Weaver's Betrayal

The day before the Republican state convention, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver resigned from the court. Governor Jennifer Granholm quickly appointed Appeals Court judge Alton Davis to replace Weaver, giving democrats a 4-3 majority on the court.

Weaver had been nominated by the Republican party in 1994 and 2002 and had only a few months left in her term. She had filed to run for reelection as an independent months earlier. It was quickly revealed in news reports that the whole situation was masterminded by Weaver. Months earlier, she had contacted judge Davis to recruit him as her replacement on the court. Then she contacted the governor and offered to resign provided that Granholm appoint Weaver's anointed successor. Granholm agreed to the scheme. Weaver never intended to run for election; her filing was a ruse. Resigning allowed Davis to run as an incumbent, giving him the advantageous incumbent designation on the ballot that usually propels incumbent judges to victory.

Weaver's actions constitute a final betrayal of the Republican party.

How did it come to this? Weaver's actions stem from a personal slight and reveal a warped character.

The Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court is elected by the seven members of the court. Traditionally, the post is rotated amongst the judges, with a judge serving two two-year terms as chief before relinquishing the position to another judge. When Republicans achieved a majority on the Michigan Supreme Court, they gained the ability to select one of their own as chief. Since she was the most senior Republican, the moderate Weaver was elected chief in 1998 with the support of her more conservative colleagues.

According to her colleagues on the court, Weaver was incompetent in her position as chief. Accordingly the four more conservative judges decided not to support her for a second two-year term as chief. This was not an ideological issue, as not only the conservatives but also the court's two democrats voted 6-1 not to reappoint Weaver as chief but instead to appoint conservative Maura Corrigan as chief.

Weaver has harbored a bitter grudge against the court's conservatives ever since. She has personally attacked them in print. She has voted with the court's democrats on many legal matters, seemingly out of spite. The court has been dysfunctional and divided. The division is not between Republicans and democrats, but between Republicans and Weaver.

Weaver's backstabbing shouldn't be a surprise. In 2005, only two years into her second term, she announced that she would resign from the court, giving her seat to the democrats. She was apparently talked out of it at the time.

Weaver is good reason to never trust a moderate Republican. She should have been denied renomination in 2002 when her flawed character was already apparent. Unfortunately, Republican party leaders didn't have the foresight then to do so.

------------------

Parting note: Democrat Michigan Supreme Court judges Marilyn Kelly and Michael Cavanagh are both serving their final terms on the court due to age restrictions. Will we see similar switcheroos, consisting of last-minute resignations and appointments, after the election?

Convention Controversy

Here are a couple articles on the controversy over the nomination of the Lieutenant Governor at the state Republican convention.

Smoking Out The Rats In A Snake Pit - Calley vs. Cooper
Insider’s Report on the Lt. Governor’s Nominations and Vote

On a side note, Brenda Lawrence, who is Virg Bernero's pick for Lieutenant Governor, is one of two Michigan members of the anti-gun group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, along with Kalamazoo's Bobby Hopewell.

Hopewell Hates Guns

POLITICAL UPDATE--Immigration

This update focuses on immigration.

James Edwards: Amnesty Means Massive Medicaid Costs
Washington Watcher: GOP Establishment’s Epiphany on Birthright Citizenship—Be Optimistic AND Suspicious!
Ann Coulter: Look Who's 'Nativist' Now!
Ann Coulter: Justice Brennan's Footnote Gave Us Anchor Babies
Allen Wall: How Mexican Law Undercuts “Anchor Baby” Interpretation of U.S. 14th Amendment
Washington Watcher: The Next Roe vs. Wade? Obama’s Pyrrhic Victory in Arizona

For more on immigration, see VDARE.com.

Virg Bernero: Career Politician

Democrat nominee for Governor Virg Bernero is a career politician who has run for office six times in the last decade.

Ingham County election results

Here are the six campaigns:

2000: state representative
2002: state senate
2003: Lansing mayor (lost)
2005: Lansing mayor (won)
2009: Lansing mayor
2010: governor

Michigan Supports Arizona Law, Tea Party

Poll: Mich supports AZ immigration law

EPIC-MRA poll shows Tea Party support

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - While only 5% of poll respondents identify themselves as members of the Tea Party, 44% supports the Tea Party movement, a new EPIC-MRA poll revealed.

