Michigan Politics

Money talks in politics—loudly as a factor in Michigan early this election year.

Lieutenant Governor John Cherry, frontrunner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, made a surprise early January exit after having trouble raising money.

Part of his trouble was association with unpopular term-limited Governor Jennifer Granholm, whose approval rating was high at the outset of her administration but has slumped along with Michigan’s economy.

Cherry raised more than $1 million, which was only about half of his goal for radio and TV ads.

“We were not able to raise as much as necessary to build a war chest for a media campaign down the road," he told The Detroit News in an interview published Friday.

Cherry’s plight was not unique. Another early January dropout was a talented but obscure Democratic contender, former state Representative John Freeman of Madison Heights, who said: “It became clear that the amount of money required to run a viable campaign was out of reach.”

Former one-term congressman and highly successful four-term state senator Joe Schwarz of Battle Creek, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2002, is considering a bid this year as an independent—if he can raise enough money to be competitive. A big if.

Cherry said that among other potential Democratic contenders, exstate Treasurer Bob Bowman – a Wall Street success story who has a Harbor Springs summer pad – and Detroit businesswoman Denise Ilitch – a University of Michigan trustee and member of the Detroit Tigers/Wings owner family – "have a tremendous advantage" among Democrats because of their wealth.

(Ilitch leads all Democrats but trails when matched against Republicans Attorney General Mike Cox and U.S. Representative Pete Hoekstra in a new statewide poll by EPIC-MRA and released Friday. Pollster Bernie Porn told the Detroit Free Press “All the Democrats are getting creamed in the general election.” Cox has a seven-point lead over Hoekstra in primary polling.)

While he has not endorsed a candidate – and likely will not – Cherry said that Ilitch and Bowman, assuming they run, would start out ahead at this early stage among Democrats because they can fund their campaigns. He wisely did not rule out other candidates being able to raise enough money.

A consensus candidate, endorsed by organized labor and other organizations, and savvy in online fundraising, could be competitive in the six months before the August 3 primary.

But Cherry, commenting on wealth of Bowman and Ilitch, says their "advantage may spell the difference." Of his own withdrawal from the race, he said, "If I had Bob Bowman's or Denise Ilitch's money, it would have been different circumstances."

Important as it can be in the early encounters, a wealthy candidate does not always prevail in the end.

Exhibit A: 2006 Republican nominee Dick DeVos, in his challenge of Granholm, spent $42 million, $35 million of it his own money. Granholm, who spent $14 million, won with 56% of the vote.

Amway President DeVos in February of 2006 had a hefty TV ad buy. And now Rick Snyder, wealthy Ann Arbor businessman seeking to become this year’s Republican nominee, is poised for another February TV blitz.

Look for record spending in legislative campaigns as Democrats seek to gain control of the GOP-ruled Senate and Republicans try to end, or at least erode, Democratic rule of the House. For example, ex- Representative John Moolenaar (R-Midland), a candidate for the seat of term-limited Senator Tony Stamas, (R-Midland) in a district that includes Alpena, Gaylord, and other northern communities, already has more than $230,000 cash on hand.

Spending in the campaigns for the GOP-targeted seats of U.S. Representatives Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) and Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) could be among the most expensive in the nation.

Both parties and interest groups on the left and right will dig deep as Republican Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert P. Young, Jr. seeks re-election. Republican Justice Betty Weaver, who has an independent streak and is often at odds with Young and the other “Engler Four” GOP justices, is also up for reelection but Democratic State Chairman Mark Brewer trains his sights on Young.

Despite heavy spending by business interests to reelect Chief Justice Cliff Taylor in 2008, Brewer was successful in leading the effort to defeat him.

Money talks. But how effectively is yet to be seen for this election cycle.

Con-Con Coming?

Led by businessman George Romney, who later became governor, voters supported a constitutional convention that led to a good 1961-62 rewrite that produced the Constitution of the State of Michigan of 1963.

A proposal to call a constitutional convention automatically goes before voters every 16 years. They rejected it in 1978 and 1994.

I have figured they will reject it again when Proposal 1 is on the November 2 ballot. Too much opportunity for mischief on social and other issues that divide us.

But the ever-thoughtful Senator Tom George (R-Kalamazoo), a candidate for governor, made a good pitch in a phone chat last week that “the benefits outweigh the risks.”

He also said much of the deliberations could have a “Web-based format… in the Age of the Internet.”

In a Senate speech, he said a con-con “offers the best single opportunity to re-craft Michigan and put it on a new path.”

Also last week, Granholm told The Detroit News: “The state of Michigan is dramatically different than it was in 1961, and we need a foundation document that reflects the 21st century.”

Conservative Cheboygan County Drain Commissioner and Republican state House candidate Dennis Lennox agrees, saying that the state’s challenges “require a new constitution that overhauls and restructures government to reflect the realities of the 21st century.

“Quite simply, radical reform is needed because Lansing’s tired, old partisan ideas are not working – and have not worked for some years.”

I have yet to figure this out. But it is time for all of us to tune in to the debate and weigh the arguments.

On February 8, Granholm and the governors of Wisconsin and Illinois are scheduled to have a White House-arranged meeting with a variety of federal agencies on efforts to control the advance of the carp.

George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.