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MIDTERM ELECTION 2014
BIG DAY FOR REPUBLICANS SNYDER EARNS SECOND TERM; G.O.P. TAKES CONTROL OF U.S. SENATE
MIDTERM ELECTION RESULTS STATE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR Rick Snyder (R)
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR Brian Calley (R) SECRETARY OF STATE Ruth Johnson (R)
STATE JUDICIAL
ATTORNEY GENERAL Bill Schuette (R)
MICHIGAN LEGISLATIVE MICHIGAN STATE SENATE Rebekah Warren (D)
MICHIGAN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Jeff Irwin (D)
U.S. LEGISLATIVE U.S. SENATE Gary Peters (D)
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Debbie Dingell (D)
WASHTENAW COUNTY PROBATE COURT Julia Owdziej (D)
Snyder reelected In dark day to second term for Dems., By nearly five point margin, governor rides on record to defeat Schauer By BEN ATLAS Daily Staff Reporter
CIRCUIT COURT Patrick Conlin (D)
ANN ARBOR
MAYOR Christopher Taylor (D) CITY COUNCIL Sumi Kailasapathy (D) Chuck Warpehoski (D) Julie Grand (D) Graydon Kraphol (D) Kirk Westphal (D)
REGENTS Too close to call WEATHER TOMORROW
TOP: Republican Gov. Rick Snyder celebrates after being reelected to a second term at the Renaissance Center in Detroit (JAMES COLLER/Daily). BOTTOM LEFT: U.S. Senator-elect Gary Peters (D) celebrates after being elected to his first term at the MGM Grand Detroit (AMANDA ALLEN/Daily). BOTTOM RIGHT: Attorney General Bill Schuette (R) addresses attendees at the Michigan Republican Party’s watch party (JAMES COLLER/Daily).
HI: 51 LO: 30
Michigan voters have granted four more years to the “nerd.” Republican Gov. Rick Snyder won reelection Tuesday, defeating Democratic challenger Mark Schauer in a closer-than-expected campaign. With most precincts in the state reporting, Snyder captured 51 percent of the vote compared to Schauer’s 47 percent. In the last few days before the election, Snyder and Schauer were close in the polls with the Detroit Free Press reporting a two-point lead in Snyder’s favor on Oct. 29. In his victory speech at the Renaissance Center in Detroit Tuesday night, Snyder emphasized the economic trouble the state had long endured and his efforts to fundamentally change its course. “Our spirit was being broken,”
Snyder said. “It was not the time to fix Michigan; that was not going to be good enough. It was time to reinvent Michigan.” In his speech, Snyder said there was plenty of evidence of an economic turnaround. He pointed to the creation of nearly 300,000 private sector jobs, the increase in the value of Michigan homes and the greater number of college graduates taking jobs in the state as indicators of success. Yet despite Snyder’s belief in the success of his first term, he maintained there was much work to be done in the next four years. “When you have success like this what’s the next thing you need to do? It’s not to stay complacent, it’s time to accelerate and go even faster,” Snyder said. Snyder hinted at some of his goals for his second term, like filling tens of thousands of skilled trade jobs, helping young people connect with education opportunities and improving access to career technical education, all of which he hopes will lead to more well-paying middle class jobs. Four years after running on
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a pledge to reinvent Michigan’s economy, Snyder was able to secure a second term largely on his fulfillment of that promise. His supporters point to his hands-on approach to Detroit’s recovery as a signature accomplishment of his first term. The state legislature, the city and its creditors and pensioners struck a Grand Bargain that allowed the city to move ahead with its bankruptcy proceedings, which will wrap up this month. On higher education, Snyder cut state funding in 2011 with the promise to raise it again in subsequent years. He has incrementally increased the funding but has yet to return it to the 2011 levels. Consequently, Schauer attempted to brand himself as the “education governor” in his campaign, calling for its funding to be restored to pre-2011 levels upon election to office. In terms of the statewide economy, Snyder repealed the Michigan Business Tax and replaced it with a flat tax to appeal to new businesses, and each of his last two budgets have resulted in a surplus. Additionally, the state’s 7.2-percent See SNYDER, Page 4A
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INDEX
Peters wins Democratic U.S. Senate candidate bucks national trend By SHOHAM GEVA Daily Staff Reporter
U.S. House Rep. Gary Peters (D–Detroit) will be the next U.S Senator from Michigan. Peters, who has served in the U.S House of Representatives for five years, faced off against Terri Lynn Land, former Michigan Secretary of State. The race was called by CNN and the Detroit Free Press at 9 p.m, and as of press time early Wednesday morning with 95 percent of precincts reporting, Peters led Land 55 percent to 41 percent. Minutes after Peters’ projected win was announced, Land called Peters to concede. She did not release a statement, talk to the press or speak to the Republican watch party in
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Detroit following her concession. Peters will succeed fellow Democrat Carl Levin, who has served in the U.S. Senate for more than 35 years. The seat was originally expected to be hotly contested and potentially a key race to determine which party would be the overall majority in the Senate. However, Peters, who maintained a slight lead in the polls over Land throughout much of the general election season, pulled away from his opponent significantly by the last quarter of the race to a double-digit lead. “Michigan was obviously a squandered opportunity for the Republicans,” Political Science Prof. Michael Traugott said Tuesday night. “Her campaign got off to a bad start because of the initial interaction with the media, so her campaign team decided to hide her from reporters and restricted her access to voters at public events, so she never See PETERS, Page 4A
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