The poll of 600 Michigan voters - for WOOD TV8 and our broadcast partners - was taken between August 21-23, and has a margin of error of 4%.

On immigration, 72% of those polled support the recently-passed law in Arizona, with 67% favoring a similar bill in Michigan.

Only 27% said they believe the economy has bottomed out and is improving, with another 33% who said the economy is at the bottom but not getting better. But 37% don't think the economy has hit bottom and will get still worse.

When asked what party they consider themselves in, 36% said Democrats, 39% Republicans and 25% independent/other. But when asked if they're liberal or conservative, 23% said liberal and 49% conservative. Another 29% said they were moderate/other.

EPIC-MRA poll on August 27, 2010

Previous:
Tea Party Popularity
74%

Michigan Republican Convention Summary

Republican Michigander writes an excellent summary of the Michigan Republican convention in East Lansing so that this blog doesn't have to.

The Michigan Republican Convention - 8-28-2010

Stabbed by Diversity

Here is the information on the Michigan serial stabbing case that the media has failed to report.

Diversity Is Strength! It’s Also…Arab Stabbing Attacks

Oshtemo Featherbedding

UPDATE: The benefits have been repealed starting in 2012.

Oshtemo Township trustees are paying themselves well at the taxpayers' expense.

Oshtemo reviews 'generous' board benefits: Trustees may add committee to set compensation

Trustees in Oshtemo are currently offered health insurance at no cost, including dental and vision coverage, as well as life insurance, a pension and long-term care coverage. Those benefits come in addition to an annual base salary of $2,400 and a per diem of $50 per meeting.

Trustees who take on additional responsibilities may have a higher annual salary, and the per diem applies to almost every meeting trustees attend, including committees of the board.

The average trustee in 2010 will earn $7,881. The three full-time board members — Supervisor Elizabeth Heiny-Cogswell, Clerk Deb Everett and Treasurer Nancy Culp — make annual salaries of $63,378.

According to a township subcommittee’s report, Oshtemo Township trustees have a lower base salary but a higher total salary than similarly sized townships in the state. The subcommittee also reported that Oshtemo Township trustees receive “generous” benefit packages compared to other townships.

The committee found that only 22 percent of Michigan townships with similar populations as Oshtemo offer health insurance to their trustees. Most that do offer health insurance limit coverage to the trustee only.

In Oshtemo Township, the seven board members are eligible to receive the same family health insurance plan as township employees.

Most townships surveyed contribute to pension plans, according to the report, and average contributions range from 8 to 15 percent of trustees’ salaries. Oshtemo’s contribution for trustees is 12.5 percent.

Heiny-Cogswell, Borgfjord, and McCormick are democrats who were elected in 2008. McCormick is a democrat nominee for county commissioner this November.

Local News

Local news around Kalamazoo.

Kalamazoo College ranked among the nation's top liberal arts institutions
Western Michigan University ranked among the nation's top universities
Downtown Kalamazoo Arena supporters hope for extension as deadline for tax-free bonds looms
Arcus donation to help fund Kuseske scholarship
Marijuana-enforcement measure won't be on Kalamazoo's 2010 ballot
Oshtemo reviews 'generous' board benefits: Trustees may add committee to set compensation

Kalamazoo County commissioners to debate local preference in contracts
Kalamazoo/Battle Creek airport expects return to profitability
Gun store owner calls for boycott of St. Joseph County Grange Fair
Fred Upton says he will debate Don Cooney in 6th District congressional race
How is Western Michigan University doing? Public comment sought on quality of Kalamazoo school
Candidates file for Southwest Michigan offices in Nov. 2 election
Homeschooling can pave fast track to college

POLITICAL UPDATE--Sovereignty

This update focuses on sovereignty.

Phyllis Schlafly: The Feminist Left Goes Global on Our Money
Gary North: The Globalist Power Grab
Phyllis Schlafly: How Republicans Can Blow the Coming Election
Raven Clabough: Crime, Inc.— The Movement Toward Global Government
William Jasper: The Grasp of Socialist International

United Nations: Eagle Forum: United Nations
North American Union: Eagle Forum Stop SPP
Trans-Texas Corridor: Corridor Watch

Detroit: How Times Change

POLITICAL UPDATE--The Culture War

This update focuses on the culture war.

