MICHIGAN 17 Electoral Votes
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Michigan Bureau of Elections)
Total Population, July 2005 est.       10,120,860
Total Registration, Oct. 4, 2004         7,164,047
Michigan has: 83 counties.
Largest counties: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genessee. >
Largest cities: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren, Sterling Heights. >

Government
Governor: Jennifer Granholm (D) elected 2002, seeking re-election in 2006.
State Legislature: Michigan State Legislature   House: 110 seats   Senate: 38 seats
Local: Counties and Cities   NACO Counties
U.S. House: 9R, 6D - 1. B.Stupak (D) | 2. P.Hoekstra (R) | 3. V.Ehlers (R) | 4. D.Camp (R) | 5. D.Kildee (D) | 6. F.Upton (R) | 7. J.Schwarz (R) | 8. M.Rogers (R) | 9. J.Knollenberg (R) | 10. C.Miller (R) | 11. T.McCotter (R) | 12. S.Levin (D) | 13. C.Kilpatrick (D) | 14. J.Conyers (D) | 15. J.Dingell (D)
U.S. Senate: Carl Levin (D) re-elected in 2002, Debbie Stabenow (D) seeking re-election in 2006. 
In 2006:  August 8 primary.
Statwide, Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) faces businessman Dick De Vos (R). in her bid for a second term and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) is seeking re-election against Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard (R).  Of note, Congressman Joe Schwarz lost the Republican primary to Tim Walberg.  In the Legislature Republicans control both chambers (House 58R-52D and Senate 22R-16D); all seats are up.

The Great Lakes State
 

 State of Michigan
Bureau of Elections

Green Party of MI
Libertarian Party of MI
MI Democratic Party
MI Republican State Comm.
Constitution Party of MI

Detroit News
Detroit Free Press
TV, Radio
Newspapers

Politics1-MI
 

Delegate Selection 2008
Michigan Republican chairman Saul Anuzis has been actively working with the party's State Committee to move Michigan's primary up so that the state is in a better position to influence the selection of the party's nominee.  Anuzis would like to hold the primary the same day as South Carolina in the first week of February.  The State Committee, at its January 2006 meeting, passed a resolution giving Anuzis the ability to negotiate with the chairman of the Michigan Democrats to hold their primaries on the same day.  The State Committee heard a report from its Presidential Task Force at its meeting on April 8, 2006.  This is very much a live matter.  If and when the proposal is approved, legislation would then have to be passed.

Even in 2006, in the pre-campaign period, Michigan is shaping up to be an key step on the road to the Republican nomination; Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain in particular have been doing early organizing in the state.

Note that Michigan Democrats were one of the states that applied to the DNC to be one of the early pre-window states, but the DNC approved Nevada and South Carolina.
 

'08-Related Links: Feingold for Michigan   |   Michigan for McCain   |   Michiganders for Romney
 
General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
2,313,746
(47.81)
+Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
2,479,183
(51.23)
Cobb (Grn.) 5,325 (0.11)
Peroutka (UST) 4,980
(0.10)
Badnarik (Lib.)
10,552
(0.22)
Brown (NLP)
1,431
(0.03)
Nader (NPA)
24,035
(0.50)
Total........4,839,252
 
2004 Overview
Bush made it close in Michigan, but Kerry prevailed in the end with a plurality of 165,437 votes (3.42 percentage points).  Bush carried 68 counties to 15 for Kerry.  The three Detroit area counties (Wayne, Oakland and Macomb) produced 39.5% of the total votes in the presidential race (1,909,115 votes).  Kerry amassed a plurality of 342,294 votes in Wayne county and narrowly won in Oakland county, while Bush narrowly won in Macomb county.
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies  |  Bush/Cheney '04
Past Results
1996
Clinton (Dem.).....1,989,653
(51.69)
Dole (Rep.).........1,481,212 
(38.48)
Perot (Ref.)............336,670
(8.75)
Others (4+w/ins)......41,309
(1.07)
Total........3,848,844
Overall 3,912,261 people voted out of 6,677,079 registered.  The VAP was 7,072,000 for a turnout (% of VAP) of 55.3%.
ll
1992
Clinton (Dem.).....1,871,182
(43.77)
Bush (Rep.).........1,554,940
(36.38)
Perot (Ind.)............824,813
(19.30)
Others (4+w/ins)......23,738
(0.56)
Total........4,274,673
Overall 4,341,909 people voted out of 6,147,083 registered.  The VAP was 6,947,000 for a turnout (% of VAP) of 62.5%.
2000
Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
1,953,139
 (46.15)
+Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
2,170,418
(51.28)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
16,711
(0.39)
Hagelin/Goldhaber(NLP)
2,426
(0.06)
Phillips/Frazier (UST) 
3,791
(0.09)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
84,165
(1.99)
Buchanan (w/in)
1,851
 (0.04)
Total........4,232,501

