2010 Elections

(By Andrew MacKie-Mason)

I was entirely deficient in my election coverage for the Michigan primary (August 3rd) and, in fact, I was just a few days late in registering to vote so that I missed the window to vote in the primary. I hope to make up for that with better coverage of the general election this November.

So, first, here are the primary results.

Governor of Michigan

On the Democratic side of things, Virg Bernero beat out Andy Dillon 59%-41%. I wrote up a profile of Bernero here. He had the strong support of unions, particularly the teacher's union. His main focus for the future of Michigan, at least back when I did that initial profile, is on economic issues, particularly on building up the green energy industry in Michigan.

In the Republican race, Rick Snyder won a five way race with 36% of the vote. (His closest competitor had 27%). The only information I had about Snyder was this post from Blogging for Michigan about Snyder's opposition to tax credits to incentivize filming in Michigan.

7th Congressional District (U.S. House of Representatives)

The current Democratic incumbent, Mark Schauer, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. He is finishing his first two years in Washington.

For the Republicans, Tim Walberg won a three way race with a hefty 57% of the vote. The runner up, Brian Rooney, had only 32%. My posted information about Walberg is currently limited to his strong opposition to abortion; I had actually devoted much more effort to covering Rooney.

15th Congressional District (U.S. House of Representatives)

The current Democratic incumbent, John Dingell, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. He has been in Congress for 55 years.

Rob Steele won a four way race with 51% of the vote. I actually hadn't looked into any of the Republican candidates in this race yet at all, and I will definitely have to do so.

52nd House District (Michigan House of Representatives) [results]

Christine Green won the Democratic primary with 71% of the vote. The runner up was Robert Wozniak, who I improperly didn't even report as a candidate. I had no information up about either Green or Wozniak.

Mark Ouimet ran unopposed in the Republican primary. It's perhaps worth noting that more Republicans turned out in this primary than Democrats. 60% of the voters were Republican, though that may be explained by a more contentious gubernatorial race. I didn't have any information up about Ouimet either.

53rd House District (Michigan House of Representatives) [results]

Jeff Irwin won the Democratic primary with a close 51% of the vote. I didn't have information up about either Irwin or his competitor Ned Staebler.

Chase Ingersoll ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. I didn't have anything up about her candidacy. This election saw a much stronger turn out for Democrats (82% vs 18% Republican.)

Mayor of Ann Arbor [source]

In the Democratic primary, incumbent John Hieftje defeated Patricia Lesko 84%-16%. I didn't have information about this up before, but he will face an independent challenger (Steve Bean) in November.

Washtenaw County Commissioner, District 11 [results]

The Democratic primary saw an impossibly close result, with Yousef Rabhi getting one more vote than Mike Fried (998-997). It seems that even with such a close result, there won't be a runoff election between Rabhi and Fried.

The Republican primary was won by an unopposed Joe Baublis.

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So there's the results. I very much intend to write a lot more about the candidates as we head towards the November elections. If you want me to write about specific candidates or issues, leave a comment or send me an email.