Angelo Codevilla: America's Ruling Class – And the Perils of Revolution
Gary North: Codevilla's Not-Quite Manifesto
Thomas Sowell: Race, Baseball, and Baloney
Pat Buchanan: The Mosque at Ground Zero
Steve Sailer: James Edwards’ Racism Schmacism—Combating PC Newspeak
Steve Sailer: Jim Webb, The GOP, And The Sammy Sosa Solution
Phyllis Schlafly: The Awesome Power of Family Courts
Steve Sailer: Barack Obama—After Two Rough Years, An Even Bigger Wake-Up Call Is Coming

POLITICAL UPDATES are archived here.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers
By Brian McClanahan

This tome is another in Regnery's popular Politically Incorrect Guide series. The book begins by debunking a number of myths about the Founding Fathers, such as that Thomas Jefferson fathered a child with Sally Hemmings. It explains how the American Revolution was a conservative revolution, with the purpose of preserving the rights of Englishmen. It briefly considers their positions on some of the issues common to both then and now, such as guns, God, and government power.

Most of the book contains brief biographies of many of the Founders. It first considers the "big six": Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, Franklin. It then profiles fourteen "forgotten founders" (Sam Adams, Carroll, Clinton, Dickinson, Gerry, Hancock, Henry, Lee, Macon, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Sherman, Taylor).

The profiles make special mention of their positions on 'politically incorrect' issues such as secession, nullification, federalism vs. antifederalism, central banking. It also examines their positions on slavery. (None thought slavery was a good thing, but they differed over what could be done about it.)

This book makes for interesting and informative reading.

Arguing With Idiots

Arguing With Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government
By Glenn Beck

Conservative radio and television host Glenn Beck has been cranking out books at a frantic pace. One of the more recent is Arguing with Idiots. The book covers a variety of topics of current interest. The format is a conversation with an idiot, providing facts and arguments to debunk his specious claims. The format is similar to that of An Inconvenient Book in that the book has lots of jokes, sidebars, "ADD moments", and more.

The topics covered are capitalism, the Second Amendment, education, energy, unions, illegal immigration, the nanny state, home ownership, economics, US presidents, health care, and the Constitution.

Much of this territory has been covered before, albeit not in the same way. Probably the most original chapter is the one on home ownership, which takes on conventional wisdom that has been embraced by many conservatives. A few idiotic statements managed to slip into this book, such as "we are a nation of immigrants" and "suggesting that minorities from traditionally poorer socioeconomic backgrounds can't be on par with white peers is nonsense". Still, most of this book is well-justified and makes for profitable reading, at least for those not used to deeper fare.

Previous:
Conservative of the Year: Glenn Beck
Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Books in Brief (An Inconvenient Book)

Analysis of the 20th Senate Primary

Tonya Schuitmaker won a surprisingly large victory in the Republican primary for the 20th state senate district. It was also broad-based. While each of the three Republican candidates had a distinct geographical base, Tonya won all three of them. Overall, Tonya won 53%, Lorence Wenke won 28%, and Larry Deshazor won 19%.

Election Magic-Senate District 20
20th District State Senate race: Battle for seat between Robert Jones and Tonya Schuitmaker looks like a toss-up

Incredibly, Wenke did not win a single precinct of his former district. He didn't get as much as 40% in any of them. Perhaps this shouldn't be so surprising though, as Wenke lost the Kalamazoo County portion of his old district in 2004 and 2006, the last two times he ran for election. Both times he was saved by the Calhoun County portion of the district. He survived by fewer than 100 votes in 2004 after voting against an initiative to correctly define marriage, and won by a few points in 2006. In both cases he beat former Rep. Jerry VanderRoest, outspending him by huge margins. Evidently he remains unpopular in his own district, and was overwhelmed by a candidate who could match him dollar-for-dollar.

Wenke did win six precincts (K Twp 1, Kalamazoo City 3, 8, 14, 17, 23) in the 60 district. He tied Tonya in four others, Cooper 5, K Twp 2, Kalamazoo City 5, 19.

Larry won only four precincts, all in Portage. They are Portage 4, 14, 18, 20. His best showing was 41% in Portage 4.

The Gazette calculates that

In Comstock Township where Wenke runs his greenhouse business, Schuitmaker garnered 56 percent of the vote. In Galesburg, where Wenke lives, she won 43 percent of ballots to Wenke’s 39 percent.

