You got to be kidding me

This is a joke. Charlie Crist, the establishment supported (NRSC) economic liberal governor of Florida and senate candidate now wants us to buy this.

From The Hill

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is now denying that he endorsed the stimulus package, the same package he promoted at a rally with President Obama in February.
......
"Well, I didn't endorse it," he said.  "You know, I didn't even have a vote on the darned thing. But I understood that it was going to pass and I wanted to be able to utilize it for the benefit of my fellow Floridians."
It's true that as governor Crist didn't have a vote on the package, but he has reportedly said that he would have voted for it if he were in the Senate.

What the hell? He may not have "endorsed" it, but he certainly supported it, and in political terms, they mean essentially the same thing. In fact, Crist supported it so much that he campaigned with Mr. Obama in support of the stimulus bill, which has been an absolute failure and waste of almost 1 trillion dollars.

Here's Charlie Crist in May of 2009. From the Orlando Sentinel.

Gov. Charlie Crist, now a U.S. Senate candidate, said Tuesday he would have made the “pragmatic” decision to vote for the $787 billion federal stimulus bill, differentiating himself from fellow-Republican opponent Marco Rubio and the man he is trying to replace — Mel Martinez.
Speaking to a politically mixed crowd in Daytona Beach, Crist emphasized his support for the bill as practical and pragmatic, though it would have meant crossing party lines. Only three Republican senators backed the stimulus bill, and Martinez wasn’t one of them.
Now Florida stands to get about $15 billion over the next two years through different stimulus grants.
“A lot of that $15 billion dollars you sent to Washington, D.C., and my view is we ought to get it back," Crist told his audience. "Florida deserves her fair share.”

15 Billion back out of 700billion+ spent, much of that by Floridians. That doesn't even make sense. The bottom line is that money should not have been spent in the first place. Pragmatism and Practicality is not spending money that is not there. Decisions like this are reasons why the GOP lost bad in 2006 and 2008, and in the case of NY-23, the GOP only got 5% of the vote because there wasn't a dimes worth of difference between DeDe Scozzafava and Bill Owens. It was so bad there that the so called republican Scozzafava endorsed the democrat.

Now Charlie Crist isn't quite as bad as Scozzafava, but he's not what is needed in DC. We do not need big spending economic liberals and big government - from either party. The NRSC, once again, has ignored the people outside the beltway with its recruitment AND primary endorsement of Crist. Nothing new for them. They endorsed Arlen Specter for re-election and got all the establishment behind him. Then Specter switched parties when the people of Pennsylvania had enough of him and the polls showed him getting sent home in the primary. Sounds similar to the 5'er in Scozzafava who was thoroughly rejected by the people of the 23rd district in New York.

There is a choice in Florida, unlike New York-23rd's special election. Marco Rubio, a recent state rep from democrat leaning Miami-Dade county Florida. Rubio would help bring fiscal conservatism back to Washington. His win would also send a strong message to party leadership on what is expected of them. Change or cronyism? That's the choice.

The races outside of Michigan

Outside of Michigan, we had several races out there.

Virginia was a blowout. Straight down the line.

Bob McDonnell is a strong conservative. He's no liberal, not even a moderate. However, he won 59%-41% in a state that has two democrat senators, went for Obama, and twice for democrat governors. The GOP needs to study how he won. It could be a very good template for running elections.

It wasn't just conservatives areas McDonnell won. McDonnell won almost all areas in liberal Northern Virginia. He lost Arlington and Alexandria which is the most liberal part of the state, but he won Fairfax County, which voted for John Kerry. He won the outer suburban and competitive counties of Loudoun and Prince William. In central Virginia, he even won Albemarle county which surrounds Charlottesville, which is the Ann Arbor of Virginia. (Cities are like their own counties in Virginia)

The Lt Governor, Bolling, won 56%-44%. He didn't win Fairfax County, but it was still a solid win. He got 48% in Fairfax which is more than good enough to win statewide.

The Attorney General candidate, Cuccinelli, was arguably the most conservative. He won 57-42%  He ran even with Bolling in Northern Virginia and did well downstate as well.

I don't know how many incumbent delegates lost, but barring recounts the GOP took races by 2% in Va Beach,1% in Lynchburg, 1% in Fairfax County, 1% in Prince William, 5% in Fairfax and Loudoun. There was probably some coattails there. Some were saved from defeat, or picked up democrat seats due to that. They didn't get all the close ones, but they got a lot of them.

For the state house/senate special elections, I don't know much about most of the districts.

Alabama had a special election for their state house. The last democrat won with 60%. The open seat went 53% democrat.

Georgia races:
State Senate 1 - Republican unopposed except by another Republican (They use the Southern runoff system)
State House 75 - Dems 60%, GOP 40%  - Clayton County, which is 70%+ democrat
State House 139 - All GOP running
State House 141 - Independent and Democrat will run off. Two Republicans split vote. One dem ran.
State House 159 - All GOP running

Missouri House 73 - Went Democrat. 60%
New Jersey was the big exclaimation point. Chris Christie, a moderate (true moderate, not liberal) Republican defeated incumbent limosine leftist and Goldman Sachs slappy Jon Corzine in a close election. 49% for Christie, and 45% for incumbent Corzine. I didn't see a lot of incuumbents defeated there for state assembly, but some open seats went GOP as well.

Couldn't find anything in New Hampshire 11th.

South Carolina 48th - 72% Republican win.

Washington State Races
9th District - 55%-45% Republican  (Eastern Washington)
15th District (Yakima) - 69%-30% Republican
16th District (Walla Walla) - 58%-42% Republican
California's 10th District stayed democrat. 15% lead or so last I saw. John Kerry and Obama both won the district by 20%

And then there's the aberration and major defeat. New York 23.

First off, whoever the GOP county chairs are that picked the 5%'er. DeDe Scozzafava, need to be relieved of their duty. They FUBARED.  Job number one for special elections that should be won is this. Pick a candidate that fits the district. What is worst of all about this is that the blueprint was there for a winner. He won several times there. His name is John McHugh. Someone who was cut from similar cloth of McHugh is the ideal candidate for this independent district.

They picked a RINO. A RINO who was supported by the NRCC with $900,000, who dropped out when the district polls sagged, and endorsed the democrat Bill Owens. This RINO did not fit the district. There was a Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman (who is a Republican), and he got a lot of the support from those who refused to back the RINO. Hoffman also had a major flaw. He doesn't live in the district. Hoffman was relatively unknown and got his name out by taking this campaign and nationalizing it. That's a big risk and it did not pay off. It normally does not in special elections. In New York, this led the ballot. No governor race. No senate race. Just this race in this rural New England like district. People, especially in rural areas, tend to be resentful of outsiders coming to their district and telling them who to vote for. This district, also has strong dairy interests and a military base. McHugh took care of that, and ran 20%+ ahead of McCain and Bush. Hoffman's a good guy, but he did not fit the district either. He didn't live there.

There was no primary. Scozzafava would never have won a primary. Hoffman (who ran as the Conservative party) might have won it one on one, but in a primary, there probably would have been other candidates who would have beaten Owens. One that fits the district. Picking candidates when there is no primary is a great responsibility in special elections. Blowing this embarrased the party. 5%. Ouch. That hurts. That's bad even in Detroit. Lesson 1. Pick a candidate for your district. Lesson 2, be very cautious about nationalizing elections and running against a candidate who emphasises local issues. Local usually wins.Bill Owens was smart and downplayed Obama and the national issues. It's rather easy to double down on that when the main threat does not live in the district.

Is all this a referendum on Obama? No. I think it is a referendum to a degree on big government statism and the left wing push by the incumbents and a referendum on national politics to an extent, but the local matters still rule the day.

Virginia had 8 years of democrat rule. It had enough in spades.
New Jersey has been dominated by democrats. They had enough of Corzine.
Rural New York didn't like outsiders pushing them, nor candidates which were not a dimes worth of difference between the republican and democrat. Two rebellions there.
Michigan 19th had enough of Granholm lackeys and also really liked Nofs.
Hamburg had enough of the drama.

Livingston Results (UPDATED) - Skiba was destroyed, Anderson and Vieau projected winners in Brighton Schools

Hamburg Township sent a message with an exclaimation point. I predicted Skiba would be gone by a 60-40 percentage. I was way off.

Hamburg's precincts are in, and the result is clear. With all precincts in, the numbers are this.

Skiba Recall:
Yes - 4227 - 79.21%
No - 1104 - 20.71%

I don't think this changes much of what goes on with that board. I think several people need the heave ho, and getting rid of one person isn't going to do it. It does send a message, and while I think Pat Hohl and Phil Semprevino love the result, they need to watch it themselves, as I think they too would have been recalled if they were all. ANYONE would have been recalled in Hamburg if they were on the ballot. The best thing the board can do now is man up, keep their traps shut, work together and do their jobs.

The next step if things go like I think they will, is for the Livingston County Republican and Democrat parties to pick candidates to run in a special election. I am not on the county executive committee (I'm on district instead), so I have no official say in the decision. I will make my calls and use the limited influence that I have to hopefully persuade the committee to not take this race for granted, and pick someone who will do a good job and do his or her part to make the township no longer the embarassment of the state. I'll also add that right now, I'd pick the democrat to at least cover the spread in Hamburg, because the board has left a big opening.

In other races, the Brighton School Board race is very close. Barring recounts, Bill Anderson and Miles Vieau win. Joe Carney has been defeated as an incumbent.

So Far:
1. Bill Anderson - 1650
2. Miles Vieau - 1173
3. Randy Swain - 1115
4. Joe Carney - 923
5. Muriel Kaier - 776
6. Keith Van Hentenryk - 480
7. Frank Lucas - 190


Pinckney Bond outside of Hamburg
Yes - 676
No - 796

In Hamburg
Yes - 2286
No - 2315

Total:
Yes - 2962
No - 3111

Pinckney Millage outside Hamburg
Yes - 948
No - 526

In Hamburg
Yes - 3060
No = 1553

Hamburg Police Millage
Yes - 3217
No - 2278

Hamburg Parks Millage
Yes - 3528
No - 1955

Brighton Schools is too close to call. I think a possible recount may happen for the bonds. Other than that, it's fairly clear who wins/loses today in Livingston County.

Nofs blows out Griffin

This is a blowout in the 19th district.

Calhoun County Results - 100% in.
Mike Nofs - 10919
Marty Griffin - 5184
Other - 998

Jackson County Results  - 89% in
Mike Nofs - 8041
Marty Griffin - 5690
Other - 472

This one is over.

It's a blowout in Virginia for the GOP. Jersey is too close to call with Christie (R) having a slight lead. NY-23 is also too close to call with Owens (D) having a slight lead.

Nothing yet on Hamburg. I'm still predicting 60/40 recall.

Update

VERY LOW turnout in Green Oak. I was number 34 at about 1PM. There were about 250 if you count all the absentees. That's still not much.

I took a drive around. Hamburg turnout seemed low (although higher than Green Oak) in all but one station where there was a lot of cars. Genoa Twp has low turnout (similar to Green Oak) as well. If that continues to be the case - Advantage Joe Carney.

I did see two very interesting signs related to Matt Skiba's recall election. It simply said "No Recall...Joanna Hardesty." Someone was highly offended by one of the signs and put up something about "Illegal sign, not authorized."

Good old Hamburg. It's always interesting if nothing else.

Biased tripe in the 3rd most leftist media outlet

If I want to find a good left wing biased media source, I can always count on MSNBC with that little wuss Keith Olberman, The New York Slimes, or the standard setters in the media, the AP/Associated Press. Those three set the standards of leftism.

Normally, I don't even comment on it anymore because it is what it is. They don't even pretend to hide it anymore. It's like reading the original Kevins aka "Communications Guru" stories.

