Senator Jason Allen of Alanson, who trailed Crystal Falls surgeon Dan Benishek by 15 votes after the state certified GOP primary results in the 31-county 1st District for the seat being vacated by U.S. Representative Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) won’t seek a recount.

His decision avoids a delayed start to what now promises to be a nationally watched challenge of state Representative Gary McDowell of Rudyard, unopposed in the Democratic primary, with Rose City businessman Glenn Wilson running as an independent.

On the eve of the Sunday morning deadline for his decision, Allen said, “Over the last few months we had a spirited campaign and I am truly humbled by the support I have received across the First Congressional District. This past week I have been speaking to Republican leaders across the state, my supporters, and most importantly my family, to determine the best course of action. As a result of those conversations, I have decided not to pursue a recount.

“It is time to put the primary behind us and move to the general election. It is time for all conservatives to band together to defeat Gary McDowell. I look forward to working with Dan Benishek in the fall campaign. The First Congressional District is long overdue for conservative representation in Congress. I believe Dan Benishek will be an outstanding congressman for Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.”

Last week, after the State Board of Canvassers certified his 27,077 to 27,062 lead over Allen, Benishek said, “I ask those who were waiting for this final certification to be performed to now unite and join our campaign against career politician Gary McDowell, who has been a rubber stamp for Governor Granholm's failed policies and who will take his lead from Nancy Pelosi in D.C. Our Republican opponents ran strong campaigns with great teams and I would be privileged to have their support in taking our message of 'Enough is Enough' to Washington. The 4 R's -- Read it, Reduce it, Repeal it, and Reform it -- is a message we can all agree with."

Meanwhile, there is increasing national focus on Michigan’s sprawling 1st District.

According to the nonpartisan political newsletter Cook Report, 73 House seats are at risk of changing hands. That includes 66 held by Democrats, including the Stupak seat and that of 7th District freshman Representative Mark Schauer of Battle Creek.

The Wall Street Journal said that Schauer, the first Democrat to hold the traditionally Republican seat in 15 years, said “job creation is priorities one through 10.” In his seven-county district, the jobless rate has been between 9.3% and 15.4%. In Stupak’s district it has been as high as 23.3%.

In a front page account last week headlined “Democratic Seats Vulnerable on Jobs,” the Journal said, “The fear in Michigan is palpable.”

Term limits, Tea Party shape elections

The state Senate next year will look like the Michigan House Alumni Club.

In all August 3 primaries for the record 29 open seats in a chamber where Republicans currently rule, 22 to 16, at least one current or former representative won nomination. A whopping 39 of them were primary winners.

Northern Michigan is prominent in the club.

In some cases, winning nomination is virtual assurance of election. Examples: Representative Darwin Booher (R-Evart) in the 35th District being vacated by term-limited Senator Michelle McManus of Lake Leelanau, who seeks the GOP nomination for secretary of state; ex-Representative Howard Walker (R-Traverse City) in the 37th District of term-limited Senator Jason Allen (R-Alanson), who ran for Congress.

In the 38th District of term-limited Senator Mike Prusi (DIshpeming) it will be ex-Representative Tom Casperson (R-Escanaba) against Representative Mike Lahti (D-Hancock).

In the 36th District of term-limited Tony Stamas (R-Midland) it will be ex-Representative John Moolenaar (R-Midland) against Representative Andy Neumann (D-Alpena).

(In June, Inside Michigan Politics newsletter, which has a solid record of predicting election outcomes and amounts to a rolling almanac of politics state and local, projected the 2010 result in the 38th as "Likely Dem," and the 35th, 36th and 37th as "Lean GOP." )

In 1992, Michigan voters -- mistakenly, in my view -- approved constitutional limits on congressional, state executive offices, and state legislative offices. Courts threw out the congressional limits and there have been feeble efforts to at least extend the legislative limits.

Meanwhile, as indicated by the above examples, term limits for one office do not thwart pursuit of another.

Here's a classic example of a legislative leap-frog: Term-limited Senator Jud Gilbert, (R-Algonac), who previously served two House terms, is eligible for one more. He won in the primary for the 81st District, and probably will win November 2.

There are 52 open seats in the Democratic-ruled 110-member House. The field is replete with mayors, county commissioners, lawyers, businessmen, and others making their first bid for a state office, including a nurse, auctioneer, ordained minister, and a weatherman.

In the 105th House District, Greg McMaster of Kewadin, former longtime meteorologist for WPBN-TV in Traverse City, bested a crowded field for the GOP nomination for the seat being vacated by term-limited Kevin Elsenheimer of Kewadin, the House Minority Leader and the type of solid, reach-across-the-aisle lawmaker whose eviction is in Exhibit A against term limits. (He's now running for a district judgeship.)

I mention the 105th race not only because of Elsenheimer but also because in one of their debates I heard, all candidates for his seat had positive things to say about the many Tea Party activities in northern Michigan.

Tea Party Impact

Tea Party activism in Michigan has not had the decisive clout, or the national media attention, that it has in some other states. Republican Senate primary winners Rand Paul in Kentucky and Sharron Angle in Nevada were backed by the Tea Party Express, a political action group allied with ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

According to the National Journal, that PAC spent more than $500,000 on Angle's behalf and nearly $350,000 to help Scott Brown win a special Senate election in Massachusetts.

In Michigan's 3rd District five-candidate GOP primary for the seat being vacated by U.S. Representative Vern Ehlers (R-Grand Rapids), the Tea Party was among backers of the winner, conservative freshman state Representative Justin Amash of Grand Rapids. The anti-tax Club for Growth bundled "many large contributions" for Amash, according to the Grand Rapids Press.

In the near-dead heat GOP primary battle in the 1st District seat, Dan Benishek was described by Inside Michigan Politics as "an archetypal Tea Party candidate."

The newsletter said Patrick Colbeck of Canton won a fourcandidate contest in the 7th state Senate district "with help from the Tea Party." It described GOP primary winner Lori Levi in the 21st House District as an "insurgent Tea Party type."

New Spokespersons

• Effective August 23, Ben Corey replaces Michelle Begnoche as press secretary to Congressman Stupak. Begnoche, former deputy press secretary to Governor Jennifer Granholm, returns to Michigan to handle communications for the state Film Office. Corey, a 2008 graduate of the University of Illinois, has been deputy press secretary in the Chicago office of Senator Ronald Burris.

• Cullen Schwarz, who formerly held communications positions with Democratic U.S. Representatives Gary Peters and Sander Levin, is taking over as campaign spokesman for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Virg Bernero, mayor of Lansing. Schwarz had worked on Bernero's 2005 mayoral campaign.

• Bill Nowling, spokesman for the Michigan House Republicans and before that the state GOP, is the campaign spokesman for Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Snyder.

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.