In Portage, where DeShazor served on the city council for five years, Schuitmaker won 41 percent of the vote while 33 percent of ballots cast Tuesday went to DeShazor.

In Texas Township, 23 percent of the Republican primary voters supported DeShazor and 57 percent selected Schuitmaker.

Breaking the results down by state house district, we find the following.

District____ Larry Tonya Wenke
60th district__ 14%__ 51%__ 35%
61st district__ 27%__ 48%__ 25%
63rd district__ 13%__ 55%__ 31%
Van Buren____ 6%__ 74%__ 20%

Why did Tonya do so well? It had to be her endorsements. Virtually all of the prominent local Republicans who made endorsements supported her. They ranged from conservatives like Mary Balkema to moderates like Fred Upton and Al Heilman. Some did not endorse anyone publicly, but several prominent local Republicans privately supported her as well. The only local official who this blog is aware of supporting Larry is county commissioner Tim Rogowski. This blog is not aware of any local officials endorsing Wenke.

Wenke spent a lot of money, but self-funding candidates usually lose, as this blog has discussed before. Larry had little money to spend. He was apparently convinced to run by the Yob faction of the state party against the advice of most of his local supporters. This happened after the Yobs were turned down by Tonya and Wenke for consulting work, which Larry hired them for. Many of Larry's previous supporters were upset by his decision to run for senate after spending so much to elect him to the state house in 2008.

So what next? Tonya faces a tough general election race against Robert Jones, who won the democrat primary. The Gazette article discusses this in more depth. This blog suspects that Lorence Wenke has made his last bid for public office. DeShazor will probably recover from his career suicide, perhaps by returning to the Portage city council after Margaret O'Brien (presumably) wins Larry's district in November.

Money on Fire

It's time to ask the burning question: Which local candidate set fire to the biggest pile of money in the 2010 primary election?

The three contestants are Mark Totten, Lorence Wenke, and Grant Taylor.

The contest will be decided based on the the number of dollars spent per vote. (Note that spending totals are based on pre-primary spending reports, so the final ratios will be larger.) Let's look at the numbers!

Mark Totten
Spent: $126,754
Votes: 3876
Dollars per vote: $32.70 per vote

Lorence Wenke
Spent: $249,534
Votes: 8371
Dollars per vote: $29.81 per vote

Grant Taylor
Spent: $53,655
Votes: 737
Dollars per vote: $72.80 per vote

GRANT TAYLOR WINS!!!

POLITICAL UPDATE--The Economy

This update focuses on the economy.

Gary North: Crowding Out Our Future Wealth
Gary North: Economic Warnings From Two Respected Analysts
Gary North: Bonds and the Fading Recovery
Gary North: Shun These Two Bad Investments
Gary North: Desperate Troubles Ahead
Steve Sailer: The Minority Mortgage Meltdown: More Evidence—But Our Elite Doesn’t Want To Know

POLITICAL UPDATES are archived here.

Local News

Local news and election results.

Local election results: Election Magic

Kalamazoo County election results could boost downtown arena's prospects
Tom George going back to the operating room after 10 years in Lansing
Police release sketch of suspect in stabbing of Western Michigan University student
Two Michigan colleges ranked among most religious
Next on Michigan gubernatorial candidates' list: Pick running mates
Don Cooney wants to debate Congressman Fred Upton in every county in 6th District
Grant Taylor spent more than $100,000 on campaign, but lost to Democrat Thomas Batten in the end
Rick Snyder seeks to be Michigan's first moderate GOP governor since William Milliken
WMU’s polling location saw low turnout for primary elections

Analysis of 6th District Congressional Race

Congressman Fred Upton was nominated for a 13th term in the 6th congressional district on Tuesday. The local media has spun this another easy victory for the invincible Upton. But Upton is smart enough to know better. Jack came closer to defeating Upton than any other primary challenger than he has had.