Liz Sidoti and the AP already prepared the spin in case of Republican win tomorrow. I don't count chickens before they hatch, so we'll wait and see what actually does happen.AP article

WASHINGTON – For Republicans, an election win of any size Tuesday would be a blessing. But victories in Virginia, New Jersey or elsewhere won't erase enormous obstacles the party faces heading into a 2010 midterm election year when control of Congress and statehouses from coast to coast will be up for grabs.
It's been a tough few years for the GOP. The party lost control of Congress in 2006 and then lost the White House in 2008 with three traditional Republican states — Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia — abandoning the party.
So even if political winds start blowing harder behind them and even if they can capitalize on Democratic missteps, Republicans still will have a long way to go over the next year because of their party's own fundamental problems — divisions over the path forward, the lack of a national leader and a shrinking base in a changing nation.
The GOP would overcome none of those hurdles should Republican Bob McDonnell win the Virginia governor's race, Chris Christie emerge victorious in the New Jersey governor's contest, or conservative Doug Hoffman triumph in a hotly contested special congressional election in upstate New York.

That's a crock of Bullshit.Wins there, the 19th senate district here at home, and the other special elections would be a check on Obama's power, Granholm's power, or the other state districts. It also is something the GOP could brag about.Virginia and New Jersey are NOT republican states. Virginia, despite its reputation for being Republican, has long been competitive. Chuck Robb was a senator there in the 80's long before Jim Webb and Mark Warner. Doug Wilder won there long before Mark Warner. New Jersey has long been democrat, but has a few republicans in power like Tom Kean and Christie Whitman. Winning in those states is a big deal, as was losing them. The 23rd district is a swing district, but and the GOP may "win" (Hoffman is a Republican) despite the clustermuck and bone headed decisions of leadership.

Wins there wouldn't mean we're back, but it is a start. A good start and something to build on, and a starting point of what kind of candidates that should run depending on the districts.

There's more.

"It's going to be a difficult road to walk, to work with relatively new entrants into the political system and to work with them to show them that, by and large, we are the party who represents their interests," House Republican leader John Boehner told CNN on Sunday, arguing that there's "a political rebellion" taking place in the country.
Others are more blunt.
"Right now there's no central Republican leader to turn to, and there's no central Republican message," conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh told Fox News on Sunday. "The Republican message is sort of muddied. What do they stand for? Right now it's opposition to Obama."
A debate is waging over whether that's enough — or whether the party has to be for something, anything really, to be able to claw its way back to the top. Similar hand-wringing happened in the GOP ahead of the 1994 midterms. Just weeks before those elections, Republicans came up with the Contract with America — and ended up taking control of Congress.

Boehner was one of the screw-ups when he backed the bailout. Remember his talk about the "crap sandwich?" This political rebellion that he talked about is against crap sandwiches like that which you supported, and which Obama is pushing right now with 1800 page (anything 1800 pages is bad) health care bills that the Congressional Budget Office is estimating at a trillion bucks. If the bailout was a crap sandwich, which it was, why vote for it? This is why so many conservatives have become independents and have no loyalty to the GOP. They've had enough with both parties and are dropping out, which showed in the 2008 massacre.

There does need to be a return to the Contract with America. I've been saying that for years. That aside, Rush's quote about no central leader sounds like a complaint, but I don't see it as a bad thing. The problem with most people is that we look for leaders. Don't look for leaders. Be the leader. Conservatives and their close libertarian cousins are independent thinkers and that is a big reason why there's always infighting of some sort. The premise at the core of the matter is generally less government and more freedom. Nobody likes to be dictated too, and that will initiate a conflict.

Here's some major league bullshit.

Heading into the 2010 elections, the GOP also faces a very real split between conservatives who want to focus on social issues — which tend to work best during peaceful, prosperous times — and the rest of the party, which generally wants a broader vision, particularly given recession.
Proof of a divide is in the special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District. Potential 2012 presidential hopefuls trying to solidify their conservative credentials, Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty, endorsed Hoffman, a conservative third-party upstart, over the GOP-chosen candidate, moderate Dierdre Scozzafava. Badly trailing in polls, she ended up dropping out and — in a slap at the GOP — endorsing Democrat Bill Owens

First off, Scozzafava is no moderate. John McHugh, who vacated the seat was more of a moderate (Socially conservative, economics in the middle). Scozzafava is a leftist. She's tied to Acorn through one of the third parties in New York, the "Working Families" Party. She's supportive of card checks, eliminating secret ballots with unions. She was endorsed by the teacher's union and the leader of Daily Kos, an extremely far leftist. In addition, she supported the stimulus packages. Now, I didn't even get to the social issues. Pro-abortion (dealbreaker) and supportive of gay marriage (don't agree with it, but not a dealbreaker issue with me). She is pro-gun, so there's one issue where she's mainstream. Take all of that combined, and you have a "Republican" to the left of most democrats, and not a dimes worth of difference between her and Bill Owens. She even endorsed Owens after dropping out of the race, which she had no reason to do outside of the fact that her own district rejected her.


Secondly, social issues aren't the big issue here. The AP has their head up their arses with this line of thought. The big issue is Obama's health care plan, the stimulus package, card check, ACORN, and fiscal leftism. Too much spending. More taxes. Small government. That's the big issue. The same thing is going on in the Florida primary between grass roots conservative Marco Rubio and establishment supported and stimulus package supporting Charlie Crist.

Adding to the party's woes: No one — or rather everyone — is speaking for the GOP.
Fiery talk show hosts like Limbaugh and Glenn Beck have become the angry white face of the party, filling a vacuum created by Bush's departure as the its standard-bearer and the lack of one single person to emerge as its next generation leader.

This site needs a eye-rolling icon picture for that pile of donkey crap. There's no elected position called spokesman for the GOP. Limbaugh speaks for himself. Beck speaks for himself. I speak for myself. That's it. Here in Michigan, we have elections and vote for candidates who speak for themselves. I don't worry about "central leader" because I'm nobody's follower. Got that AP. We vote for candidates. Want me to spell it out for you?

Also, the party's power center is mostly limited to the South, the one region McCain dominated last fall; Obama won almost everywhere else — including making inroads in emerging powerhouse regions like the West, although Republicans still solidly control several lightly populated states in the area.

Uhhhhhhhh.....we'll find out more on that tomorrow. Tomorrows big congressional race....New York. Also heavily Democrat New Jersey is up for grabs tomorrow. Virginia, which is mostly southern, but not the DC burbs (at least in culture) is up for election tomorrow too. The polls show it even in Fairfax County of all places. 08's over. Bush is off the ballot. Obama has shown himself to be just another politician who says one thing and does another.

And demographic, cultural and, perhaps, economic changes in America tilt in the Democrats' favor. Consider that Hispanics, a part of the Democratic base, are the nation's fastest growing minority group. Consider that more states than ever are permitting same-sex unions; Maine will vote Tuesday on whether to allow gay marriage. Consider that the emerging new industry — so-called "green jobs" — is focused on the environment, a core Democratic issue.

Right now in this economy, jobs period, green or not, is the big issue, and the dems are delivering jack and squat. Gay marriage? That's been on ballots for years. Nothing new. The gay obsessed media goes ape over it though. The gun issue has moved to the right more and more. Abortion is STILL moving more to the right than it was. Those are bigger than the gay issue. 

Still, Republicans sense opportunity — at least in the short term. The bloom is off the Obama rose, and the public is giving the Democratic-controlled Congress low ratings.
Economists say the recession is over but jobs aren't reappearing and unemployment is still expected to hit 10 percent. The war in Afghanistan continues, and the public is deeply divided over it. Obama's expansion of government and budget-busting spending isn't sitting well with most Americans. And independents are tilting away from Democrats.

If the jobs aren't appearing, than the recession is NOT over. It may be "technically" over in the minds of the economists, but nobody at home gives a damn about what they say. They care about working. Period.

On another note, I should mention a dark horse race I forgot to mention earlier. California Congressional district 10. The democrat is expected to win big here, because of the district. I forgot about it, and unfortunately, the GOP candidate here is on his own. David Harmer is facing Lt Governor John Garamendi. The district was last held by Ellen Tauscher. It's a San Francisco Bay area district and John Kerry won it by 20%, and Gore by 14%. It covers parts of Contra Costa, Solano, and Alameda Counties. If this one goes Republican, I'll be shocked. Garemendi is up in the polls by 10%, but this is a special election. If the GOP base goes out and the dems take it for granted, there will be a possible upset. If Garemendi works like it's too close for his liking, he'll win.

Election 09

Tuesday is the first semi-major election day since Mr. Obama and his people took over Washington. There are no federal races outside of the special election in New York's 23rd district, however, so other dynamics besides the federal issues do matter.

The biggest ones to watch are Virginia and New Jersey. Their state elections are Tuesday. Virginia usually shifts opposite of the white house in its state government. Doug Wilder was governor when GHW Bush was president. George Allen and Jim Gilmore were governors during the Clinton years. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine during the GW Bush years. In New Jersey, Jon Corzine, gazillionaire leftist democrat and Goldman Sachs crony is in big trouble. It IS New Jersey, so I suspect he will survive and win at the last minute because it is so democrat leaning of a state, but we'll see what happens there.

In Michigan, we have the special election for the 19th district. It's a good national bellwether district, so it is watched closely. It went for Gore, Granholm twice, Bush once, and Obama. Mark Schauer won it first with the original borders. The second winner will be either Mike Nofs or Marty Griffin. Nofs isn't as fiscally conservative as I am, but he's a lot better than tax raising Griffin, and Schauer.

Most of the state has school board and city municipal elections. There are tax measures in several areas that need to be voted on.

Here in Livingston County, we have the following:

Brighton Schools - The budget situation here is crisis, and one of the biggest problems in Joe Carney. He things the district needs to spend, spend, and spend, and then have the state pay for it. It doesn't work that way. My support goes to Miles Vieau for one of the spots. That's easy. The second spot I'm not sure about. The Argus endorsed Bill Anderson. I have a LOT of hesitation there, because he supported that big enhancement millage, which in fact contributed to his defeat four years ago. He's better on fiscal matters than Carney, but that's not good enough. Some of my local republican friends and acquaintances (Anderson's probably their favorite) probably don't care for that, but what will happen when there is big pressure? Will Anderson back another millage? Miles Vieau did not do so.

I'm actually leaning towards Keith Van Hentenryck. He wasn't quite good enough to get the Concerned Taxpayer's Group endorsement when he last ran (I was on the panel for his interview. I'm no longer with the organization, although I still trust their judgment), but he wasn't bad either. He seems like a true independent who won't follow any side or clique.

Howell and Brighton City have their own elections. I haven't followed things enough there to have an informed opinion to say yea or nay.

Hamburg - There's a millage on the ballot there. Also, the big recall election of Matt Skiba. I have mixed views on this except to say that I'm glad I live in Green Oak instead. If Pat Hohl and Phil Semprevino were also being recalled, I'd probably support sending them all home. Skiba could be doing a better job, but he never had a chance in the first place. He is a friend of Cindy Pine, and that automatically with that board made him Persona Non Grata. At the first chance, they wanted him gone, and they were going to make his job as difficult as possible and then recall them. Even a Big Ten video replay judge could see it....well, maybe not them. Because of this, I'd probably reluctantly vote no as the least worse choice. That aside, I predict this passes with at least 60%. Skiba has not defended himself well enough. I am quite curious though about the recall campaign being able to stay under $1000 with the number of bigger signs.......

Other important elections are in our major cities like Detroit, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Flint, and Grand Rapids.

There are other special elections that are below the radar of Virginia, New Jersey, New York 23 Congress, and Michigan 19 State Senate. On November 3rd, we have:

Alabama - House District 65
Georgia - Senate District 1, House Districts 75, 129, 141, 159
Missouri - House District 73
New Hampshire - House District 11
South Carolina - House District 48
Washington State - House Districts 9, 15, 16


I don't know much or anything about those districts, but they were mentioned by the Republican State Leadership Committee. In special elections, throw out the normal rules anyway on elections, because it is about turnout. Anyone can win a special election, even Democrats in Livingston County. (and I think they have a damn good shot in Hamburg, gift wrapped by people with R's by their name - although I never see them at the GOP meetings....)

