I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The Michigan Messenger will be following and reporting the election results all evening on this post, with frequent updates as new information is released.
The Messenger’s Todd Heywood has been to several polling places around the state and reports higher than expected voter turnout.
8:40 pm: The very early reporting in statewide races is holding to form with expectations. With only a handful of precincts reporting, Republican Rick Snyder leads Democrat Virg Bernero 63-34 percent in the race for governor. Republican Bill Schuette leads Democrat David Leyton 57-35 percent in the race for attorney general. And Republican Ruth Thomas leads Democrat Jocelyn Benson 53-39 percent in the race for secretary of state.
In the Michigan Supreme Court race, Republicans Mary Beth Kelley and Robert Young lead the way with 33 percent and 30 percent respectively, while Democrats Alton Davis Thomas and Denise Langford Morris trail at 17 percent and 13 percent.
And so far, the ballot proposal on whether to hold a new constitutional convention for the state trails by more than a two-to-one margin.
U.S. House race updates, 9:01 pm: With a small number of precincts reporting, here are some of the results for some of the key races for the U.S. House of Representatives.
In District 1, Republican Dan Benishek leads Democrat Gary McDowell by a 54-39 margin with independent candidate Glenn Wilson coming in at 3 percent. 8 percent of precincts have reported.
In District 7, Republican Tim Walberg 51 percent to 44 percent, with 3 percent of precincts reporting.
In District 14, with only one precinct reporting, Rep. John Conyers, who has spent the last 40 years in Congress, is trailing opponent Don Ukrainec by a whopping 75-22 margin. If that result were to hold it would count as one of the most unexpected upsets in American history. I doubt that it will hold.
And in District 15, Rep. John Dingell — the longest-serving legislator in the nation’s history — is in a tighter than expected race with 1 percent reporting, leading by a relatively slim 50-46 percent margin.
9:22 pm:
The statewide races are all but decided at this point. Most news outlets have declared Rick Snyder the winner in the governor’s race, as expected. He currently leads 64-33 with 9 percent of precincts reporting.
The same is true for Republicans Bill Schuette in the attorney general race, Ruth Johnson in the secretary of state race and the two Republicans, Robert Young and Mary Beth Kelley in the supreme court race, all of which are holding to form with the earlier results.
In the U.S. House races, things continue to be interesting in the races involving John Conyers and John Dingell, two of the longest-serving Congressmen in history. With 6 percent of precincts reporting, Conyers is in a 47-47 tie with Don Ukrainec. And with 4 percent of precincts reporting, Dingell is losing to Republican Rob Steele 50-47.
If those two results hold to the end, they would count as historic upsets by any measure.
9:45 pm:
In the two key U.S. House races that everyone has been watching nationally, the Republicans still lead. In District 1, with 37 percent reporting, Benishek continues to lead McDowell 53-39 percent.
And in District 7, with 21 percent reporting, Walbert currently holds a 49-46 edge over Schauer. Schauer’s folks are not conceding anything yet, saying that a lot of the uncounted votes are in urban precincts that should favor the Democrat.
In District 15, with 8 percent reporting, Steele is increasing his lead over Dingell, 54-43 percent. Conyers and Ukrainec remain tied in District 14.
10:14 pm:
A major change in District 14, where Rep. John Conyers has now flipped the results with 27 percent of precincts reporting. He now leads Don Ukrainec 76-21 percent. That’s more in line with expectations.
In District 15, Steele continues to lead Dingell 52-45 percent with 18 percent reporting.
10:30 pm:
Gary McDowell has conceded the District 1 House race to Dan Benishek, saying, “The voters spoke. I accept it. And I wish Dan Benishek the best and hope that he represents us in a way that we can all be proud.”
11:25 pm: It looks like the Republicans are going to take control of the Michigan House. As of now, Republicans have the lead for 63 seats and Democrats lead for 41 seats, with a few districts not yet reporting results. That would give the GOP control of all three branches of state government and both legislative chambers.
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