Let's break down the numbers.

http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/10PRI/06006000.html
http://www.electionmagic.com/results/mi/K39results/K3900101001.htm

County_______ TOTAL Jack Fred__ Jack %

ALLEGAN____ 10,760 4,139_ 5,024 45.2%
BERRIEN_____ 21,120 7,399 10,129 42.2%
CALHOUN______ 974__ 289__ 543 34.7%
CASS________ 4,944_ 1,929_ 2,084 48.1%
KALAMAZOO_ 36,114 11,380 15,492 42.3%
ST. JOSEPH___ 6,146_ 2,598_ 2,762 48.5%
VAN BUREN__ 11,509_ 3,810_ 5,971 39.0%

Totals_______ 91,567 31,544 42,005 42.9%

Breaking down Kalamazoo County, we find the following.
61st district___ 18313_ 5828_ 7660 43.2%
60th district___ 10116_ 2100_ 3379 38.3%
63rd district____ 9853_ 3386_ 4364 43.7%

The numbers are surprising. One might think that Jack's strength would be in the 61st district, which he represented for six years, but his performance there was about average. His best performance was in St. Jospeh and Cass counties, which are largely farming territory. It isn't clear why this would be. Fred hasn't done anything to upset farmers that I know of. Jack also got 42% in Berrien County, which is shocking given this is Fred's base. This is far better than Dale Shugars did there in 2002. Aside from the anomoly of Calhoun (only three precincts), Fred did best in the city of Kalamazoo (moderates, democrat crossovers) and VanBuren (??). In Kalamazoo County, Jack won Alamo 1 and 2, Cooper 3 and 4, Prairie Ronde, Schoolcraft 4, Texas 1, and Kalamazoo 14.

Were democrat crossovers a factor? Doubtless there were some, but if there were a lot, turnout would have been higher in the city of Kalamazoo and outside Kalamazoo County where there weren't democrat legislative primaries.

http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/02PRI/06006000.html

Compare Jack to previous Upton challengers.
Year Challenger Challenger %
2010 Jack Hoogendyk_ 43%
2002 Dale Shugars___ 32%
1990 (don't remember) 40%

Jack got 10000 almost more votes than Dale did in 2002, while Fred got about 2000 fewer.

All of this suggests that voters were not so much pro-Jack as anti-incumbent. We have seen a rising anti-incumbent sentiment nationally. It was not obvious locally before the election, but it was manifested at the polls. Also interesting is the fact that Upton's proteges did much better than him, with John Proos and Al Pscholka cruising to easy victories.

It is interesting to contrast Jack and Dale's campaigns. Both were heavily outspent, but Shugars had something like three times as much money to work with. Both were endorsed by Right to Life. The NRA endorsed Shugars in 2002 and Upton in 2010. Shugars had many candidates and a few elected officials endorse him (Jerry VanderRoest, Jack, Fulton Sheen, Margaret O'Brien, Nasim Ansari, John Zull, etc.). Jack had no elected officials endorse him that I know of other than his wife Erin, who is a Texas Township Trustee. Most of those previously listed endorsed Upton or remained neutral. Jack had support from the Tea Party movement.

So what next? Jack had a strong enough showing to remain a plausible future contender. Redistricting will change the boundaries of all Michigan's congressional districts for 2012, when Michigan will lose a seat. Unless the 6th district is completely dismantled or merged with another district, it will have to expand into neighboring counties such as Allegan, Barry, Calhoun, or Branch. Adding new territory would make the district more competitive in the primary.

Jack announced that he would run only 3 1/2 months before the primary election. If he runs again, he should start much earlier. His showing this time may be strong enough to attract more funding, perhaps from a group like the Club for Growth. It is also possible that some other Republican who thinks Upton is vulnerable might challenge him next time.

Election Results

This post has quick results, more detailed analysis will come later. Republican turnout was much higher than democrat across the state.

Governor and Congress
State Senate
State House
Kalamazoo County

Governor:
Republican: Snyder 36%, Hoekstra 27%, Cox 23%, Bouchard 12%, George 2%. What a disaster. Four more years of failure. More thoughts later.
Democrat: Bernero 59%, Dillon 41%. No shock given the unions all-out push for Bernero.

Congress:
1. Benishek leads Allen by 1 votes! Recount!
2. Huizinga beats Riemersma by about 800 votes.
3. Amash 40%, Heacock 26%, Hardiman 24%. Club for Growth and conservatives win a big one here.
6. Upton 57%, Hoogendyk 43%. It is shocking that this race was this close given Upton's 20:1 funding advantage. There was a tide of anti-incumbent sentiment that nobody, including me, saw coming. This was the closest that any challenger has come to Upton, far surpassing Shugars in 2002. What if Jack had had more support?
7. Walberg 58%, Rooney 32%. Not close. Hometown beats carpetbagger.
9. Rachowski 42%, Welday 28%. Welday sent me 500 emails, and it did him no good.
12. Levin 76%, Switalski 24%. Not close.
13. Clarke 47%, Kilpatrick 41%. Goodbye and good riddance.