It will be an interesting day. We need to make sure the good guys vote.

Granholm signs budgets

The budget has been signed.
From Peter Luke

"The budget is signed. State government will not shut down," Granholm said in a conference call with reporters. "This is the state budget we have, but it is not the budget we need."
Granholm blasted the Republican-controlled Senate's "extremist" ideology that she said fails to consider revenue options to restore funding for the eliminated Michigan Promise college scholarship, the 11 percent cut state aid to local governments, and 8 percent cut to Medicaid providers and the $127-per-pupil reduction she ordered last week in K-12 education.
"It is a budget I don't agree with and don't support," Granholm said.
"It makes cuts that are too deep and are too painful for kids going to college, families keeping their families health and keeping their streets safe."

The budget is largely the product of a September agreement by House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Twp., and Senate Majority Leader Michael Bishop, R-Rochester Hills, to close a $2.8 billion spending gap for general state services and schools -- half through cuts and half through using federal stimulus dollars. Granholm's efforts to insert nearly $700 million in new revenue into the agreement was rejected.
Dillon said Friday in a statement that Bishop broke his word to seek a middle ground approach that would include revenue to restore 2010 cuts after they took effect. Bishop has said repeatedly that there were no votes in his caucus for higher revenue beyond that already passed. Those include capping tax credits for low-wage families and film production in Michigan. The Senate tied the revenue to cuts in the Michigan Business Tax.

This is a lesser of two evils budget. It's a continuation, gimmick budget with no reforms. This is a George Bush budget. It's better than John Kerry or the tax increases, but that's not saying much. Why? Because we have no reforms, no structural changes, and the same problems going to happen next year and the year after. Already a 300+ billion shortfall is projected for next year.

I do get a laugh out of Granholm, the Matt Millen of Governors, once again blaming the GOP, when the democrats control two full branches of the Michigan government, and nearly control the 3rd.

The best news is that she's gone after next year. We can't do worse.

Brian Rooney running in wrong district (Congress, District 7)

Maybe I could move to the 7th district in run. I have more ties to the district as one of the GOP challengers. Brian Rooney, who is part of the Steeler's Rooney Family, and has a brother Tom in Congress, has decided to move from Canton to Jackson and run in the district.

From CQ Politics

Attorney Brian Rooney is filing the paperwork Friday to join the 2010 race for Michigan's 7th Congressional District seat. And he is seeking to join his brother, freshman Florida Republican Tom Rooney, in the House
Brian Rooney, an Iraq War veteran, is bidding to challenge incumbent Mark Schauer, a first-term Democrat. He plans to do a formal campaign launch next week, likely Thursday, in the 7th District city of Jackson, where his campaign will be headquartered. Then the following week, he'll head off on a tour around the southern Michigan district, which also includes the city of Battle Creek and suburbs of Ann Arbor.

But to get to a general election matchup against Schauer, Rooney would have to outrun former one-term Rep. Tim Walberg in the Republican primary. Real estate exec Marvin Carlson is also in the race and Bill Martin, CEO of the Michigan Association of Realtors, has expressed interest in the contest, as well. Walberg lost the 7th District seat to Schauer by 2 percentage points in 2008 and is seeking a rematch.

Outside of my anti-carpetbagging bias, I have nothing at all against Brian Rooney, but I do know a bit about the 7th district. Guys from Wayne County, Canton aka Detroit (in the minds of the district) start off with two strikes. Many people in this district have been there for generations going back to the old railroad days (my family roots in Michigan started in Marshall with the railroads). It is not a good district to be a carpetbagger (the 9th is probably more open for that). It's also a large district stretching from Battle Creek to Salem from West to East, and from Grand Ledge and Eaton County to the stateline from North to South. Outside of the Grand Ledge/Delta Township near Lansing and Scio Township/Dexter and Saline areas near Ann Arbor, most of the people to the district are not newcomers to the area. Even some of the newcomers are going to ask why he isn't running in Canton. I don't see that selling in the key rural areas or small cites/suburbs in the district such as Coldwater, Adrian, Tecumseh, Battle Creek, Eaton Rapids, Spring Arbor, Marshall, Hillsdale, Jonesville, or especially in the very independent Jackson area.

Canton is actually two districts away to the east. It's in the 11th district currently represented by Thad McCotter. To the direct west is Ypsi, represented by John Dingell in the U shape district. It does not become the 7th District until it goes north to Salem or West to Scio Township. I would not be surprised to see Schauer or even Walberg or Carlson have an ad or press release welcoming Rooney from Pittsburgh or Canton to Jackson. The 7th District does not have a large transient population. People settle in the 7th District.

In addition, Canton in Wayne County, is represented by a Democrat state rep in Dian Slavens. It is part of an open seat state senate district where Bruce Patterson, also from Canton, is termed out. Patterson can not run again. Why is Rooney not running for State Rep or State Senate instead until there is redistricting after 2010. Redistricting may change McCotter's district.

Another problem for Rooney. Base. Rooney works for Thomas More Law Center. It's a conservative Catholic organization based in Ann Arbor. It is a counterbalance to the ACLU, particularly on religious issues. It's most known for pro-life support. However, who are the 7th's district litmus test pro-lifers and religious conservatives going to support? Someone from Canton? Or the more well known Tim Walberg from Tipton in Lenawee County. How do you out pro-life Tim Walberg, who's from the district?

CQ Politics already mentioned it:

UPDATE: The Walberg campaign was quick to dub Rooney a "carpetbagger" for only recenty moving to the district. "We do not need a lawyer from Wayne County when we have Tim Walberg," Walberg supporter Mark Behnke, the mayor of Battle Creek, said in a statement released by the campaign.

I disagree, if you take out the 7th District aspect.We do need Brian Rooney. We need Rooney to run against Dian Slavens or run for Bruce Patterson's open district both based in his home of Canton. Carpetbaggers don't sell in the 7th, and he won't get past Walberg, no matter what the NRCC would like.

Clustermuck in upstate New York

There's a special election coming up in upstate New York, Congressional district 23. It's a close district, but has gone republican for congress for a long time. Moderate incumbent John McHugh left to take a job as secretary of the Army.

The special election in New York has no primary. That was a problem here. What happened was County Party Chairmen Committees handpicked the candidates. That's a big responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly.

Now right now, there is not a lot of tolerance on the right for fiscal liberals. I know upstate NY is a moderate area, and I would not be balking at a moderate being picked. Unfortunately, the republican picked was possibly most liberal of the three candidates, including the democrat.

Dede Scozzafava was endorsed by Daily Kos. She is pro-abortion, and pro-gay marriage. If she was fiscal conservative and social liberal, there probably would have been some balking not the same. She ran on the "Working Families" line in some state races. (NY can have people run under multiple parties). That party is tied to ACORN through their executive director Bertha Lewis. Scozzafava supported Obama's stimulus package, and has supported tax increases and card check. What's the difference between her and the democrat Bill Owens? Nothing. In fact, there are rumors about her switching parties which she considered in the past. Talk about being dealbreakers. 

Many Republicans, including more moderate ones, have refused to support Scozzavava. As moderate Mary Matalin said in Politico

“We can disagree or compromise on marginal issues, but not freedom-quashing, government-grasping ones, like tax increases, anti-democratic card check, etc. Holding on to a seat won on those principles is worse than losing it,” she said. “Conversely, losing seats to articulate, conservative Democrats has proved to be the best defensive line holding back Obama’s expansive ambitions.”

-----------

Now liberal republicans (providing they aren't rumored party switchers) would have been less of a problem awhile back. While some recent polls have Republicans beating democrats on a generic ballot and winning big with independent voters, the same polls also have only 20% of the population self-identifying as republicans. The people identifying as Conservatives have not changed much in years. The problem is that we are coming off of four years of big government Republicanism from 2002 to 2006, followed by big government bipartisanship from 06 to 08. Bush supported big government, and Obama supports big government on steroids. Both supported the banks bailout, which was the straw that broke the camel's back. We have a nearly 12 trillion deficit and the democrat senate wants to raise the debt ceiling even higher. GOP leadership in Washington hasn't shown that they gotten it yet. STOP SPENDING MONEY. When given the choice between democrat lite and democrats, people are going to vote for the real thing.

While there needs to be a big tent, we can not dillute the brands so much that there isn't a dimes worth of difference between the two parties. There needs to at least be basic principles of less government and more freedom. I understand that you can't run a Tom Coburn clone in the NY-23 district. It's rural and small city New England in character. Coburn doesn't sell there. However, polling shows that Scozzafava isn't selling either....in NY-23. She's being rejected THERE, not in Oklahoma. The democrat is currently leading with under 40% and 25% are breaking to the Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman, who is also a republican, but did not have the chance to run in a primary that didn't exist. He's a businessman and not a professional politician (and the only pro-life candidate). 

In a three way race, a candidate can win with 34% if things break right, which they may very well do. If fiscal conservatives want to send a message, one will be given with a Scozzafava loss. A bigger one will be given with a win by Doug Hoffman. Doug's website is here

I don't usually support 3rd party candidates anymore for any major office. I usually vote for one in a minor office every election, often the university trustees section. That's it. Republicans can usually make their choice in primaries. A primary would have avoided this. Scozzafava would never get past a Republican primary for Congress, not even in New York City. Fiscal liberalism needs to be given the heave ho in the Republican Party if we expect congress to flip.

One last point. Scozzafava was not picked in a primary but by a committee of local county leadership there. That's often what happens in vacancies for township offices. It shows the importance of good county party leadership, and the responsibility given to the party leadership to pick good candidates who can win.

Here in Livingston County, Michigan, we may very well have to have our county party leadership make that decision in the clustermuck known as Hamburg Township if Matt Skiba is recalled (which I expect to happen). That one won't be easy, and I hope the LCGOP does things the right way to try and remedy the embarrassing shenanigans going on there in my county and by those running under the R banner (but whom I never see at GOP events).

So, how do you avoid a Scozzafava situation? It's simple. Make sure you have good leadership on county, district, and state levels of the GOP. Precinct delegates elect all of the above. It all comes back to us.

Texting while driving. We don't need more laws.

This is in the Argus. Good intentions, but I don't support it.

Reading, writing or sending text messages while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle would be banned in Michigan under legislation approved by a House committee this morning.
Responding to concerns about the potential for overly-zealous enforcement, however, the legislation was scaled back from its original version and would not allow police officers to base a traffic stop on suspected texting alone.

Violating the prohibition would be a civil infraction, punishable by fines of about $100 and would not result in penalty points on an operators license.

Rep. Lee Gonzales, D-Flint, said Michigan needs to move quickly to join nearly two dozen other states which have banned texting while driving, a practice he said is “worse than drunk driving.”

I can't support this. I'll give Gonzales some credit for scaling this back from being a primary offense and points so it isn't as bad as it was, but we have too many laws as it is. The problem in today's society is that too many people, especially on traffic matters say that there ought to be another law. Both parties are equally guilty in this area.

Texting while driving is dumb. I don't do it, and don't think others should do it. However, should it be illegal? Or should dangerous driving be illegal - which it already is. Current laws already rectify the problems that can be caused from texting and driving.

Reckless Driving:
1) A person who drives a vehicle upon a highway or a frozen public lake, stream, or pond or other place open to the general public, including, but not limited to, an area designated for the parking of motor vehicles, in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.
(2) A person who violates subsection (1) is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 93 days or a fine of not more than $500.00, or both.

