February 2006 Field Report - Southeast Michigan
An Inside Look at REALTOR® Issues and State Government
By: Tony Daunt – Southeast Michigan Field Director
2006: Election Preview, Pt. II
Last month, I wrote about the campaigns for Governor, United States Senator and Secretary of State. I also stated that this month’s Capitol Update would focus on the race for attorney general and the hotly contested battle for majority control in the Michigan Legislature. However, in order to properly address each of those areas, I have decided to focus solely on the attorney general race this month and concentrate on the fight for legislative supremacy next month. In following months, it is my intention to provide you with some insight into a few of the ballot proposals that voters may be asked to decide on in November. Please remember that it is early in the campaign season and much can change in the next eight months. The information and speculation provided here is reflective of the political atmosphere only at the time of my writing it!
Attorney General
When incumbent Attorney General Mike Cox was sworn in on January 1, 2003, he became the first Republican to hold that office since Frank G. Millard was defeated by Thomas Kavanagh in 1954, a span of 48 years. A former Marine and Wayne County prosecutor, Mr. Cox is no stranger to tight races. In 2002, he defeated the Democrat’s attorney general candidate, Gary Peters, by a mere 5,200 votes out of nearly 3.1 million cast, despite raising $236,000 less than his opponent. His image was slightly damaged in 2005 due to his decision to publicly acknowledge an extra-marital affair (which he and his wife had reconciled several years ago) under the threat of blackmail by renegade attorney and potential rival, Geoffrey Fieger. However, the conventional wisdom is that voters are often forgiving when it comes to transgressions in a politician’s personal life. His decision to disclose the affair to the public, with his wife at his side, should insulate him from any attempts by an opponent to use it against him, barring the disclosure of any similar indiscretions. As of January 25, 2006, Mr. Cox had raised over $1.05 million for his re-election bid and had over $722,000 in cash on hand.
Currently, there are three announced candidates for the post and another, Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans, is expected to make a formal decision about entering the race sometime between the deadline for this article and its publication. The first candidate to announce that he was running for the Democratic nomination, and the right to face Mr. Cox in the November general election, is State Representative Alexander Lipsey of Kalamazoo (60th District). Mr. Lipsey is serving his third term in the Michigan House of Representatives and will be term-limited out of office this year. He received his J.D. from the University of Michigan and has been active in state and local government for many years. His most recent campaign finance report showed that he had raised $12,100 and spent $10,800 of that, leaving him with $1,342 in cash on hand. Though he is a respected legislator and member of his community, it is expected that he will need to significantly improve his fundraising performance in order to convince the Democrat faithful that he offers them the strongest chance to defeat an incumbent who has raised over $1 million.
Another candidate for the Democratic line on the November ballot is former Grand Rapids judge, Scott Bowen. It is a well-known “secret” around Lansing that Mr. Bowen is Governor Granholm’s choice for attorney general. He has an extensive background in legal affairs, received his law degree from the University of Detroit Law School, and is well-respected in his community. Since October of 2005, Mr. Bowen has raised close to $110,000 dollars for his campaign, well short of Mr. Cox’s total but a record amount at this stage in the election cycle. All of this should make him a very attractive candidate to the Democrats and a formidable challenger to Mr. Cox.
Last, but certainly not least, is controversial attorney and 1998 Democratic nominee for governor, Geoffrey Fieger. While many insiders do not believe that Mr. Fieger is serious enough to stay in the race until the nominating convention, one should never discount his love of the spotlight and his desire to play the role of a maverick crusader. However, it is unlikely that his upset victory in 1998 will be repeated this year for a number of reasons. First, as I’ve mentioned before, a gathering of Democrat party leaders and grassroots activists will nominate their candidate for attorney general at their convention, not through a direct election by all Democrat voters, as is the case for gubernatorial candidates. It would be a stunning upset if Mr. Fieger was able to win the support of enough delegates to defeat any of the other candidates, especially the governor’s choice, Scott Bowen. Secondly, he is busy defending himself against allegations of campaign fundraising abuses, at both the state and federal levels. His office was raided by the F.B.I. in November and a special prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Cox has recently determined that Mr. Fieger violated state election law with his involvement in a stealth political action committee that spent $457,000 in a failed attempt to defeat Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman in 2004. However, even with all of these legal problems swirling around him, it would be unwise to completely write off Geoffrey Fieger in this race.
While the news media is likely to focus most of their coverage on the races for governor and U.S. senator, it is important that REALTORS® are attentive to the details of the attorney general contest. As the chief law enforcement official in the state and its representative in the courts, it is important that the office is held by an individual who respects the REALTOR® commitment to private property rights. And although this race will be overshadowed by the gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns, you can expect another tight finish as both parties will shovel considerable resources into it.
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State of the State Address
On Wednesday, January 25, 2006, Gov. Granholm gave her fourth State of the State address. This is an annual event that garners statewide media attention and features a joint session of the Michigan Legislature, with much of the same fanfare as the President’s State of the Union address except on a significantly smaller scale.
As you would expect, the governor focused her attention on the health of the state’s economy and laid out an agenda that she believes will help Michigan join the rest of the country in what is a relatively booming atmosphere. The Republicans were quick to question some of the figures her administration used in writing the speech and had some very tough questions about specifics for her proposals. While the devil is in the details, you can expect many of the initiatives offered by the governor, as well as those offered by the Republican leaders in the Legislature to be met with heavy partisan opposition. After all, this is an election year, and one wouldn’t want the other side to be seen as successful when November rolls in!
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Meth Lab Task Force meets to discuss upcoming options for REALTORS®
The MAR Meth Lab Task Force met recently to discuss in what direction their work should go. They reviewed Kalamazoo County’s proposed ordinance, and state Rep. Bruce Caswell informed the committee of his meetings with the Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Community Health prior to the task force meeting. Neither department would accept responsibility. Therefore, the task force will be working with Rep. Caswell and state Sen. Jud Gilbert to get more information regarding what would be legislatively feasible and make a recommendation in the coming months to the full Public Policy committee. Rep. Caswell was encouraged by the REALTORS® wanting to be proactive with the problem of contaminated properties.
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February 2006 Field Report
• An Inside Look at REALTOR® Issues and State Govenment
• State of the State Address
• Meth Lab Task Force meets to discuss upcoming options for REALTORS®
Tony represents:
• Ann Arbor Area
• Dearborn
• Detroit
• CBOR
• Down River
• Grosse Pointe
• Lenawee County
• Livingston County
• MCAR
• Monroe County
• North Oakland County
• Western Wayne Oakland County
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