State Senate:
7. Colbeck 31%, Whyman 27%, Mufakh 22%, Osterman 19%. Right to Life endorsement win this one. Munfakh's money didn't help him.
10. Paul Gieleghem beats Carl Marlinga by 200 votes.
11. Brandenburg 38%, Drolet 28%, Meltzer 27%. Surprising given Brandenburg's geographic disadvantage.
12. Marleau 32% Russell 25%. No surprise.
18. Warren beats Byrnes. Ann Arbor wins it.
20. Republican: Schuitmaker 53%, Wenke 28%, DeShazor 19%. Endorsements win this one for Tonya. She wins almost every precinct. Wenke remains disliked. He also lost his precinct delegate race, finishing last!
Democrat: Jones 63%, Totten 27%. About what this blog predicted.
25. Pavlov 42%, Courser 33%, Hager 26%. No big surprise.
29. Lagrand 58%, Dean 42%. Not a big surprise.
33. Calley 57%, Trebesh 43%. Trebesh's money made it somewhat close.

State House:
61. Thomas Batten got 2910 votes. No results how many write-in votes Grant Taylor got yet. I'll guess 500.
79. Pscholka 65%, Petersen 20%. No Tea Party here. Interesting Pscholka did better than his boos Upton.
80. Nesbitt 50%, Hartmann 17%. Good. Right to Life wins again.
87. Callton 47%, Fabiano 27%. Right to Life wins another one.
105. Dennis Lennox crushed with only 7%! Ouch!

Kalamazoo County:
County Commission:
3. Barnard 60%, Sweet 40%
6. Seals 63.5%, Thompson 36.5%. Incumbent democrat loses. Thompson's age was likely a factor, as he is 80-something and has been acting eratic.
11. Rogowski 58%, Cross 42%.
12. McCormick 52%, Nieuwenhuis 30%, Spicer 18%. Shocker. Nieuwenhuis was the incumbent. McCormick was elected an Oshtemo trustee in 2008 based on straight ticket voting. He has no yard signs and no visible campaign. Did he turn out the nutty democrat base in a low turnout election? Things just got easier for Republican Brandt Iden, who got more than twice as many votes as the democrats combined.
16. Gisler 57%, O'Keefe 43%. Conservative wins.

Millages pass in Comstock Twp, K Twp, Comstock Schools, fail in Comstock schools.

Kansas:
Todd Tiahrt loses narrowly.
Tim Huelskamp wins! Club for Growth wins again.
Mike Pompeo wins! Club for Growth wins again.
Kris Kobach wins! Kobach authored the Arizona immigration law.

Missouri:
Missouri says HELL NO to Obamacare 71% to 29%!

2010 Primary Races to Watch

It's election day. Make sure to vote. This blog will discuss results after the polls close. Here are some of the races of interest around the state.

2010 Election Preview

6 House races to watch
Senate races to watch
House races to watch

Governor: Obviously. Will it be Cox, Hoekstra, or Snyder on the Republican side? Dillon or Bernero for the democrats?

Congress:
1. Allen or Benishek? Establishment or Tea Party?
2. Kuipers/Huizinga/Riemersma/Cooper. Which conservative will win?
3. Hardiman/Heacock/Amash. Conservatives root for Amash.
6. Upton/Hoogendyk. Will Jack do better or worse than Dale Shugars eight years ago?
7. Walberg or Rooney? Walberg is a conservative champion.
9. Welday or Rachowski?
12. Can Switalski topple Sander Levin?
13. Will Carolyn Kilpatrick finally be defeated by Hansen Clarke?

State Senate:
7. Munfakh/Colbeck/Whyman/Osterman. Endorsements split in this race.
10. Paul Gieleghem versus Carl Marlinga for the democrats.
11. Drolet/Meltzer/Brandenberg. Bloody primary.
12. Marleau/Garfield/Rizzo/Russell. Marleau is the favorite.
18. Byrnes v. Warren for the democrats.
20. See below.
25. Pavlov/Hager/Courser. Two state reps and Tea Party.
29. Lagrand v. Dean for the democrats.
33. Calley/Trebesh. Can self-funding elect Trebesh?