Felonious Driving
257.626c Operation of vehicle on highway or public place; conduct as felony; penalty.
Sec. 626c.
A person who operates a vehicle upon a highway or other place open to the general public or generally accessible to motor vehicles, including an area designated for the parking of vehicles, carelessly and heedlessly in willful and wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others, or without due caution and circumspection and at a speed or in a manner that endangers or is likely to endanger any person or property resulting in a serious impairment of a body function of a person, but does not cause death, is guilty of felonious driving punishable by imprisonment for not more than 2 years or a fine of not more than $2,000.00, or both.

Careless Driving
257.626b Careless or negligent operation of vehicle as civil infraction.
Sec. 626b.
A person who operates a vehicle upon a highway or a frozen public lake, stream, or pond or other place open to the general public including an area designated for the parking of vehicles in a careless or negligent manner likely to endanger any person or property, but without wantonness or recklessness, is responsible for a civil infraction.

Tailgating.
(1) The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of the vehicles and the traffic upon, and the condition of, the highway.

Turn Signals are the law. Impeding traffic is against the law.  Crossing the double yellow line is against the law. All these things are common when drivers are texting instead of looking at the road. We have enough laws. We don't need more laws.

Cox has highest lead in general election poll (45% Cox, 30% Cherry)

Now this is real early, but the results are so far promising. EPIC/MRA, a democrat leaning polling firm, has all GOP candidates leading Cherry in the General election except Rick Snyder. The taps were posted by Wood TV in Grand Rapids. Some interesting results.

Direction (US).
35% - Right Direction
58% - Wrong Direction

Direction (Michigan)
17% - Right Direction
75% - Wrong Direction

Democrat Primary:
33% - John Cherry
5% - Alma Wheeler Smith
3% - George Perles (Yes, that Perles)
3% - Don Williamson
2% - John Freeman
54% - Undecided

Republican Primary:
29% - Pete Hoekstra
28% - Mike Cox
14% - Mike Bouchard
3% - Rick Snyder
2% - Tom George
24% Undecided.

Positive/Negative Obama
48% - Positive
51% - Negative

Positive/Negative Granholm
33% - Positive
66% - Negative

Matchups:

45% Cox
30% Cherry
25% Undecided

40% Hoekstra
33% Cherry
27% Undecided

39% Bouchard
31% Cherry
30% Undecided

34% Cherry
32% Snyder
34% Undecided

Once again. This is a democrat leaning polling firm. This isn't Strategic Vision. This isn't even Mitchell. From this firm, Cox leads by 15, and the rest have leads of at least 7 outside of Rick Snyder. The results are good if you are not a democrat or Rick Snyder. The problem with Cherry is that he's Michigan's version of Al Gore in a bad economy. After eight years of an administration, there's usually fatigue. Reagan was the exception, and the VP Bush won in 1988. Gore had a good economy, and he still couldn't win because he turned into a gun grabber when he went national. Dick Cheney didn't run in 2008, but probably would have done no different than McCain.

Posthumus could have won with a little more help as the 12% expected loss turned into 4%. Still wasn't a win. Engler broke the 8 year jinx with a third term however. Milliken's first choice lost in the primary after 12 years. Blanchard himself lost when he wanted a 3rd term. After 8 years, usually it's trouble.

And unless things change in the next year, it's big trouble for Granholm/Cherry. Cherry isn't following Clinton who had a good rep thanks to the 1994 Republicans and their work on the economy. Cherry's following the Matt Millen of governors.

I actually partially agree with Mr. Obama on something. Holy Smokes.

As obviously known from my prior postings, I'm not a fan of Mr. Obama.That includes how he acts as a person, how his people runs his campaign, and his policies that 99% of the time results in more government and less freedom. This is one of the 1% exceptions (or at least halfway agreement).

From the AP

WASHINGTON – Pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers should not be targeted for federal prosecution in states that allow medical marijuana, prosecutors were told Monday in a new policy memo issued by the Justice Department.
Under the policy spelled out in a three-page legal memo, federal prosecutors are being told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state law.
The guidelines issued by the department do, however, make it clear that federal agents will go after people whose marijuana distribution goes beyond what is permitted under state law or use medical marijuana as a cover for other crimes.

Quite simply, this should not be an issue for the feds. It should fall to the states. We have the 10th Amendment for a reason, and despite poor court decisions in Wickard v Filburn and Gonzales v Raich, policies not spelled out in the Constitution including Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment (Civil Rights) belong to the states and the people. I'd go further and say that drug policy that does not cross the borders are state issues and should be policed as they see fit.

If I smoke a doobie (and no, I don't smoke pot), it's none of the business of the feds. There's more important things they should worry about, like a balanced budget without raising taxes.

Less Government, more freedom.

Alger County - Updated

Alger County is in the UP. It contains Picture Rocks National Lakeshore on its east side. Its west side is close to Marquette. Alger County, like many counties in the UP, leans democrat, although Bush won it in 2000. Social moderate-conservative (pro-life) democrats run best in these parts, and they are still common in the UP.

For the previous Alger County Profile from before the 06 election - Click here. 

Background:
Location - Upper Peninsula
Population estimates - 9,862 (2000 census)
County Seat - Munising (Population 2539)
Ethnic makeup - 87.8% White, 6.1% Black, 3.3% American Indian, 0.3% Asian, 2.0% of more than one race. 1.0% Hispanic/Latino.

Local Elected Officials as of 2008 election:
County:
Prosecutor - Karen A Bahrman - Republican
Sheriff - David Cromwell - Democrat
Clerk - Mary Ann Froberg - Democrat
Treasurer - Pam Johnson - Democrat
Register of Deeds - Karen V Healy - Republican
Road Commissioner - Paul Heyrman - Democrat
County Commissioners - 4 Democrats, 1 Republican

Township officials - Not sure.

1998 was an aberration, especially on the state level, as the UP is more state democrat than federal democrat with the legacies of representatives like Dominick Jacobetti and Joe Mack who always brought home the bacon for the UP. Corrections is or at least was a big part of the economy in the UP, and it shows in the voting patterns. Engler winning Alger County just shows how "popular" Mr. Fieger is. Fieger's winning of some townships showed how popular Engler was in those areas too. Fieger won big in Mathias Township, and ran ahead of Gore and Kerry there. Rock River Township was also more friendly to Fieger than Gore and Kerry.

98 Governor	Engler	Fieger	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	228	184	0	412	44	55.34%	44.66%	10.68%
Burt Township	197	94	0	291	103	67.70%	32.30%	35.40%
Grand Island Twp	18	10	0	28	8	64.29%	35.71%	28.57%
Limestone Twp	75	76	0	151	-1	49.67%	50.33%	-0.66%
Mathias Twp	69	115	0	184	-46	37.50%	62.50%	-25.00%
City of Munising	494	280	0	774	214	63.82%	36.18%	27.65%
Munising Twp	434	279	0	713	155	60.87%	39.13%	21.74%
Onota Twp	65	72	0	137	-7	47.45%	52.55%	-5.11%
Rock River Twp	214	248	0	462	-34	46.32%	53.68%	-7.36%
	1794	1358	0	3152	436	56.92%	43.08%	13.83%

Candice Miller's 1998 run was also an aberration. It's the gold standard for the GOP in Michigan. Part of that was Fieger's reverse coattails. Most of it was Miller cleaning up the mess of the last term of Richard Austin. Austin wasn't crooked or anything like that as far as I know, but the Secretary of State's office was legendary for its inefficiency.

98 Sec of State	Miller	Parks	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	259	153	8	420	106	61.67%	36.43%	25.24%
Burt Township	191	87	1	279	104	68.46%	31.18%	37.28%
Grand Island Twp	21	8	0	29	13	72.41%	27.59%	44.83%
Limestone Twp	88	59	0	147	29	59.86%	40.14%	19.73%
Mathias Twp	104	83	1	188	21	55.32%	44.15%	11.17%
City of Munising	524	214	11	749	310	69.96%	28.57%	41.39%
Munising Twp	487	210	10	707	277	68.88%	29.70%	39.18%
Onota Twp	84	59	1	144	25	58.33%	40.97%	17.36%
Rock River Twp	246	214	3	463	32	53.13%	46.22%	6.91%
	2004	1087	35	3126	917	64.11%	34.77%	29.33%

The Attorney General race was where the dems put the eggs in the basket in 98. It paid off, here and statewide.

98 Att. General	Smietanka	Granholm	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	191	226	0	417	-35	45.80%	54.20%	-8.39%
Burt Township	147	107	0	254	40	57.87%	42.13%	15.75%
Grand Island Twp	15	14	0	29	1	51.72%	48.28%	3.45%
Limestone Twp	72	77	0	149	-5	48.32%	51.68%	-3.36%
Mathias Twp	62	123	0	185	-61	33.51%	66.49%	-32.97%
City of Munising	364	378	0	742	-14	49.06%	50.94%	-1.89%
Munising Twp	345	347	0	692	-2	49.86%	50.14%	-0.29%
Onota Twp	55	87	0	142	-32	38.73%	61.27%	-22.54%
Rock River Twp	154	305	0	459	-151	33.55%	66.45%	-32.90%
	1405	1664	0	3069	-259	45.78%	54.22%	-8.44%

The old 1st Congressional district covered the entire UP. Redistricting did not change that. It only changed part of the lower peninsula that was covered. Michelle McManus I believe was a state rep when she ran against Stupak. She's now a state senator and is running for Secretary of State. Good people seem to hit a wall when they take on Stupak. It will take a 1994 to defeat him.

1st District Congress	McManus	Stupak	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	132	291	4	427	-159	30.91%	68.15%	-37.24%
Burt Township	101	187	2	290	-86	34.83%	64.48%	-29.66%
Grand Island Twp	11	17	0	28	-6	39.29%	60.71%	-21.43%
Limestone Twp	62	93	2	157	-31	39.49%	59.24%	-19.75%
Mathias Twp	44	153	2	199	-109	22.11%	76.88%	-54.77%
City of Munising	303	488	9	800	-185	37.88%	61.00%	-23.13%
Munising Twp	280	436	8	724	-156	38.67%	60.22%	-21.55%
Onota Twp	42	100	3	145	-58	28.97%	68.97%	-40.00%
Rock River Twp	135	348	4	487	-213	27.72%	71.46%	-43.74%
	1110	2113	34	3257	-1003	34.08%	64.88%	-30.80%

The state rep seat did some minor changes after 02, but not many. Alger County is in the Marquette based district and is solidly democrat. The state senate district changed more as Alger County was placed in the Western UP and Marquette district, not the Eastern UP/Northern Lower district. Walt North, from St Ignace, won the old 37th State Senate district easily, but he lost Alger County, to a "troll." (defined as someone who lives below the bridge.) That explains how much of a yellow dog tradition there was and is in Alger County on the state level.

State Senate 37	North	Chase	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	192	217	0	409	-25	46.94%	53.06%	-6.11%
Burt Township	156	110	0	266	46	58.65%	41.35%	17.29%
Grand Island Twp	15	14	0	29	1	51.72%	48.28%	3.45%
Limestone Twp	62	79	0	141	-17	43.97%	56.03%	-12.06%
Mathias Twp	60	117	0	177	-57	33.90%	66.10%	-32.20%
City of Munising	382	369	0	751	13	50.87%	49.13%	1.73%
Munising Twp	349	334	0	683	15	51.10%	48.90%	2.20%
Onota Twp	54	85	0	139	-31	38.85%	61.15%	-22.30%
Rock River Twp	163	277	0	440	-114	37.05%	62.95%	-25.91%
	1433	1602	0	3035	-169	47.22%	52.78%	-5.57%

The state rep district was and is the most democrat in the UP. Prusi became a state senator later.

