0 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, November 7,2012- 3A

Voters defeat
Proposals 2
through 6

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) delivers her victory address at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Detroit on Tuesday night.
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Duemocratic months leading up to Election
rcumbent ins Day, particularly in light of criti-
cal ads launched by Hoekstra
third term in against Stabenow lambasting her
for her financial policies and dub-
U.S. Senate bing her "Debbie Spend-It-Now"
and himself as "Pete Spend-It-
By KATIE BURKE Not."
Daily StaffReporter Stabenow earned 176,915 votes,
compared to Hoekstra's 61,180,
TROIT '- Incumbent U.S. according to the Michigan Secre-
Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) tary of State. The incumbent won
rated a decisive victory for with a 58-percent to 39-percent
ection to the U.S. Senate on margin, according to the Associ-
day amid waving American ated Press.
and loud chants of "Deb- In her address, Stabenow told
at the MGM Grand Hotel & the crowd that the support she
io here. received from Michigan voters
tbenow, who will begin a was crucial to her success.
term in the U.S. Senate in "This vote was about Michigan
ary, defeated former U.S. ... and that's what my campaign
Pete Hoekstra, her Repub- was about and I want to say thank
challenger, who spent elec- you, thank you, thank you," she
night in Grand Rapids. The said.
between the contenders Stabenow, whose victory was
marked by tension in the announced relatively early in the

evening, added that she was opti-
mistic about how the rest of the
results for the Democratic Party
would play out.
"We did it!" Stabenow said. "I
have a feeling it's going to be a
great night."
She said her next term will be
dedicated to the economic recov-
ery of Michigan and touted the
resilience of the residents of the
state.
"We are coming back," Staben-
ow said. "The truth is, that's what
we do."
Stabenow said she was pleased
with Obama's defense of the auto
industry during his first term in
the presidency, and stood behind
him in his campaign for re-elec-
tion.
She said maintaining an opti-
mistic attitude and fostering
cooperation between both par-
ties is crucial to resuscitating the
state in the comingyears.

"We believe in Mi
believe in our country
we will work together
Hoekstra, who h
Holland on the west
state, ran for the Sena
lost in a bid for govern
He won in a landslide
mary, but struggled ga
support in his gener
effort.
"Although we wer
cessful, we must not h
challenges that face
families remain real,
said in a statement. "I
late Senator Staben
third term in the U.S.
hope that she will li
ideas from the other
aisle to form policie
get the job done for th
Michigan."
--The Asso
contributed b

Proposal 1, on
EFM law, too close
to call as of 4 a.m.
By AUSTEN HUFFORD
Daily StaffReporter
Despite losing the presiden-
cy, Michigan Republicans still
have something to be happy
about: five out of six statewide
ballot proposals that Repub-
lican Gov. Rick Snyder and
other GOP leaders campaigned
against were defeated.
Michigan voters were split
on Proposal 1, a referendum on
the state's emergency finan-
cial manager law, but the other
proposals concerning union-
ization, alternative energy, tax
rights, and a new bridge to Can-
ada were all soundly defeated.
Mike Brownfield, Snyder's
director for social media, said
while Michigan did end up
RACY KO/vaiy voting for President Barack
Obama, the ballot results show
voters still support Snyder and
his policies.
"Michigan is the comeback
state and it's moving forward.
If you look at the ballot pro-
posals and how the people of
Michigan have responded it's
chigan, we an affirmation of the governor's
,webelieve agenda and his leadership and
," she said. his policies - they're happy
tails from with Michigan's comeback
side of the and they want it to continue,"
ate after he Brownfield said.
nor in 2010. Political Science Prof.
in the pri- Michael Heaney said it was
iningwide not strange that the election
al election results and the proposal results
had different outcomes. He
e not suc- said voters were less likely to
et up as the vote along party lines because
Michigan they decided on the proposals
" Hoekstra based off the language of each
I congratu- bill instead of simply following
ow on her the party affiliation listed next
Senate and to a name.
sten to the Proposal 1 was a vote to
side of the approve the 2011 Public Act 4
s that will - which gave Michigan's gov-
e people of ernor more power to appoint
an emergency manager who
would oversee municipalities
ciated Press and other government enti-
o this report ties when faced with extreme
financial hardship. The ballot
proposal to overturn the con-
troversial law was too close
O mcall as of early Wednesday
 morning with 52 percent vot-
ig to overturn the law and 48
percent voting to keep it on the
books.
Proposal 2 was aimed to
enshrine the right to unionize
in the Michigan Constitution,
ower inter- and it was defeated 59 percent
eallocating to 41 percent. The measure
University's attempted to establish the right
ial aid. of workers to organize and col-
nsformative lectively bargain.
ucation and Voters resoundingly rejected
universities proposal 3 with only 37 percent
out," Bern- approving the amendment and
ill be win- 63 percent voting for it. The
losers will amendment would've required
so will the that 25 percent of Michigan's
re located... electricity would come from
e higher." renewable sources by 2025.
ndergradu- In an interview with The

