Its Over! Now for Some Answers

In a previous post we mentioned 5 points to watch during this years election cycle in the State of Michigan. Some of the answers to these questions came about explicitly as election night moved along (Obama winning in Michigan, Republicans hanging on to the House Majority) but some questions were not as easily answered.

One of the big questions posed regarded Michigans 6 state ballot proposals ranging from Collective Bargaining Rights to Campaign Finance Reform. How did each proposal fare?

12-1: The Emergency Manager Law
This is basically a referendum stating that in times of crisis, the governor would be allowed to appoint an Emergency Manager to act in place of local government officials in the handling of financial planning, reorganization of government, and emergency asset managemenet.

Yes: 2,044,591
No: 2,251,107

PROPOSAL REJECTED

12-2: Amend Constitution Regarding Collective Bargaining
Give Unions collective bargaining rights. Eliminate current state and local laws disallowing collective bargaining and labor unions.

Yes: 1,837,803
No: 2,531,310

PROPOSAL REJECTED

12-3: Amend Constitution to Establish a Standard for Renewable Energy
Require utility companies to use 25% renewable energy sources by 2025. Dont raise rates on homeowners to compensate for the funding of the project.Encourage use of Michigan made equipment and employment of Michigan Residents.

Yes: 1,622,177
No: 2,733,739

PROPOSAL REJECTED

12-4: Establish Michigan Quality Home Care Council and Provide Collective Bargaining Rights
Allow home caregivers to join and bargain collectively with the MQHCC and esentially become part of their organization/council.

Yes: 1,910,358
No: 2,461,069

PROPOSAL REJECTED

12-5: Limit Enactment of New Taxes by State Government
Expand bases of Taxation (Rasie Taxes).

Yes: 1,344,612
No: 2,970,068

PROPOSAL REJECTED

12-6: Amend Constitution Regarding Construction of International Bridges and Tunnels
Allow for use of state funds to acquire land, design, construct, finance, and promote these projects.

Yes: 1,751,931
No: 2,592,185

PROPOSAL REJECTED

Apparently the people of Michigan dont feel as if these were the right changes to make to their state...

Did Pete Pull the Upset??
No. The Senatorial Battle saw Debbie Stabenow (D) defeating potential dark horse and upset minded Pete Hoekstra (R) by a margin of about 1 Million votes. In other words Mr. Hoekstra got beaten pretty badly.

And What About the Voter Turnout?
Michigan actually saw a decrease in the number of voters that made it to the polls this year. Dropping from 5,039,080 million in 2008 to just 4,772,609 million on Tuesday. That is a 5.28% decrease in voters, something that traditionally should favor the Republican Party/Candidate. One should note that the margin of victory for Obama was lower during this election, but the state still remained blue.



 http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/12GEN/  
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Statewide_Bal_Prop_Status_145801_7.pdf
http://www.michigan.gov/

The 5 Point Plan: 5 Things to Watch in Michigan

Election day is finally upon us. No more political advertisements littering the airwaves, no more polls, and No more media banter (well.. less banter). It seems as if the American populous is generally ready for this election to be over, the authors included. But as we lowly citizens sit back in front of our televisions tonight and watch as the votes are tallied, we should take a small amount of pride in the fact that we have just exercised one of the greatest freedoms available to us. Its been a long arduous election that tonight will finally come to a conclusion. We encourage everyone who may be reading this, regardless of party affiliation to get out and cast your vote today.

The Presidential election is just one of many races on the ballot, especially in our state of Michigan. One could almost argue that the more important elections on this ballot come in the form of local ordinances and statewide regional elections. This is something that hopefully all Michigan residents will remember when visiting the polls today.

An online article from Michigan Live highlights the "5 questions to ponder" during this years election.

• Will Michigan's Ballot proposals be approved?
• Will Michigan's Republicans hang on to the State House Majority?
• Will Mitt Romney get a boost from Michigan? 
• Could Pete Hoekstra pull a huge political upset?
• How many people will show up to vote?

These are all pertinent questions that we will be able to answer tomorrow but for now all we can do is sit back and enjoy the last day of what is sure to be a very exciting culmination to this election season.

p.s. - The answer to that third question is almost undoubtedly "no" but in this country anything can happen.

Get Out The Vote!

With the election only two days away, volunteers across Michigan for both political parties have stepped up their game!  It is said that this weekend alone, the GOP has knocked on over 200,000 doors in Michigan and made well over 500,000 phone calls.  People are expecting voter turnout to drop from the 2008 election and as Michigan remains on the edge between a swing state and a democratic state, both parties feel that the "get out the vote" campaigns will really benefit their own parties interests.  The goal is to get people to show up to the polls and vote and these volunteers will be working incredible amounts of hours to make sure people turn out!

Romney Ads Back In Michigan

The Romney campaign has put out a slew of advertisements on gas stations across the state.  Most of these advertisements have been concentrated within Detroit.  Most ads are showing up on the digital screen that most consumers use while filling up their tanks.  The ad criticizes President Obama and his energy policies, trying to show that hopeful Mitt Romney will be able to implement plans that drive the cost of gasoline down.   Although it is unknown just how much the campaign spent on these advertisements, the last minute surge of money to Michigan shows that the Romney camp has not completely given up hopes yet on Michigan.

Pete Hoekstra (Candidate for Senate) Hopeful?

Pete Hoekstra, running against Debbie Stabenow for US Senate has come out to say "the race isn't over."  Many people counted this race out due to the fact that Stabenow has always been up in the polls, and by a pretty large margin- 5-14% at times.  Hoekstra is relying on Romney's possible success in Michigan to poll him out from behind.  He believes that on election day he does in fact still have a chance to win!  The battling between Hoekstra and Stabenow is getting fiercer than it ever has before with both parties drawing in money from super PAC's to advertise for their campaign.  The debate debacle in the beginning of the month (where neither party could agree on the amount or location of possible debates) has brought a lot of negative attention to both candidates campaigns.  With the election day fast approaching- 10 days away - a lot is at stake for these two senate hopefuls.

Obama and Romney Tied in One Michigan Poll

The latest Michigan poll released by Fox News Detroit, conducted by Foster McCollum White Baydoun has concluded by their results that  President Obama and Mitt Romney are tied at 47% in the polls. The poll, taken by 1,000 participants had Obama leading by a mere .34%.  Although this poll new poll has shown a drastic shift towards Romney,  most analysts are still calling Michigan a win for Obama, granting the Obama/Biden ticket with Michigan's 16 electoral votes.  As you can see in the upper right hand poll tracker- Real Clear Politics has Obama still ahead of Romney by 4%.  To some, Michigan is believed to have become the latest 'toss up' state in the election race.


http://www.latinospost.com/articles/6034/20121025/michigan-election-poll-2012-obama-romney-tied.htm

State Supreme Court Elections!

Confused?  So are many citizens of Michigan.  One of the main reasons supreme court elections are not in the lime light during an election year is because they are buried at the bottom of the ballot in the non-partisan section underneath all of the ballot proposals taking place in Michigan. Voters will have two choices between 7 candidates to serve full terms (8 years) in the Michigan Supreme Court and the choice between 3 candidates to serve a two year term.  Although the election is 12 days away, both state parties began airing attack ads on the justices whom the opposing party supports.  Although it seems like a short amount of time, 12 days is a long enough period to help the public get exposure to some of these candidates for the first time.   The main concern is that voters will not fill out a complete ballot and fail to recognize which candidates are endorsed by which party, although technically the section is non-partisan.