News Manager

Election Results

*Updated Election Results in Bold 

August 17, 2012

 

This report updates the previously posted pre-primary information, with information about some key results for MAGE members’ background.

 As you know, the primary election is coming up soon, and we encourage MAGE members to vote on Tuesday, August 7th.  In three quarters of state legislative races, the primary essentially "is" the election because of the predominance of one party or the other in these races.  Below is a list of what we believe to be the top 10 most competitive primary races in the State House this year.  The first five are Democratic primaries and the second five are Republican primaries.

Democrat

69th District: Sam Singh is the former Mayor of East Lansing and City Council member and is running against Susan Schmidt, former Chief of Staff to Representative Mark Meadows.  This is a very tight race, and both candidates have been both heavily fundraising and campaigning. 

Sam Singh beat Susan Schmidt 53 percent to 47 percent of the vote.  Singh will face Susan McGullicuddy in the general election.

28th District:  Current Representatives Lesia Liss and Jon Switalski will be facing one another in the newly drawn up House District.  This race has also recently intensified when the two legislators took opposite sides during the abortion bill debates.  Most labor support has gone to Switalski, including the support of the Michigan Nurses Association, and the UAW. 

Rep. Jon Switalski won in this primary with 65 % of the vote.  He had 4,282 votes, while Rep. Liss only received 2,265.  Switalski will face Republican Steven Klusek in November.

48th District: Patrick “Shorty” Gleason, a Genesee County commissioner and also the former head of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, is running against Pam Faris, Mott Community College trustee as well as wife of former Lieutenant Governor John Cherry.  Labor support in this race is split fairly evenly between the two candidates.  Faris has been endorsed by the United Auto Workers, AFL-CIO, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Service Employees International Union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, the Michigan Laborers Council, Planned Parenthood, to name a few.  Gleason has been endorsed by unions such as the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 324, and the Michigan Association of Police Organizations.  In this extremely tight race, Pam Faris beat Patrick Gleason by only 26 votes and it appears that Gleason is challenging the election results. 

4th District: The 4th District is the state’s largest Democratic primary, with eleven candidates running for the same spot.  Adam Hollier, former policy staffer for Senator Bert Johnson, is the district’s front runner.    In this large primary, Rose Mary Robinson got the most votes over Adam Hollier and the nine other Dems running.  She ended up with 1,989 votes, beating Adam Hollier by about 300 votes.

6th District:  Current Representatives Maureen Stapleton and Rashida Tlaib are another set of current Democratic Representatives now facing the same primary due to the newly drawn up districts.  The district covers parts of Detroit and is heavily Democratic.  Rep. Tlaib has received PAC donations from education unions including the Michigan Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers- Michigan.  Maureen Stapleton has received support from the Detroit Regional Chamber and the Michigan Townships Association.  This race was close the throughout the entire evening as the votes came in from each precinct.  In the end, Rep. Rashida Tlaib took the 6th District with 52% of the vote.  She had 5,237 votes, compared to Rep. Stapleton’s 4,525.

Republican

83rd District:  Representative Paul Muxlow may have trouble in this Republican primary against former Port Huron Fire Chief of nine years, Bob Eick.    It appears that Mr. Eick was recruited by the conservative education group Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP), unhappy about Rep. Muxlow's centrist votes. The district did not change during redistricting; it covers all of Sanilac County, two townships in St. Clair County, and the city of Port Huron.  Rep. Paul Muxlow ends up on top in this primary.  He beat former Port Huron Fire Chief, Bob Eick, by about 140 votes, despite GLEP spending $100,000 on negative ads.

94th District:  Fellow Saginaw County Commissioners Ann M. Doyle of Freeland and Tim Kelly of Saginaw are running against each other in this 55.2% Republican-based district.  Tim Kelly won against fellow Saginaw County Commissioner, 51 to 44 %.

104th District: Current Representative Wayne Schmidt is running against the very conservative Tea Partier, Jason Gillman.  Jason Gillman is currently a conservative blogger.  Rep. Wayne Schmidt won convincingly against Jason Gillman, making this the second major Tea Party loss, behind Clark Durant’s loss, this primary election.

93rd District: Current Assistant Attorney General Tom Leonard is running in this district, which is just north of Lansing.  He is running against Kevin Kirk, Jeremiah Napier, and Michael Frederick Trebesh.  Michael Frederick Trebesh is wealthy, self-funded, and is considered to be a Tea Party candidate.  The district has a 56.5% GOP base, and Leonard is by far the favorite to win.  Tom Leonard pulled off a win in this heavily Republican district.  Tom Leonard and Kevin Kirk took the lead early against Michael Trebesh, and eventually Tom Leonard won by about 200 votes.    

88th District:  Roger Victory, a Hudsonville farmer, is the favorite to win in this 77.1% Republican base district.  Attorney Amanda Van Essen will not make it an easy win for him however.   Roger Victory only won by 88 votes in this district against Amanda Van Essen. 


Other Key Primary Results:

  •  Bledsoe/Tinsley-Talabi:  The two Detroit incumbents had to run against each other due to the new Republican-drawn   districts.  Rep. Bledsoe lost to Rep. Alberta Tinsley-Talabi by only a handful of votes
  •  Womack/Olumba:  Another case of Detroit lawmakers being pitted against each other due to redistricting.  Rep. John Olumba won this race against Rep. Jimmy Womack with 52 % of the vote.
  • Sarah Roberts/DiMaria: Former Representative Sarah Roberts beat Philip DiMaria in what was expected to be a tough battle.  Sarah Roberts ended up getting about 75% of the vote, while DiMaria got 15%. 
  • Abed/Cascarilla: In one of the closest races of the election, Theresa Abed beats out Andrea Cascarilla for this Democratic spot by only 23 votes.  Abed will face off against current Representative Deb Shaughnessy in the November election.
  •  Kurt Damrow/Grimshaw: Rep. Kurt Damrow became the first House Republican in the term limits era to lose a primary election.  Damrow lost by more than 700 votes to Tuscola County Register of Deeds, Dan Grimshaw.  Damrow did not actively campaign for reelection amid a series of personal issues this term.