Michigalnli,* y on Tuesday
night, Snyder said he wasn't
opposed to the idea of requir-
ing renewable energy, but said
it was inappropriate for such
a measure to be placed in the
state's constitution.
"I think the concept of hav-
ing a new renewable goal that's
higher than what it is today is a
good goal and that's something
I think should take place ... you
(also) should be talking about
energy efficiency and that
should be part of the discussion
which was absolutelylacking in
Proposal 3," Snyder said.
Michigan voters also defeat-
ed Proposal 4, which would
have amended the Michigan
Constitution to give home
health care workers the right
to unionize under the Michi-
gan Quality Home Care Coun-
cil and declare them public
employees. Voters turned down
the amendment 58 percent
against to 42 percent in agree-
ment. The Home Care Council
was established under previ-
ous Democratic Michigan Gov-
ernor Jennifer Granholm but
was defunded by Republicans
after Snyder's took office. The
amendment aimed to re-estab-
lish the council and ordered
them to create minimum stan-
dards for home health care
workers.
Heaney said a moderate
voter might view the proposals
as too vague and too broad and
that they could have succeeded
if they were more focused.
"The reason they lost on two,
three and four was just because
the proposals seemed to be
overly broad and over reach-
ing," Heaney said.
Voters also stopped Proposal
5 that would've amended the
state Constitution to require
a two-thirds majority vote of
the state Legislature to pass
any tax increase into law. The
proposal failed 69 percent to 31
percent and it faced bipartisan
opposition.
The controversial Proposal 6
was also soundly defeated by a
margin of 60 percent to 40 per-
cent. The proposal called for an
amendment requiring all new
international bridges or tun-
nels to be approved by a state
referendum.
The proposal was almost
solely funded by Matty
Moroun, who owns the
Ambassador Bridge between
the Detroit and Canada. The
proposal was widely criticized
by both parties and Snyder and
seen as a way for Moroun to
maintain his monopoly over
commercial traffic between
the countries.
Michigan Attorney Gen-
eral Bill Schuette said Michi-
gan voters made it clear that
altering the state constitution
should not be taken lightly.
"The message is don't
mess with our constitution,"
Schuette said. "There were...
good reasons to say two
through six shouldn't succeed,"
Snyder said.

As of 4 a.m., race for Board
Regents still too close to cal

Secretary of State
yet to report full
election results

By PETER SHAHIN
Daily StaffReporter
As of 3:15 Wednesday morn-
ing, the election for the Uni-
versity of Michigan's Board of
Regents is too close to call in a
tight race between Republican
candidates Dan Horning and
Robert Steele and Democratic
candidates Mark Bernstein and
Shauna Ryder Diggs. The Michi-
gan Secretary of State's website
lacked returns from the densely
populated counties in Metro
Detroit while many rural and
northern counties had totals sub-
mitted.
In the returns that were avail-
able, Horning garnered 321,638
-votes and Steele earned 319,840
Votes. Bernstein and Diggs
trailed with 257,336 and 230,286
votes, respectively. However,
these figures did not include
Washtenaw county or Detroit's
Wayne county, which are likely
to be strongholds for the Demo-
crats.
Horning previously served as
a regent between 1995 and 2002
before losing his re-election bid
in the face of high Democratic
a

turnout for Democratic Gover-
nor Jennifer Granholm. Horning
is currently a managing director
at Northwestern Mutual, a finan-
cial services agency.
In his renewed campaign,
Horning focused his campaign
around limiting the number of
out-of-state and international
students as well as lowering
tuition rates.
"The biggest challenge today,
for me, is striking the balance
between in-state and out-of-
state (students): engaging proper
tuition for the out-of-state and
international students and find-
ing more access for the in-state
students," Horning said in an
Oct. 29 interview. "I think in-
state students are paying too
much, and I don't think out-
of-state students are paying
enough."
Robert Steele, who holds a
bachelor's degree and medical
degree from the University, is
currently a practicing physician
and a former University profes-
sor of medicine. Steele is running
on a similar platform of limit-
ing the number of out-of-state
students and refocusing on the
University's commitment as a
Michigan public institution. He
also called for mandatory cours-
es for undergraduates about the
US constitution and economic
history.

"My suggestion is that if you
have to take four semesters of
a foreign language, then you
should have to take two semes-
ters of the language of Ameri-
can freedom which includes one
semester on the founding docu-
ments," Steele said in an Oct. 29
interview. "And then you have a
semester on some general eco-
nomic studies ... about the role
of free enterprise and free mar-
kets."
Speaking Tuesday at a Repub-
lican rally in Lansing, Steele
downplayed his chances in light
of Obama's victory in Michigan.
"It would have to be super
super close - if Obama wins by
just a shade I would have a very
small chance." Steele said.
On the Democratic side, Bern-
stein holds a bachelor's degree, a
law degree and business degree
from the University of Michigan
and is the president of the Sam
Bernstein Law Firm, his father's
legal practice. He previously
worked in the White House in
the Clinton administration and
he was appointed by Granholm
to sit on the Michigan Civil
Rights Commission.
During his comparably well-
publicized campaign, Bern-
stein consistently advocated
for lower tuition for under-
graduate students, creation of
"Go Blue Bonds" to provide

students access to Is
est rate loans, and r
some grovith in the I
endowment to financ
"We are in a tran
moment in higher edr
there will be publici
that will figure this
stein said. "There w
ners and losers. The
be left behind and
states in which they a
the stakes could not b
Diggs, who holds u
ate and medical deb
the University, is cu
owner of a laser an
dermatology practice
Pointe Farms. In a
interview with the D
echoed Bernstein's a
Bernstein's assessmer
and affordability as
most pressing issue
University and the
Regents.
"I think there ar
make U of M just as
attractive as otheri
around the country,"
"I do think that ther
the administration ...
a leadership role in
encourage the Leg
continue to pay app
(to the) University."
- Daily S
Tui Rademaker

grees from
rrently the
d cosmetic
in Grosse
sn Oct. 27
Daily, Diggs
greed with
nt of tuition
being the
facing the
Board of
re ways to
financially
institutions
Diggs said.
regents and
could have
trying to
islature to
ropriations
taff Reporter
r contributed

H,.-,

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