Commentary – 2014 General Election

A Republican freight train roared through Michigan, the likes of which has not been seen for some time.  Republicans for the top statewide offices were swept to victory as voters returned Governor Rick Snyder, Attorney General Bill Schuette and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson to office for another term.  Republicans maintained their 5-2 majority on the Michigan Supreme Court as incumbents Brian Zahra and David Viviano won as did newcomer Democrat nominated Richard Bernstein.
 
The only bright spot, if one can be found for Democrats, was the election of Congressman Gary Peters to the U.S. Senate who despite the Republican tidal wave easily disposed of the Republican candidate Terri Lynn Land. 
 
In the state House and Senate, Republicans achieved even more stunning results.  In the Senate, the majority was increased from 26 seats to 27 as Republican candidates for the Senate disposed of all challenges.  They actually picked up a seat in the new 20th Senate district where Margaret O’Brien is currently holding on to a razor thin 60 vote lead over Sean McCann.  A recount is expected.  Over 80,000 votes were cast in this election to give an idea how close the margin is. 
 
Should the O’Brien victory hold, Republicans have the largest majority in the Michigan State Senate since 1954.
 
In the House, Republicans picked up a total of 4 seats increasing their majority from the current 59 seats to 63.  They did this by warding off challenges to incumbents and also defeating two sitting members of the House (Theresa Abed in the 71st and Collene Lamonte in the 91st).  Winning candidates in these seats were Tom Barrett in the 71st and former Rep. Holly Hughes in the 91st.  It should be noted that the Hughes winning margin over Lamonte currently stands at 58 votes and there will likely be a recount.  In addition they flipped two Democrat seats (Segal in the 62nd and Terry Brown in the 84th).  Winning candidates were John Bizon in the 62nd and Edward Canfield  in the 84th. 
 
These stunning gains in the House and the Senate came despite an all-out effort by Democrats. 
 
Full results of the contested races as well as results for all House and Senate races can be found by visiting our website at www.gcsionline.com.