State Rep 109	DesParois	Prusi	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	107	314	0	421	-207	25.42%	74.58%	-49.17%
Burt Township	101	167	0	268	-66	37.69%	62.31%	-24.63%
Grand Island Twp	11	18	0	29	-7	37.93%	62.07%	-24.14%
Limestone Twp	46	103	0	149	-57	30.87%	69.13%	-38.26%
Mathias Twp	27	167	0	194	-140	13.92%	86.08%	-72.16%
City of Munising	208	543	0	751	-335	27.70%	72.30%	-44.61%
Munising Twp	224	477	0	701	-253	31.95%	68.05%	-36.09%
Onota Twp	36	106	0	142	-70	25.35%	74.65%	-49.30%
Rock River Twp	87	386	0	473	-299	18.39%	81.61%	-63.21%
	847	2281	0	3128	-1434	27.08%	72.92%	-45.84%

2000 showed how unpopular Gore was in Alger County. He didn't win it. Much of that was underperforming Fieger in the major democrat townships like Mathias and Rock River. Onata and Limestone are strongholds for the dems as well, but Limestone was under 50% for Gore. Kerry corrected this in 04, as Alger County was the only county in Michigan to vote for Bush and Kerry. It was contrary to the trends in Michigan.

2000 President	Bush	Gore	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	299	252	21	572	47	52.27%	44.06%	8.22%
Burt Township	167	144	17	328	23	50.91%	43.90%	7.01%
Grand Island Twp	17	14	0	31	3	54.84%	45.16%	9.68%
Limestone Twp	93	102	10	205	-9	45.37%	49.76%	-4.39%
Mathias Twp	107	136	12	255	-29	41.96%	53.33%	-11.37%
City of Munising	540	582	35	1157	-42	46.67%	50.30%	-3.63%
Munising Twp	560	398	29	987	162	56.74%	40.32%	16.41%
Onota Twp	90	123	12	225	-33	40.00%	54.67%	-14.67%
Rock River Twp	269	320	17	606	-51	44.39%	52.81%	-8.42%
	2142	2071	153	4366	71	49.06%	47.43%	1.63%

Surprisingly, neither did Stabenow.

2000 Senate	Abraham	Stabenow	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	303	244	13	560	59	54.11%	43.57%	10.54%
Burt Township	164	132	13	309	32	53.07%	42.72%	10.36%
Grand Island Twp	15	13	0	28	2	53.57%	46.43%	7.14%
Limestone Twp	86	106	4	196	-20	43.88%	54.08%	-10.20%
Mathias Twp	108	125	4	237	-17	45.57%	52.74%	-7.17%
City of Munising	530	545	32	1107	-15	47.88%	49.23%	-1.36%
Munising Twp	541	397	32	970	144	55.77%	40.93%	14.85%
Onota Twp	99	111	4	214	-12	46.26%	51.87%	-5.61%
Rock River Twp	267	305	20	592	-38	45.10%	51.52%	-6.42%
	2113	1978	122	4213	135	50.15%	46.95%	3.20%

Stupak won easily as he does every election.

1st District	Yob	Stupak	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	228	339	3	570	-111	40.00%	59.47%	-19.47%
Burt Township	109	203	0	312	-94	34.94%	65.06%	-30.13%
Grand Island Twp	11	20	0	31	-9	35.48%	64.52%	-29.03%
Limestone Twp	73	117	7	197	-44	37.06%	59.39%	-22.34%
Mathias Twp	82	159	2	243	-77	33.74%	65.43%	-31.69%
City of Munising	403	734	6	1143	-331	35.26%	64.22%	-28.96%
Munising Twp	450	540	8	998	-90	45.09%	54.11%	-9.02%
Onota Twp	78	141	1	220	-63	35.45%	64.09%	-28.64%
Rock River Twp	211	378	9	598	-167	35.28%	63.21%	-27.93%
	1645	2631	36	4312	-986	38.15%	61.02%	-22.87%

There was an open seat state rep spot open. It's the most democrat district in the UP, so it was not a surprise. Adamini ran even better than Stupak, which is a surprise.

State Rep 109	Rydholm	Adamini	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	227	315	0	542	-88	41.88%	58.12%	-16.24%
Burt Township	107	163	0	270	-56	39.63%	60.37%	-20.74%
Grand Island Twp	11	19	0	30	-8	36.67%	63.33%	-26.67%
Limestone Twp	65	115	0	180	-50	36.11%	63.89%	-27.78%
Mathias Twp	60	158	0	218	-98	27.52%	72.48%	-44.95%
City of Munising	360	674	0	1034	-314	34.82%	65.18%	-30.37%
Munising Twp	413	526	0	939	-113	43.98%	56.02%	-12.03%
Onota Twp	73	137	0	210	-64	34.76%	65.24%	-30.48%
Rock River Twp	59	126	0	185	-67	31.89%	68.11%	-36.22%
	1375	2233	0	3608	-858	38.11%	61.89%	-23.78%

2002 was a mixed bag year overall. Alger County voted for Granholm over Posthumus in the gubernatorial race.

02 Governor	Posthumus	Granholm	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	226	227	7	460	-1	49.13%	49.35%	-0.22%
Burt Township	116	122	4	242	-6	47.93%	50.41%	-2.48%
Grand Island Twp	13	16	0	29	-3	44.83%	55.17%	-10.34%
Limestone Twp	77	86	2	165	-9	46.67%	52.12%	-5.45%
Mathias Twp	75	144	4	223	-69	33.63%	64.57%	-30.94%
City of Munising	407	509	8	924	-102	44.05%	55.09%	-11.04%
Munising Twp	440	343	14	797	97	55.21%	43.04%	12.17%
Onota Twp	74	91	1	166	-17	44.58%	54.82%	-10.24%
Rock River Twp	195	317	9	521	-122	37.43%	60.84%	-23.42%
	1623	1855	49	3527	-232	46.02%	52.59%	-6.58%

The Secretary of State race was open, and Terri Land beat Butch Hollowell statewide, and in Alger County.

02 Sec of State	Land	Hollowell	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	255	175	13	443	80	57.56%	39.50%	18.06%
Burt Township	120	93	3	216	27	55.56%	43.06%	12.50%
Grand Island Twp	15	13	0	28	2	53.57%	46.43%	7.14%
Limestone Twp	77	78	2	157	-1	49.04%	49.68%	-0.64%
Mathias Twp	81	121	3	205	-40	39.51%	59.02%	-19.51%
City of Munising	398	431	15	844	-33	47.16%	51.07%	-3.91%
Munising Twp	458	302	21	781	156	58.64%	38.67%	19.97%
Onota Twp	73	86	3	162	-13	45.06%	53.09%	-8.02%
Rock River Twp	227	256	9	492	-29	46.14%	52.03%	-5.89%
	1704	1555	69	3328	149	51.20%	46.72%	4.48%

The AG race went for Mike Cox, but Gary Peters won Alger County, but a better percentage than Granholm.

02 Att General	Cox	Peters	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	210	214	21	445	-4	47.19%	48.09%	-0.90%
Burt Township	96	115	3	214	-19	44.86%	53.74%	-8.88%
Grand Island Twp	15	13	0	28	2	53.57%	46.43%	7.14%
Limestone Twp	60	92	3	155	-32	38.71%	59.35%	-20.65%
Mathias Twp	57	141	4	202	-84	28.22%	69.80%	-41.58%
City of Munising	371	468	15	854	-97	43.44%	54.80%	-11.36%
Munising Twp	386	374	23	783	12	49.30%	47.77%	1.53%
Onota Twp	63	92	3	158	-29	39.87%	58.23%	-18.35%
Rock River Twp	197	277	12	486	-80	40.53%	57.00%	-16.46%
	1455	1786	84	3325	-331	43.76%	53.71%	-9.95%

Carl Levin for some reason is never strongly challenged. Why I don't understand because he's done jack and squat for Michigan, even supporting permanent most favored nation trade status with the Chinese government. Rocky was thrown to the wolves in 2002, and it showed.

02 Senate	Raczkowski	Lenin	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	154	295	8	457	-141	33.70%	64.55%	-30.85%
Burt Township	83	136	3	222	-53	37.39%	61.26%	-23.87%
Grand Island Twp	10	18	0	28	-8	35.71%	64.29%	-28.57%
Limestone Twp	60	101	3	164	-41	36.59%	61.59%	-25.00%
Mathias Twp	40	179	3	222	-139	18.02%	80.63%	-62.61%
City of Munising	267	614	5	886	-347	30.14%	69.30%	-39.16%
Munising Twp	286	494	14	794	-208	36.02%	62.22%	-26.20%
Onota Twp	52	111	2	165	-59	31.52%	67.27%	-35.76%
Rock River Twp	147	356	5	508	-209	28.94%	70.08%	-41.14%
	1099	2304	43	3446	-1205	31.89%	66.86%	-34.97%

 
Redistricting didn't affect Alger County which stayed in the 1st district, but it gave Bart Stupak an easier district overall. The result here was a 10% better performance.

1st district	Hooper	Stupak	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	126	330	3	459	-204	27.45%	71.90%	-44.44%
Burt Township	65	166	0	231	-101	28.14%	71.86%	-43.72%
Grand Island Twp	8	20	0	28	-12	28.57%	71.43%	-42.86%
Limestone Twp	49	112	2	163	-63	30.06%	68.71%	-38.65%
Mathias Twp	36	183	5	224	-147	16.07%	81.70%	-65.63%
City of Munising	207	694	5	906	-487	22.85%	76.60%	-53.75%
Munising Twp	230	562	10	802	-332	28.68%	70.07%	-41.40%
Onota Twp	54	110	1	165	-56	32.73%	66.67%	-33.94%
Rock River Twp	138	374	4	516	-236	26.74%	72.48%	-45.74%
	913	2551	30	3494	-1638	26.13%	73.01%	-46.88%

The State Senate district did change. The western UP and Marquette district moved east to pick up Alger County. This was an open district, with Michael Prusi, who represented the area as a state rep, winning.

38th District Senate	Schoenow	Prusi	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	146	305	0	451	-159	32.37%	67.63%	-35.25%
Burt Township	86	132	0	218	-46	39.45%	60.55%	-21.10%
Grand Island Twp	10	18	0	28	-8	35.71%	64.29%	-28.57%
Limestone Twp	56	106	0	162	-50	34.57%	65.43%	-30.86%
Mathias Twp	46	180	0	226	-134	20.35%	79.65%	-59.29%
City of Munising	268	614	0	882	-346	30.39%	69.61%	-39.23%
Munising Twp	301	492	0	793	-191	37.96%	62.04%	-24.09%
Onota Twp	52	111	0	163	-59	31.90%	68.10%	-36.20%
Rock River Twp	140	374	0	514	-234	27.24%	72.76%	-45.53%
	1105	2332	0	3437	-1227	32.15%	67.85%	-35.70%

The State Rep district did not change much, at least with Alger County. It's still the Marquette district and Stephen Adamini won re-election.

109th State Rep	Hafeman	Adamini	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	152	284	0	436	-132	34.86%	65.14%	-30.28%
Burt Township	82	134	0	216	-52	37.96%	62.04%	-24.07%
Grand Island Twp	11	17	0	28	-6	39.29%	60.71%	-21.43%
Limestone Twp	52	101	0	153	-49	33.99%	66.01%	-32.03%
Mathias Twp	41	168	0	209	-127	19.62%	80.38%	-60.77%
City of Munising	244	600	0	844	-356	28.91%	71.09%	-42.18%
Munising Twp	301	463	0	764	-162	39.40%	60.60%	-21.20%
Onota Twp	47	114	0	161	-67	29.19%	70.81%	-41.61%
Rock River Twp	142	358	0	500	-216	28.40%	71.60%	-43.20%
	1072	2239	0	3311	-1167	32.38%	67.62%	-35.25%

2004 returned Alger County to the democrats when it came to the presidential race. This was the only Bush county in Michigan to vote for John Kerry. It was a narrow win for Kerry and wasn't confined to one area causing the county to flip.

