI AND ROBIN VEECK Daily StaffRepoters Michigan voters approved a measure that bars individuals with certain felony records from holding elected office and dis- missed a proposal to revise the state Constitution on yesterday's ballot. Voters approved a proposal yesterday to prohibit individu- als with certain felony records from running for office and seek- ing employment in various public positions by a vote of about 75 per- cent to 25 percent with 97 percent of precincts reporting as of 4 a.m. Wednesday. The passage of Proposal 10-2 will result in a revision of the state Constitution that will bar indi- viduals from running for an elect- ed position or entering a public position if they have committed a certain crime in the last 20 years. According to the proposal, indi- viduals are ineligible if they have been "convicted of a felony involv- ing dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or a breach of the public trust ... and the conviction was related to the person's official capacity." The passed initiative is widely thought to be related to former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatick's public scandal, though its spon- sor - Senator Tupac Hunter (D- Detroit) - told The Detroit News last week that the motivation had a broader scope than Kilpatrick. "It's common sense. It's saying that the people of Michigan want a higher standard for us to meet," Hunter told The Detroit News. A public opinion poll released last week by EPIC-MRA showed that 76 percent ofvoters supported Prop. 2, while 19 percent opposed it and 5 percent were undecided. Vincent Hutchings, a professor in the University's Political Sci- ence Department and a research professor at the Institute for Social Research, suggested that voters with strong concerns about crime and corruption may have been the most motivated to vote. In an interview with The Mich- igan Daily last week Hutchings predicted that Prop. 2 would be rejected. He also said the initia- tive is unnecessary because there are currently no issues with felons running for office. "I'm always wary of a solution that's designed to fix a problem that's nonexistent," Hutchings said. Representatives from various political student groups around campus, including the Universi- ty's chapter of College Democrats and College Libertarians, said their groups had not taken strong stances on Prop. 2. According to a press release issued by Hunter, the proposal will require that all candidates for elective office file an affidavit with the Secretary of State. The affida- vit must state that the candidate has not been convicted of a felony included in the proposal. The other ballot question, known as Proposal 10-1, appears on Michigan's election ballot every 16 years and gives voters the option to call for a state constitu- tional convention. Michiganders voted down the proposal for the third consecutive time since the proposal was last updated in 1963. The proposal was rejected by by about 67 percent of the vote with 97 percent of precincts reporting at 4 a.m. Wednesday.* Doug Pratt, a spokesperson for the labor union Michigan Edu- cation Association - one of sev- eral organizations that publicly opposed Prop. 1 - said he expect- ed that the proposal would be rejected once again. Pratt said one of the reasons he thinks the proposal didn't pass is due to voters' lack of education on the issue. "When people see something on the ballot and they don't know much about it ... they're probably going to vote against it," he said. Pratt said it was in students' best interests to reject the pro- posal, adding that constitutional convention delegates could have made changes to the Constitution that would have affected higher education funding and Univer- sity governance in unpredictable ways. The Michigan Student Assem- bly passed a resolution last week supporting Prop. 1, saying a revi- sion of the state constitution could present an opportunity to add stu- dent representation to the Univer- sity's Board of Regents. Engineering representative Sean Walser, who helped draft MSA's resolution, wrote in an e-mail interview that a revision of the state Constitution could have reserved one seat on the Universi- ty Board of Regents for a student. "Students at the University have been struggling with this issue for nearly 20 years, and hav- ing the Constitution rewritten would certainly make it easier for this initiative tobe taken upby the state government," Walser wrote. LSA freshman Simon Boehme, who unsuccessfully attempted to get his name on the Board of Regents ballot last summer, wrote in an e-mail interview that stu- dents would provide "valuable voices on pressing issues" if given the option to serve on the board. Michael Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council of the State Universities of Michi- gan, which lobbies for Michigan public universities, said specific complaints about the state Con- stitution should be addressed through constitutional amend- ments instead of through a con- vetion. He added that the state Constitution has been amended 31 times since the 1960s. "The Constitution works well," Boulus said. "I think the people of the state know the best approach is to put out an amendment and let it get debated, rather than revising the whole constitution." The ballot initiative will appear again on the state ballot in 2026.