Total voters: 4,279,299
Turnout (% of VAP) was 58.2%

Notes
The Democratic, Republican, Reform, Libertarian and Natural Law parties all retained ballot status from 1998.  The US Taxpayers Party of Michigan and the Green Party of Michigan qualified by petitioning, submitting the required 30,272 valid signatures (1 percent of the total vote cast for governor in 1998) by July 20, 2000.  No Reform Party nominee appeared on the ballot because competing factions submitted two sets of papers, one for Buchanan and one for Hagelin. 

2000 Overview
The battleground state of Michigan went to Gore by a plurality of 217,279 votes (5.13 percentage points).  Bush carried 58 counties to 25 for Gore.  Almost 40% of the total vote (39.8%) comes from the Detroit area (Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties).  Gore piled up a plurality of 307,393 votes in Wayne county and narrowly won in Oakland and Macomb.  As expected, Bush did well in Western Michigan (Kent County/Grand Rapids and the surrounding counties).  He underperformed in the city of Detroit, and would have had to have done better in Western Wayne county as well as in Oakland and Macomb to carry the state.

A statewide school vouchers initiative, Proposal 1, was overwhelmingly defeated, 69.1% to 30.9%.

General Election Activity

In the U.S. Senate race, Rep. Debbie Stabenow (D) defeated incumbent Sen. Spencer Abraham (R) 49.47% to 47.86%, gaining a plurality of 67,259 votes (2,061,952 votes to 1,994,693 with 111,040 votes for five other candidates).  In the 8th CD, Mike Rogers (R) defeated Dianne Byrum (D) by just 111 votes after the recount -- 48.79% to 48.75% (145,190 votes to 145,179 with 7,340 votes going to four other candidates).


 Democratic Caucuses -- Saturday, February 7, 2004
U.S. Senator Carl Levin has been one of the most vocal critics of the special first status granted Iowa and New Hampshire, arguing that it "unfairly and disproportionately" advantages those states to the detriment of others.  Under his leadership, Michigan Democrats made a push to hold their primary ahead of New Hampshire in the 2000 cycle but eventually backed off and held caucuses on March 11, 2000.  In 2003 Michigan Democrats again considered holding their delegate selection process outside the DNC sanctioned window (Feb. 27, 2003 letter).  Ultimately, under a compromise worked out with DNC chair Terry McAuliffe, Michigan Democrats agreed to the February 7 date; in exchange, the DNC will later form a commission that will examine the primary schedule and present a report by the end of 2005.
CLARKDEANEDWARDSKERRYKUCINICH  former GEPHARDTLIEBERMAN
 
Official Results
ballot
 
 

 

Total Vote
Percent
Braun
189
0.12%
Clark
10,955
6.69%
Dean
27,025
16.50%
Edwards
21,905
13.38%
Gephardt
951
39.63%
Kerry
84,818
51.79%
Kucinich
5,258
3.21%
Lieberman
659
0.40%
Sharpton
11,404
6.96%
Uncommitted
497
0.30%
Write-In
108
0.07%
Total
163,769

There was a fair bit of controversy over Michigan's Internet voting option.  Joel Ferguson, DNC member from Lansing, led the challenges, emphasizing the discriminatory impact of unequal home access to the Internet and security problems.  The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee took up the matter but gave final approval at its Nov. 22, 2003 meeting.  28.4 percent of those participating (46,543 of 163,769) voted via the Internet:
Caucus Vote Totals by Voting Method
Michigan Democratic Party
Moseley Braun
Clark
Dean
Edwards
Gephardt
Kerry
Kucinich
Lieberman
Sharpton
Uncomm.
Write In
Internet
39
4,047
8,944
7,046
270
22,999
1,432
267
1,380
81
38
46,543
Caucus Site
130
5,346
13,285
12,263
160
49,208
3,326
126
9,602
250
48
93,744
Mail
20
1,562
4,796
2,596
521
12,611
500
266
422
166
22
23,482
Total
189
10,955
27,025
21,905
951
84,818
5,258
659
11,404
497
108
163,769
0.12%
6.69%
16.50%
13.38%
0.58%
51.79%
3.21%
0.40%
6.96%
0.30%
0.07%

2004 page >
2000 page >

Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.