Election Day ballot expected to be long

Voters will be choosing new officeholders in the state’s four top elective offices as well as deciding the composition of the state’s congressional delegation, the state House and Senate and the fate of as many as five statewide ballot proposals..

The most watched race will likely be that to succeed three-term Republican Gov. John Engler, who is barred by term limits from seeking a fourth term. Running to succeed him are Democratic state Attorney General Jennifer Granholm, fresh off a big win in a very contentious August primary with two political veterans, and Republican Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, who wants to continue Engler’s legacy of tax cuts and welfare reform..

The campaign “is going to be a continuation of what she said in the primary,” Granholm spokesman Chris De Witt said. “Education will be the prime issue, as well as health care and prescription drugs.”.

Posthumus and Granholm’s running mates, whose election for lieutenant governor is decided with the same checkmark as that for governor, are both veterans of the state Senate. They are Sens. Loren Bennett (R-Canton Twp.) and John Cherry Jr. (D-Clio).
“Posthumus has been a part of the problem,” De Witt said, referring to the state’s budget woes. “His party has been in control of the Legislature and the executive branch.”.

The Posthumus campaign has been countering those messages by saying Granholm is intent on raising taxes for Michigan voters by supporting a “tweaking” of Proposal A to allow for increases in property taxes. That 1994 ballot proposal froze property taxes and made the sales tax the primary source of education funding. Granholm officials deny a tax hike would be in the making should she be elected..

“It’s very important to students who are coming out of college looking to buy their first homes” that property taxes are not raised, said Sage Eastman, Posthumus’ spokesman. Granholm “has rolled out new policy after new policy without a way to pay for it.”
Both campaigns expect several stops in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County before the Nov. 5 general election..

Two `U’ regent seats contested

Two seats on the University Board of Regents now held by Republicans will also be up for grabs as Democrats hope to boost their 5-3 majority. Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor) is seeking reelection, while Regent Daniel Horning (R-Grand Haven) is stepping down as state Rep. Andrew Richner of Grosse Pointe Park will be carrying the GOP banner in his place. They will face Democrats Greg Stephens of Saline, a United Auto Workers official, and Ismail Ahmed of Dearborn, an Arab-American community activist. Similar elections will be held for the governing boards of Michigan State University, Wayne State University and the Michigan Department of Education, with the top two vote-getters securing seats for an eight year term..

“Given what we got in August, I expect a good turnout in November, with the race for governor and the fact that there’s no incumbent,” said Yvonne Carl, Ann Arbor interim city clerk..

In another important race, state Rep. Andrew Rocky Raczkowski (R-Farmington Hills) is hoping to end Detroit Democrat Carl Levin’s 24-year career in the U.S. Senate in a race that is focusing on military policy in its preliminary stages as Raczkowski is a captain in the Army Reserves and Levin chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee..

In the race to succeed term-limited Secretary of State Candice Miller, Detroit election law attorney Melvin “Butch” Hollowell, who led then-Vice President Al Gore’s recount effort in Florida during the 2000 presidential election, will be the Democratic candidate squaring off against former Kent County Clerk Terri Land of Byron Center..

Republicans will also be seeking to break the near half-century Democratic hold on the attorney general’s office. Livonia Republican Michael Cox, head of the homicide division in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office will square off against state Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.)..

In local races, first-term incumbent John Hieftje is the Democratic candidate in the biennial Ann Arbor mayoral election. He will be squaring off against Republican City Councilwoman Marcia Higgins..

One City Council seat in each of the city’s five wards will also be up for grabs. Four of the five races are contested, and former Councilwoman Joan Lowenstein seeks a comeback in the 2nd Ward after being defeated in 2001. With the mayor’s vote, Democrats currently hold an 8-3 majority on the council..

State Rep. Gene DeRossett (R-Manchester Twp.) will be in for a tough fight after his hometown was put in a more Democratic district including the northern parts of Ann Arbor after legislative
redistricting. He will face Washtenaw County Road Commissioner Pam Byrnes, an attorney and Chelsea resident, in one of the more
competitive state House races this fall in the 52nd District. Republicans currently have a 58-52 majority in the House. In the 53rd District House race – based in Ann Arbor – incumbent Democrat Chris Kolb faces Republican John Milroy, both of Ann Arbor.

For the 18th District state Senate race, former state Rep. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) will square off against Republican Gordon Darr of Dexter. The Senate is currently made up of 23 Republicans and 15 Democrats..

Voters will also have to vote on several proposed amendments to the Michigan Constitution as well as a parks millage renewal for the city..

Also on the ballot this fall: U.S. Rep. John Dingell of Dearborn will
be carrying the Democratic banner in the heavily-Democratic 15th Congressional District. After defeating fellow Rep. Lynn Rivers of Ann Arbor in a bruising Democratic primary, Dingell faces Dearborn Republican Martin Kaltenbach. Several seats on the Washtenaw County Commission will also be up for grabs and state Supreme Court Justices Elizabeth Weaver and Robert Young Jr., Republicans are also up for reelection..