04 President	Bush	Kerry	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	350	291	7	648	59	54.01%	44.91%	9.10%
Burt Township	161	174	6	341	-13	47.21%	51.03%	-3.81%
Grand Island Twp	21	11	0	32	10	65.63%	34.38%	31.25%
Limestone Twp	96	125	1	222	-29	43.24%	56.31%	-13.06%
Mathias Twp	111	189	2	302	-78	36.75%	62.58%	-25.83%
City of Munising	537	643	12	1192	-106	45.05%	53.94%	-8.89%
Munising Twp	607	471	15	1093	136	55.54%	43.09%	12.44%
Onota Twp	114	136	1	251	-22	45.42%	54.18%	-8.76%
Rock River Twp	321	355	8	684	-34	46.93%	51.90%	-4.97%
	2318	2395	52	4765	-77	48.65%	50.26%	-1.62%

Stupak easily won his rematch.

1st district	Hooper	Stupak	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	193	439	6	638	-246	30.25%	68.81%	-38.56%
Burt Township	74	243	1	318	-169	23.27%	76.42%	-53.14%
Grand Island Twp	13	18	0	31	-5	41.94%	58.06%	-16.13%
Limestone Twp	61	154	2	217	-93	28.11%	70.97%	-42.86%
Mathias Twp	63	228	2	293	-165	21.50%	77.82%	-56.31%
City of Munising	329	815	6	1150	-486	28.61%	70.87%	-42.26%
Munising Twp	342	721	11	1074	-379	31.84%	67.13%	-35.29%
Onota Twp	70	173	2	245	-103	28.57%	70.61%	-42.04%
Rock River Twp	198	456	7	661	-258	29.95%	68.99%	-39.03%
	1343	3247	37	4627	-1904	29.03%	70.18%	-41.15%

Adamini won easily as well. 

1st district	Kaltenbach	Adamimi	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	249	364	0	613	-115	40.62%	59.38%	-18.76%
Burt Township	93	212	0	305	-119	30.49%	69.51%	-39.02%
Grand Island Twp	14	15	0	29	-1	48.28%	51.72%	-3.45%
Limestone Twp	70	141	0	211	-71	33.18%	66.82%	-33.65%
Mathias Twp	63	215	0	278	-152	22.66%	77.34%	-54.68%
City of Munising	371	726	0	1097	-355	33.82%	66.18%	-32.36%
Munising Twp	440	606	0	1046	-166	42.07%	57.93%	-15.87%
Onota Twp	77	161	0	238	-84	32.35%	67.65%	-35.29%
Rock River Twp	202	433	0	635	-231	31.81%	68.19%	-36.38%
	1579	2873	0	4452	-1294	35.47%	64.53%	-29.07%

In the 2006 disaster, Granholm won big.

06 Governor	DeVos	Granholm	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	225	300	3	528	-75	42.61%	56.82%	-14.20%
Burt Township	119	194	3	316	-75	37.66%	61.39%	-23.73%
Grand Island Twp	9	14	0	23	-5	39.13%	60.87%	-21.74%
Limestone Twp	60	107	4	171	-47	35.09%	62.57%	-27.49%
Mathias Twp	82	155	2	239	-73	34.31%	64.85%	-30.54%
City of Munising	292	558	16	866	-266	33.72%	64.43%	-30.72%
Munising Twp	302	391	15	708	-89	42.66%	55.23%	-12.57%
Onota Twp	83	119	3	205	-36	40.49%	58.05%	-17.56%
Rock River Twp	165	354	12	531	-189	31.07%	66.67%	-35.59%
	1337	2192	58	3587	-855	37.27%	61.11%	-23.84%

Terri Land bucked the trends in Alger County, which wasn't easy when the top of the ticket breaks 60%.Winning Rock River Township is always a good surprise for the GOP.

Sec of State	Land	Sabaugh	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	300	205	11	516	95	58.14%	39.73%	18.41%
Burt Township	158	138	11	307	20	51.47%	44.95%	6.51%
Grand Island Twp	14	10	0	24	4	58.33%	41.67%	16.67%
Limestone Twp	87	77	3	167	10	52.10%	46.11%	5.99%
Mathias Twp	98	120	10	228	-22	42.98%	52.63%	-9.65%
City of Munising	409	429	16	854	-20	47.89%	50.23%	-2.34%
Munising Twp	499	350	14	863	149	57.82%	40.56%	17.27%
Onota Twp	113	85	5	203	28	55.67%	41.87%	13.79%
Rock River Twp	268	240	17	525	28	51.05%	45.71%	5.33%
	1946	1654	87	3687	292	52.78%	44.86%	7.92%

Mike Cox won statewide his re-election, but did not win Alger County. He did hold the dems to under 50% however. Rock River Twp was the major difference between Cox's race and Land's race.

06 Att General	Cox	Williams	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	258	230	13	501	28	51.50%	45.91%	5.59%
Burt Township	157	135	7	299	22	52.51%	45.15%	7.36%
Grand Island Twp	12	12	0	24	0	50.00%	50.00%	0.00%
Limestone Twp	71	82	4	157	-11	45.22%	52.23%	-7.01%
Mathias Twp	84	130	11	225	-46	37.33%	57.78%	-20.44%
City of Munising	353	463	21	837	-110	42.17%	55.32%	-13.14%
Munising Twp	433	382	25	840	51	51.55%	45.48%	6.07%
Onota Twp	97	90	14	201	7	48.26%	44.78%	3.48%
Rock River Twp	218	271	23	512	-53	42.58%	52.93%	-10.35%
	1683	1795	118	3596	-112	46.80%	49.92%	-3.11%

The Senate race shows what happens when candidates are recruited and then thrown to the wolves and abandoned later.

06 Senate	Bouchard	Stabenow	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	219	293	7	519	-74	42.20%	56.45%	-14.26%
Burt Township	116	186	7	309	-70	37.54%	60.19%	-22.65%
Grand Island Twp	10	14	0	24	-4	41.67%	58.33%	-16.67%
Limestone Twp	67	99	5	171	-32	39.18%	57.89%	-18.71%
Mathias Twp	76	155	5	236	-79	32.20%	65.68%	-33.47%
City of Munising	281	568	16	865	-287	32.49%	65.66%	-33.18%
Munising Twp	296	391	17	704	-95	42.05%	55.54%	-13.49%
Onota Twp	91	114	2	207	-23	43.96%	55.07%	-11.11%
Rock River Twp	175	339	15	529	-164	33.08%	64.08%	-31.00%
	1331	2159	74	3564	-828	37.35%	60.58%	-23.23%

The 1st district rematch was not a surprise as Stupak usually is the benchmark for the dems in the UP.

06 1st district	Hooper	Stupak	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	158	357	4	519	-199	30.44%	68.79%	-38.34%
Burt Township	75	232	4	311	-157	24.12%	74.60%	-50.48%
Grand Island Twp	7	17	0	24	-10	29.17%	70.83%	-41.67%
Limestone Twp	47	121	4	172	-74	27.33%	70.35%	-43.02%
Mathias Twp	41	188	6	235	-147	17.45%	80.00%	-62.55%
City of Munising	182	667	18	867	-485	20.99%	76.93%	-55.94%
Munising Twp	228	636	19	883	-408	25.82%	72.03%	-46.21%
Onota Twp	55	141	10	206	-86	26.70%	68.45%	-41.75%
Rock River Twp	103	410	16	529	-307	19.47%	77.50%	-58.03%
	896	2769	81	3746	-1873	23.92%	73.92%	-50.00%

The State Senate district 38 is solidly democrat on the state level unless there's a 1994 type year. Prusi won re-election easily.

Senate District 38	Mackin	Prusi	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	172	343	0	515	-171	33.40%	66.60%	-33.20%
Burt Township	100	207	0	307	-107	32.57%	67.43%	-34.85%
Grand Island Twp	6	17	0	23	-11	26.09%	73.91%	-47.83%
Limestone Twp	51	117	0	168	-66	30.36%	69.64%	-39.29%
Mathias Twp	53	181	0	234	-128	22.65%	77.35%	-54.70%
City of Munising	200	655	0	855	-455	23.39%	76.61%	-53.22%
Munising Twp	263	604	0	867	-341	30.33%	69.67%	-39.33%
Onota Twp	66	138	0	204	-72	32.35%	67.65%	-35.29%
Rock River Twp	121	403	0	524	-282	23.09%	76.91%	-53.82%
	1032	2665	0	3697	-1633	27.91%	72.09%	-44.17%

Same goes for State rep district 109. The 109th district was open, and one Steve was replaced with another. Steven Lindberg won this open seat, keeping it in the hands of the democrats.

State rep 109	Westrom	Lindberg	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	210	287	0	497	-77	42.25%	57.75%	-15.49%
Burt Township	117	176	0	293	-59	39.93%	60.07%	-20.14%
Grand Island Twp	12	12	0	24	0	50.00%	50.00%	0.00%
Limestone Twp	60	101	0	161	-41	37.27%	62.73%	-25.47%
Mathias Twp	68	154	0	222	-86	30.63%	69.37%	-38.74%
City of Munising	285	553	0	838	-268	34.01%	65.99%	-31.98%
Munising Twp	360	468	0	828	-108	43.48%	56.52%	-13.04%
Onota Twp	80	121	0	201	-41	39.80%	60.20%	-20.40%
Rock River Twp	163	346	0	509	-183	32.02%	67.98%	-35.95%
	1355	2218	0	3573	-863	37.92%	62.08%	-24.15%

2008 was another democrat year statewide. Obama kept Alger County in the hands of the democrats at the top of the ticket.

President 08	McCain	Obama	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	338	324	13	675	14	50.07%	48.00%	2.07%
Burt Township	179	163	5	347	16	51.59%	46.97%	4.61%
Grand Island Twp	13	14	0	27	-1	48.15%	51.85%	-3.70%
Limestone Twp	104	128	5	237	-24	43.88%	54.01%	-10.13%
Mathias Twp	97	160	4	261	-63	37.16%	61.30%	-24.14%
City of Munising	488	639	22	1149	-151	42.47%	55.61%	-13.14%
Munising Twp	549	545	22	1116	4	49.19%	48.84%	0.36%
Onota Twp	126	132	0	258	-6	48.84%	51.16%	-2.33%
Rock River Twp	294	367	17	678	-73	43.36%	54.13%	-10.77%
	2188	2472	88	4748	-284	46.08%	52.06%	-5.98%

Jack Hoogendyk was thrown to the wolves. 

Senate 08	Hoogendyk	Lenin	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	235	398	25	658	-163	35.71%	60.49%	-24.77%
Burt Township	124	200	9	333	-76	37.24%	60.06%	-22.82%
Grand Island Twp	9	17	0	26	-8	34.62%	65.38%	-30.77%
Limestone Twp	72	154	4	230	-82	31.30%	66.96%	-35.65%
Mathias Twp	59	187	4	250	-128	23.60%	74.80%	-51.20%
City of Munising	305	793	31	1129	-488	27.02%	70.24%	-43.22%
Munising Twp	340	704	36	1080	-364	31.48%	65.19%	-33.70%
Onota Twp	107	144	5	256	-37	41.80%	56.25%	-14.45%
Rock River Twp	195	448	27	670	-253	29.10%	66.87%	-37.76%
	1446	3045	141	4632	-1599	31.22%	65.74%	-34.52%

Stupak had a tougher opponent in Tom Casperson, but between the bad year for the GOP and Stupak's strength, the results were only slightly different.

1st District Congress	Casperson	Stupak	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	236	416	13	665	-180	35.49%	62.56%	-27.07%
Burt Township	187	141	9	337	46	55.49%	41.84%	13.65%
Grand Island Twp	11	16	0	27	-5	40.74%	59.26%	-18.52%
Limestone Twp	70	165	3	238	-95	29.41%	69.33%	-39.92%
Mathias Twp	57	196	2	255	-139	22.35%	76.86%	-54.51%
City of Munising	328	805	12	1145	-477	28.65%	70.31%	-41.66%
Munising Twp	382	712	14	1108	-330	34.48%	64.26%	-29.78%
Onota Twp	101	154	3	258	-53	39.15%	59.69%	-20.54%
Rock River Twp	222	449	12	683	-227	32.50%	65.74%	-33.24%
	1594	3054	68	4716	-1460	33.80%	64.76%	-30.96%

Lindberg won re-election without difficulty.