State House:
61. Can democrat Grant Taylor beat Thomas Batten as a write-in? This blog says be doesn't get more than 20%.
79. Can Tea Party guy Paul Petersen beat Upton staffer Al Pscholka?
80. Will conservative Aric Nesbitt beat the competition?
87. Will Mike Callton beat his opponents?

20th senate district
On the Republican side, each of Larry Deshazor, Tonya Schuitmaker, Lorence Wenke could plausibly win. Tonya and Wenke have been hammering each other with negative ads accusing each other of being tax/spend/borrow/regulators, more or less correctly. Tonya has most establishment support, but geography is against her. Wenke has money. DeShazor has geography. Will voters sick of negative ads back him? It's possible. Similar things have happened in the South Dakota governor race in 2002 and in California 3 in 2004.

On the democrat side, Mark Totten has spent a small fortune attacking state rep. Robert Jones. He has attacked Jones on the arena tax, Colony Farm Orchard, and prescription drug liability. Only the first would seem to be a clear winner even in a democrat primary. Some observers think Totten will win, but this blog doesn't see him getting more than 1/3 of the vote.

Kansas: Go Todd Tiahrt, Tim Huelskamp, and Mike Pompeo!

Amash, Riemersma Lead Polls

The Grand Rapids Press conducted polls in the 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts.

Press poll shows Jay Riemersma leading Republican field to succeed Pete Hoekstra, but 2nd District race remains too close to call
Upstart Justin Amash builds support in outlying areas of 3rd Congressional District but remains within reach of rivals, Press poll shows
Press Poll: 2nd, 3rd Congressional Districts

The results:

3rd District:
28% Amash
23% Hardiman
18% Heacock
<5% others

2nd District:
22% Riemersma
15% Huizinga
15% Cooper
13% Kuipers
<5% others

University Websites

Frustration.edu

I would add 'diversity' to the circle on the left.

POLITICAL UPDATE--Government

This update focuses on government.

Chuck Baldwin: "Top Secret America": The Rest Of The Story
National Review: Ten Reasons to Oppose Dodd-Frank
Phyllis Schlafly: Obama Takes Illinois Mistakes Nationwide
Will Grigg: Police Kill a City
Gary North: Alien vs. Predator
Walter Williams: Government Aggravated Tragedy
Pat Buchanan: Bailing Out Politicians Now?
Will Grigg: Economic Hitmen Target You
Gary North: Busted: Governments, Pensions, Unions
Steven Malanga: The Municipal Debt Racket
Chris Maloney: Good Luck and Good Hunting?

POLITICAL UPDATES are archived here.

Election News

Election news around Kalamazoo.

Tuesday's primary promises hot races for Southwest Michigan voters
Richland Township trustee challenger Paul Foust says Deb Robinson is a 'liberal lion,' he's better suited for the job
Three board seats contested in St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners race
Editorial: 20th Senate district: We choose Tonya Schuitmaker and Robert Jones
GOP candidate Mike Cox makes stop in Kalamazoo, confident going into final weekend
Kalamazoo's Metro Transit rider slide continues: Another double-digit drop recorded in June
Candidates for state Senate's 20th District talk economy, education, taxes at debate
Video: 20th District Senate seat candidates debate in Kalamazoo
Editorial: Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners
Two seek GOP nod for state Senate 21st District
One Democrat drops out of Van Buren County board race: 2 Republicans vie for nomination in District 3
Editorial: Aric Nesbitt has background, knowledge in GOP 80th district House race
Write-in candidate for Michigan House contributes nearly $106,000 to own campaign
Texas Township approves $60 special assessment for road repairs
Editorial: McCann's city experience bodes well for moving into state politics
Six from GOP vie to replace Schuitmaker in state House 80th District

In the race for U.S. Congress, Republican Jack Hoogendyk is guided by conservative principles
U.S. Congressman Fred Upton looks toward leadership role on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee
Jack Hoogendyk vs. Fred Upton -- Read how they stand on the different issues, immigration, taxes
Editorial: Endorsement: Upton in the GOP race for U.S. House 6th District