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Michigan
Governor
| MICHIGAN |
Nov. 2,
2010 Governor
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Plurality: 587,514 votes (18.21 percentage points) MI
Secretary of State
REPUBLICAN PICK UP Notes: Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D was term limited. Ann Arbor venture capitalist Rick Snyder (R) defeated Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero (D) by a solid 18.2 percent margin for the Republican pick up. Three third party candidates—Ken Proctor (L), Stacey Mathia (UST) and Harley Mikkelson (G)—each tallied less than one-percent of the vote. Jobs was the central issue in this race. Michigan's unemployment rate peaked at 14.0% in June and July 2009 and was still at 11.2% in Nov. 2010. August 3 Primaries Both major parties saw competitive primaries on Aug. 3. Republican voters had five candidates to choose from: Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, Attorney General Mike Cox, state Sen. Tom George, U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, and Snyder. Hoekstra, from Holland near Lake Michigan, was elected to Congress in 1992, defeating a 26-year incumbent in the primary. He had a relatively high profile as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee from 2004-07. Hoekstra began his career at furniture company Herman Miller, rising to the position of vice president of marketing. He announced on Mar. 31, 2009 and set a goal of biking 1,000 miles and working 100 jobs during his campaign. Cox from Livonia, was elected Attorney General in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. He formally announced his candidacy on May 27, 2009. Bouchard, who was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 2006, announced on June 3, 2009. (Another potential candidate, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land announced on June 25 that she would not run and endorsed Bouchard). Snyder announced his candidacy on July 21, 2009, starting out largely unknown. He called for "reinventing Michigan" and "Michigan 3.0." Snyder did have impressive business experience, including work as a partner and tax attorney at Coopers & Lybrand Consulting in the 1980s, COO at computer company Gateway in the 1990s, and starting a venture capital firm in Ann Arbor in 1997. He also had the advantage of being able to self fund; he put more than $5.8 million of his own money into his campaign during the primary. During Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7, 2010 the campaign ran a TV ad by Fred Davis/Strategic Perception that famously portrayed Snyder as "one tough nerd (>)." Snyder did draw criticism for skipping many primary debates (>). An excellent article by Vickie Elmer in the Ann Arbor Observer describes how Cox and Hoekstra battled each other, creating a pathway for Snyder. Snyder won the primary (>) with 381,588 votes (36.40%) followed by Hoekstra at 281,695 votes (26.87%), Cox at 240,677 votes (22.96%), Bouchard at 127,422 (12.15%) and George at 17,002 (1.62%) out of 1,048,384 votes tallied. On the Democratic side the race got off to a slower start. The leading potential candidate, Lt. Gov. John Cherry, announced on Jan. 4, 2010 that he would not run due to lackluster fundraising. On Jan. 7, House Speaker Andy Dillon formed an exploratory committee, and he formally launched his campaign on Feb. 28. Bernero announced on Feb. 8 (>). Bernero was elected Mayor in 2005 and re-elected in 2009; he previously served in the Michigan Senate and House. He had been dubbed "America's Angriest Mayor" following a spirited appearance on Fox News in 2009 (>). Several other Democrats launched exploratory efforts but withdrew, leaving the two person race (>). Bernero won the primary by 309,518 votes (58.53%) to 219,394 (41.47%) out of 528,822 votes tallied. Snyder announced state Rep. Brian Calley of Portland as his running mate on Aug. 25, and Bernero announced Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence as his running mate on Aug. 28. General Election Snyder and Bernero engaged in just one televised debate, on Oct. 10 at Detroit Public Television studios (>). Throughout the fall campaign, Snyder appeared to have the advantage over Bernero, and the outcome on Nov. 2 was not a surprise. Campaign Managers: Rick Snyder: ? Virg Bernero: Walt Herzig (Aug. 2010) Michigan state director of the 2010 Census. Chief of staff to Lt. Gov. John Cherry, Jr., 2007-09. Director of the Michigan Democratic Coordinated Campaign, April 2005-Nov. 2006. Director of the Granholm Leadership Fund, Feb. 2003-April 2005. Deputy campaign manager/finance director at Friends of Sen. Carl Levin, Jan. 2001-Nov. 2002. Special assistant and scheduler to Sen. Carl Levin, 1997-2001. B.A. in history from University of Michigan-Dearborn. See also: --. "Rick Snyder spends nearly $11M on Michigan governor campaign." The Associated Press via mlive.com, Dec. 3, 2010. ed. note-misleading headline but article is good --. "2010 Michigan Gubernatorial Campaign" mlive.com, Nov. 3-6, 2010. Vickie Elmer. "Reinventing Rick Snyder." Ann Arbor Observer, Oct. 31, 2010. Kyle Melinn. "Is Rick Snyder really a nerd?" Lansing City Pulse, Sept. 29, 2010. Nathan Bomey. "How Rick Snyder secured Michigan's Republican nomination for governor. " The Ann Arbor News, Aug. 4, 2010. David Alexander. "Profile: Pete Hoekstra puts pedal and mettle into his gubernatorial campaign." mlive.com, July 11, 2010. Vickie Elmer. "Rick Snyder's Run." Ann Arbor Observer, May 31, 2010. Ben Smith. "Snyder's Super Bowl ad: 'One tough nerd'." Politico, Feb. 7, 2010. Kristen Zaki. "Ann Arbor businessman and University alumnus Rick Snyder announces candidacy for Michigan governor. " Michigan Daily, July 21, 2009. --. "Mike Bouchard's entry in Michigan governor's race crowds an already cramped GOP field." The Grand Rapids Press, June 3, 2009. --. "Attorney General Mike Cox announces run for governor." The Oakland Press, May 27, 2009. Jeremy Gonsor. "Hoekstra makes it official in his hometown." Holland Sentinel, Mar. 31, 2009. also: John Gallagher. "How Rick Snyder earned that nickname 'One Tough Nerd'." Detroit Free Press, Nov. 15, 2018. |
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