State rep 109	Takalo	Lindberg	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Au Train Township	242	345	43	630	-103	38.41%	54.76%	-16.35%
Burt Township	124	164	18	306	-40	40.52%	53.59%	-13.07%
Grand Island Twp	9	15	3	27	-6	33.33%	55.56%	-22.22%
Limestone Twp	78	140	5	223	-62	34.98%	62.78%	-27.80%
Mathias Twp	65	159	15	239	-94	27.20%	66.53%	-39.33%
City of Munising	310	700	88	1098	-390	28.23%	63.75%	-35.52%
Munising Twp	374	597	61	1032	-223	36.24%	57.85%	-21.61%
Onota Twp	96	142	18	256	-46	37.50%	55.47%	-17.97%
Rock River Twp	207	425	32	664	-218	31.17%	64.01%	-32.83%
	1505	2687	283	4475	-1182	33.63%	60.04%	-26.41%

Overall, Alger County has very strong democrat leanings. Occasionally, it will break against an Al Gore or Fieger type, but even then it has less ticket splitters than the rest of the UP. This is a Yellow Dog county that isn't all that liberal in culture, but still is democrat and much of that I think has to do with the state workers here. It may be an important county if Stupak retires as the 1st Congressional district is a swing district that can go either way if it is open.

Alcona County - Updated

We're going in alphabetical order, and the county updates are going to be coming back, hopefully in time for the 2010 primaries. Alcona County is first.

For the previous Alcona County Profile from before the 06 election - Click here. 

Background:
Location - Northeastern Lower Michigan
Population estimates - 11,719 (2000 census)
County Seat - Harrisville (Population 514)
Ethnic makeup - 98.0% White, 0.2% Black, 0.6% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.9% of more than one race. 0.7% Hispanic/Latino.

Local Elected Officials as of 2008 election:
County:
Prosecutor - Thomas Jay Weickel - Republican
Sheriff - Douglas Atchison - Republican
Clerk - Patricia Truman - Republican
Treasurer - Anna McCoy - Republican
Register of Deeds - Karen V Healy - Republican
Road Commissioner - Harry Harvey - Republican
County Commissioners - 3 Republicans, 2 Democrats

Township officials :
Alcona - 3 Democrats, 2 Republicans
Caledonia - 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans, 1 No Party Affiliation
Curtis - 9 Republicans, 1 Democrat
Greenbush - 6 Republicans
Gustin - 5 Republicans
Harrisville Twp - 5 Republicans
Hawes - 4 Republicans, 1 Democrat
Haynes - 5 Republicans
Mikado - 4 Republicans, 1 Democrat
Millen - 4 Democrats, 1 Republican
Mitchell - 5 Republicans

-----------------------
Election Results - For all races, I will be posting the results within the County, not the overall district, although I will indicate the winner in commentary. Redistricting took place for the 2002 elections, and that changed many districts.

1998 Results:
1998 was a banner year for the GOP in Michigan. Thank you Geoffrey Fieger. John Engler ran for a third term and got the perfect opponent. That set the stage for a big win.

	Engler	Fieger	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	437	123	3	563	314	77.62%	21.85%	55.77%
Caledonia Twp	309	161	0	470	148	65.74%	34.26%	31.49%
Curtis Twp	269	194	0	463	75	58.10%	41.90%	16.20%
Greenbush Twp	447	171	0	618	276	72.33%	27.67%	44.66%
Gustin Twp	160	73	0	233	87	68.67%	31.33%	37.34%
City of Harrisville	313	166	0	479	147	65.34%	34.66%	30.69%
Harrisville Twp	348	130	0	478	218	72.80%	27.20%	45.61%
Hawes Twp	242	131	0	373	111	64.88%	35.12%	29.76%
Haynes Twp	192	102	0	294	90	65.31%	34.69%	30.61%
Mikado Twp	172	70	0	242	102	71.07%	28.93%	42.15%
Millen Twp	101	49	0	150	52	67.33%	32.67%	34.67%
Mitchell Twp	108	42	0	150	66	72.00%	28.00%	44.00%
Total	3098	1412	3	4513	1686	68.65%	31.29%	37.36%

The Secretary of State race was even more one sided.

	Miller	Parks	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	413	131	6	550	282	75.09%	23.82%	51.27%
Caledonia Twp	312	144	1	457	168	68.27%	31.51%	36.76%
Curtis Twp	276	164	9	449	112	61.47%	36.53%	24.94%
Greenbush Twp	448	149	2	599	299	74.79%	24.87%	49.92%
Gustin Twp	163	59	2	224	104	72.77%	26.34%	46.43%
City of Harrisville	177	41	2	220	136	80.45%	18.64%	61.82%
Harrisville Twp	360	110	5	475	250	75.79%	23.16%	52.63%
Hawes Twp	236	127	2	365	109	64.66%	34.79%	29.86%
Haynes Twp	193	89	3	285	104	67.72%	31.23%	36.49%
Mikado Twp	175	54	6	235	121	74.47%	22.98%	51.49%
Millen Twp	100	44	1	145	56	68.97%	30.34%	38.62%
Mitchell Twp	99	40	2	141	59	70.21%	28.37%	41.84%
Total	2952	1152	41	4145	1800	71.22%	27.79%	43.43%

The Attorney General 's race was where the dems put all their eggs. If the GOP was smarter about this, we would have avoided the Matt Millen of Governors, today. Granholm lost Alcona County, but did respectable in one of the more Republican leaning areas of competitive and somewhat democrat leaning Northeast Michigan. Granholm won the race statewide.

	Smietanka	Granholm	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	333	221	0	554	112	60.11%	39.89%	20.22%
Caledonia Twp	236	215	0	451	21	52.33%	47.67%	4.66%
Curtis Twp	204	233	0	437	-29	46.68%	53.32%	-6.64%
Greenbush Twp	332	258	0	590	74	56.27%	43.73%	12.54%
Gustin Twp	134	87	0	221	47	60.63%	39.37%	21.27%
City of Harrisville	132	90	0	222	42	59.46%	40.54%	18.92%
Harrisville Twp	270	172	0	442	98	61.09%	38.91%	22.17%
Hawes Twp	178	182	0	360	-4	49.44%	50.56%	-1.11%
Haynes Twp	161	118	0	279	43	57.71%	42.29%	15.41%
Mikado Twp	143	86	0	229	57	62.45%	37.55%	24.89%
Millen Twp	76	60	0	136	16	55.88%	44.12%	11.76%
Mitchell Twp	84	54	0	138	30	60.87%	39.13%	21.74%
Total	2283	1776	0	4059	507	56.25%	43.75%	12.49%

Incumbent social moderate to conservative democrats do well. Jim Barcia won Alcona County in the old 5th District. This district was eliminated in Redistricting and is now represented by Bart Stupak in the 1st District. Barcia is now in the State Senate. The old 5th District covered Alcona, Arenac, Bay, part of Genesee, Huron, Iosco, part of Lapeer, part of Saginaw, Sanilac, and Tuscola counties. Barcia is from Bay City. Parts of the district moved to the 1st, new 5th, and 10th districts.

	Brewster	Barcia	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	267	256	5	528	11	50.57%	48.48%	2.08%
Caledonia Twp	199	233	3	435	-34	45.75%	53.56%	-7.82%
Curtis Twp	158	273	8	439	-115	35.99%	62.19%	-26.20%
Greenbush Twp	261	318	4	583	-57	44.77%	54.55%	-9.78%
Gustin Twp	93	124	2	219	-31	42.47%	56.62%	-14.16%
City of Harrisville	109	106	4	219	3	49.77%	48.40%	1.37%
Harrisville Twp	197	245	4	446	-48	44.17%	54.93%	-10.76%
Hawes Twp	122	222	5	349	-100	34.96%	63.61%	-28.65%
Haynes Twp	104	172	1	277	-68	37.55%	62.09%	-24.55%
Mikado Twp	109	113	6	228	-4	47.81%	49.56%	-1.75%
Millen Twp	49	78	1	128	-29	38.28%	60.94%	-22.66%
Mitchell Twp	66	62	4	132	4	50.00%	46.97%	3.03%
Total	1734	2202	47	3983	-468	43.54%	55.28%	-11.75%

The State Senate district also changed much after redistricting. It now connects between Midland and Alpena instead of going up to the Eastern UP. This is the old District 37. Walt North was the winner. The old 37th covered Alcona, Alger, Alpena, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Emmet, Iosco, Luce, Mackinac, Montmorency, Oscoda, Presque Isle, and Schoolcraft counties.

37th State Senate	North	Chase	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	340	191	0	531	149	64.03%	35.97%	28.06%
Caledonia Twp	279	165	0	444	114	62.84%	37.16%	25.68%
Curtis Twp	239	190	0	429	49	55.71%	44.29%	11.42%
Greenbush Twp	382	203	0	585	179	65.30%	34.70%	30.60%
Gustin Twp	149	77	0	226	72	65.93%	34.07%	31.86%
City of Harrisville	154	62	0	216	92	71.30%	28.70%	42.59%
Harrisville Twp	309	136	0	445	173	69.44%	30.56%	38.88%
Hawes Twp	208	150	0	358	58	58.10%	41.90%	16.20%
Haynes Twp	170	111	0	281	59	60.50%	39.50%	21.00%
Mikado Twp	166	70	0	236	96	70.34%	29.66%	40.68%
Millen Twp	77	57	0	134	20	57.46%	42.54%	14.93%
Mitchell Twp	89	51	0	140	38	63.57%	36.43%	27.14%
Total	2562	1463	0	4025	1099	63.65%	36.35%	27.30%

The State Rep district changed much. The old 105th State Rep was based in Gaylord and was solid GOP. The redistrict put them with more democrat-leaning Alpena.  The old 105th covered Alcona, Antrim, Crawford, Kalkaska, Montmorency, Oscoda, and Otsego counties.

105th St Rep	Bradstreet	Felts	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	350	177	0	527	173	66.41%	33.59%	32.83%
Caledonia Twp	269	164	0	433	105	62.12%	37.88%	24.25%
Curtis Twp	243	184	0	427	59	56.91%	43.09%	13.82%
Greenbush Twp	370	191	0	561	179	65.95%	34.05%	31.91%
Gustin Twp	146	74	0	220	72	66.36%	33.64%	32.73%
City of Harrisville	162	52	0	214	110	75.70%	24.30%	51.40%
Harrisville Twp	309	134	0	443	175	69.75%	30.25%	39.50%
Hawes Twp	206	145	0	351	61	58.69%	41.31%	17.38%
Haynes Twp	180	93	0	273	87	65.93%	34.07%	31.87%
Mikado Twp	157	70	0	227	87	69.16%	30.84%	38.33%
Millen Twp	87	52	0	139	35	62.59%	37.41%	25.18%
Mitchell Twp	91	48	0	139	43	65.47%	34.53%	30.94%
Total	2570	1384	0	3954	1186	65.00%	35.00%	29.99%

2000 was a more competitive year. Gore was no Fieger and Bush was no Engler. Bush won by slightly less than 10%.

2000 President	Bush	Gore	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	398	318	14	730	80	54.52%	43.56%	10.96%
Caledonia Twp	347	309	14	670	38	51.79%	46.12%	5.67%
Curtis Twp	277	333	16	626	-56	44.25%	53.19%	-8.95%
Greenbush Twp	408	335	17	760	73	53.68%	44.08%	9.61%
Gustin Twp	197	153	7	357	44	55.18%	42.86%	12.32%
City of Harrisville	118	140	10	268	-22	44.03%	52.24%	-8.21%
Harrisville Twp	429	279	20	728	150	58.93%	38.32%	20.60%
Hawes Twp	260	306	18	584	-46	44.52%	52.40%	-7.88%
Haynes Twp	243	165	10	418	78	58.13%	39.47%	18.66%
Mikado Twp	241	157	11	409	84	58.92%	38.39%	20.54%
Millen Twp	116	105	5	226	11	51.33%	46.46%	4.87%
Mitchell Twp	118	96	7	221	22	53.39%	43.44%	9.95%

Total

3152

2696

149

5997

456

52.56%

44.96%

7.60%

The US Senate race was somewhat of an upset at the time when Stabenow beat Spence Abraham, but I was not shocked at all for several reasons which I won't get into here. 3rd party votes made the difference statewide. Abraham won big in Alcona.

2000 US Senate	Abraham	Stabenow	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	422	284	7	713	138	59.19%	39.83%	19.35%
Caledonia Twp	365	269	12	646	96	56.50%	41.64%	14.86%
Curtis Twp	305	293	9	607	12	50.25%	48.27%	1.98%
Greenbush Twp	441	286	16	743	155	59.35%	38.49%	20.86%
Gustin Twp	225	115	2	342	110	65.79%	33.63%	32.16%
City of Harrisville	139	115	9	263	24	52.85%	43.73%	9.13%
Harrisville Twp	445	226	21	692	219	64.31%	32.66%	31.65%
Hawes Twp	285	268	10	563	17	50.62%	47.60%	3.02%
Haynes Twp	241	152	8	401	89	60.10%	37.91%	22.19%
Mikado Twp	264	124	11	399	140	66.17%	31.08%	35.09%
Millen Twp	121	91	4	216	30	56.02%	42.13%	13.89%
Mitchell Twp	103	82	5	190	21	54.21%	43.16%	11.05%
Total	3356	2305	114	5775	1051	58.11%	39.91%	18.20%

Barcia had an even easier time in the county than in 98 with Fieger off the ticket. He swept every municipality.

Congress - 5th (00)	Actis	Barcia	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	292	360	5	657	-68	44.44%	54.79%	-10.35%
Caledonia Twp	257	326	5	588	-69	43.71%	55.44%	-11.73%
Curtis Twp	163	381	3	547	-218	29.80%	69.65%	-39.85%
Greenbush Twp	260	445	6	711	-185	36.57%	62.59%	-26.02%
Gustin Twp	129	176	2	307	-47	42.02%	57.33%	-15.31%
City of Harrisville	86	158	2	246	-72	34.96%	64.23%	-29.27%
Harrisville Twp	264	354	9	627	-90	42.11%	56.46%	-14.35%
Hawes Twp	144	355	4	503	-211	28.63%	70.58%	-41.95%
Haynes Twp	158	213	4	375	-55	42.13%	56.80%	-14.67%
Mikado Twp	138	236	2	376	-98	36.70%	62.77%	-26.06%
Millen Twp	55	130	2	187	-75	29.41%	69.52%	-40.11%
Mitchell Twp	62	102	5	169	-40	36.69%	60.36%	-23.67%
Total	2008	3236	49	5293	-1228	37.94%	61.14%	-23.20%

Ken Bradstreet had an easy win too in the 105th.

State Rep - 105	Bradstreet	Hefner	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	387	259	0	646	128	59.91%	40.09%	19.81%
Caledonia Twp	363	228	0	591	135	61.42%	38.58%	22.84%
Curtis Twp	281	263	0	544	18	51.65%	48.35%	3.31%
Greenbush Twp	409	279	0	688	130	59.45%	40.55%	18.90%
Gustin Twp	212	99	0	311	113	68.17%	31.83%	36.33%
City of Harrisville	156	78	0	234	78	66.67%	33.33%	33.33%
Harrisville Twp	434	179	0	613	255	70.80%	29.20%	41.60%
Hawes Twp	282	216	0	498	66	56.63%	43.37%	13.25%
Haynes Twp	241	122	0	363	119	66.39%	33.61%	32.78%
Mikado Twp	251	115	0	366	136	68.58%	31.42%	37.16%
Millen Twp	115	74	0	189	41	60.85%	39.15%	21.69%
Mitchell Twp	100	72	0	172	28	58.14%	41.86%	16.28%
Total	3231	1984	0	5215	1247	61.96%	38.04%	23.91%

2002 showed the difference between National Democrat and North Michigan Democrat in Alcona County. Fieger was an aberration which you'll certainly see when I get to some of the democrat strong counties. Granholm performed about the same as Gore in 02. Other democrats won here, including an open seat. Alcona County has some ticket splitting tendencies if the democrats are not social liberals (or entrenched incumbents). Also keep in mind that there are a lot of state workers up north, especially in corrections. They aren't liberal, but will vote for some democrats, and Engler was not popular in North Michigan. Some took it out on Posthumus.

02 Governor	Posthumus	Granholm	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	321	259	2	582	62	55.15%	44.50%	10.65%
Caledonia Twp	241	263	3	507	-22	47.53%	51.87%	-4.34%
Curtis Twp	240	232	5	477	8	50.31%	48.64%	1.68%
Greenbush Twp	320	273	4	597	47	53.60%	45.73%	7.87%
Gustin Twp	133	135	0	268	-2	49.63%	50.37%	-0.75%
City of Harrisville	103	106	3	212	-3	48.58%	50.00%	-1.42%
Harrisville Twp	320	212	7	539	108	59.37%	39.33%	20.04%
Hawes Twp	181	244	2	427	-63	42.39%	57.14%	-14.75%
Haynes Twp	161	169	2	332	-8	48.49%	50.90%	-2.41%
Mikado Twp	164	107	2	273	57	60.07%	39.19%	20.88%
Millen Twp	97	92	2	191	5	50.79%	48.17%	2.62%
Mitchell Twp	106	73	3	182	33	58.24%	40.11%	18.13%
Total	2387	2165	35	4587	222	52.04%	47.20%	4.84%

Secretary of State was an easier win for the GOP. Terri Land had the best numbers of statewide candidates in 2002 across the board. This was an open seat vacated by Candice Miller. She's running for Lt Governor with Mike Bouchard.

02 Sec of State	Land	Hollowell	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	340	204	2	546	136	62.27%	37.36%	24.91%
Caledonia Twp	265	213	3	481	52	55.09%	44.28%	10.81%
Curtis Twp	221	214	4	439	7	50.34%	48.75%	1.59%
Greenbush Twp	358	190	4	552	168	64.86%	34.42%	30.43%
Gustin Twp	145	100	0	245	45	59.18%	40.82%	18.37%
City of Harrisville	106	78	5	189	28	56.08%	41.27%	14.81%
Harrisville Twp	339	157	5	501	182	67.66%	31.34%	36.33%
Hawes Twp	193	189	6	388	4	49.74%	48.71%	1.03%
Haynes Twp	171	138	2	311	33	54.98%	44.37%	10.61%
Mikado Twp	158	98	3	259	60	61.00%	37.84%	23.17%
Millen Twp	99	69	3	171	30	57.89%	40.35%	17.54%
Mitchell Twp	96	50	2	148	46	64.86%	33.78%	31.08%
Total	2491	1700	39	4230	791	58.89%	40.19%	18.70%

The AG's race was close. This was an open seat vacated by Jennifer Granholm. Mike Cox won statewide by about 5500 votes. He defeated then state senator Gary Peters. Peters is now a congressman down in Oakland County. Cox is now running for Governor. 

02 Att. General	Cox	Peters	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	281	242	6	529	39	53.12%	45.75%	7.37%
Caledonia Twp	241	235	6	482	6	50.00%	48.76%	1.24%
Curtis Twp	207	219	6	432	-12	47.92%	50.69%	-2.78%
Greenbush Twp	300	258	6	564	42	53.19%	45.74%	7.45%
Gustin Twp	121	114	3	238	7	50.84%	47.90%	2.94%
City of Harrisville	101	96	3	200	5	50.50%	48.00%	2.50%
Harrisville Twp	297	190	8	495	107	60.00%	38.38%	21.62%
Hawes Twp	166	217	4	387	-51	42.89%	56.07%	-13.18%
Haynes Twp	164	148	2	314	16	52.23%	47.13%	5.10%
Mikado Twp	140	103	4	247	37	56.68%	41.70%	14.98%
Millen Twp	81	86	4	171	-5	47.37%	50.29%	-2.92%
Mitchell Twp	84	65	3	152	19	55.26%	42.76%	12.50%
Total	2183	1973	55	4211	210	51.84%	46.85%	4.99%

Unfortunately for reasons that baffle me, Carl Lenin, I mean Levin is entrenched and always wins big. He needs to be challenged on his record more often. Rocky Raczkowski was thrown to the wolves. He won three times in Oakland County, but Alcona County is 150 miles away. It was a near sweep.

O2 US Senate	Raczkowski	Levin	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	251	313	1	565	-62	44.42%	55.40%	-10.97%
Caledonia Twp	209	293	4	506	-84	41.30%	57.91%	-16.60%
Curtis Twp	172	282	6	460	-110	37.39%	61.30%	-23.91%
Greenbush Twp	258	309	6	573	-51	45.03%	53.93%	-8.90%
Gustin Twp	99	157	1	257	-58	38.52%	61.09%	-22.57%
City of Harrisville	83	117	1	201	-34	41.29%	58.21%	-16.92%
Harrisville Twp	254	260	6	520	-6	48.85%	50.00%	-1.15%
Hawes Twp	137	268	5	410	-131	33.41%	65.37%	-31.95%
Haynes Twp	131	193	2	326	-62	40.18%	59.20%	-19.02%
Mikado Twp	121	138	1	260	-17	46.54%	53.08%	-6.54%
Millen Twp	70	104	4	178	-34	39.33%	58.43%	-19.10%
Mitchell Twp	76	72	2	150	4	50.67%	48.00%	2.67%
Total	1861	2506	39	4406	-645	42.24%	56.88%	-14.64%

Redistricting placed Alcona County in the new 1st district, based in the UP. Bart Stupak is an entrenched incumbent, and won Alcona County big. The 1st district includes all of the UP and all of Northeast Michigan, stretching down to part of Bay County. It's a swing district on paper, but Stupak won a tougher district before redistricting, and this district is even easier for him. It's impressive numbers for someone with new territory in any case, since Alpena (media market) or Saginaw/Bay City (media) areas are also new in the district.

1st District Cong.	Hooper	Stupak	3rd Party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Alcona Twp	202	349	3	554	-147	36.46%	63.00%	-26.53%
Caledonia Twp	161	329	3	493	-168	32.66%	66.73%	-34.08%
Curtis Twp	171	266	4	441	-95	38.78%	60.32%	-21.54%
Greenbush Twp	245	303	3	551	-58	44.46%	54.99%	-10.53%
Gustin Twp	95	151	2	248	-56	38.31%	60.89%	-22.58%
City of Harrisville	68	125	3	196	-57	34.69%	63.78%	-29.08%
Harrisville Twp	223	289	1	513	-66	43.47%	56.34%	-12.87%
Hawes Twp	106	282	2	390	-176	27.18%	72.31%	-45.13%
Haynes Twp	109	208	0	317	-99	34.38%	65.62%	-31.23%
Mikado Twp	113	139	3	255	-26	44.31%	54.51%	-10.20%
Millen Twp	62	112	1	175	-50	35.43%	64.00%	-28.57%
Mitchell Twp	68	83	1	152	-15	44.74%	54.61%	-9.87%
Total	1623	2636	26	4285	-1013	37.88%	61.52%	-23.64%

State Senate was most interesting and shows the Alpena influence on Alcona County. Tony Stamas won the district, but lost the county. Stamas is from M