In 2003, while Terri Lynn Land, was Secretary of State, Michigan received nearly $95 million under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). This money was targeted at improving election equipment, updating election technology, and addressing problems with provisional voting, voting information, statewide voter registration lists, and voters who register by mail. In order to receive HAVA funds, states […]

This past weekend, the Chairs of both the Michigan Republican Party, Bobby Schostak, and the Michigan Democratic Party, Lon Johnson appeared on Fox 2’s “Let it Rip!” program to discuss the upcoming election. Schostak showed up without a tie, carrying an aloof and almost derisive attitude. He struggled to defend his candidates time and again. In contrast, Johnson was well-dressed, […]

The national media has finally figured out what our Chris Savage has been saying all year — Republicans never wanted Terri Lynn Land as their candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan. Avoiding debates, skirting the press, and making no scheduled public appearances isn’t her strategy. It’s a reaction to self-destructing after just a few questions from the press during a […]

Last week, residents of the Detroit zip code 48217 held a press conference and invited Terri Lynn Land to spend a day in their community to see the impact of the pollution spewed by her campaign supporters and hold a public forum where they could ask her questions about it. The also took out a full-page ad in the Michigan […]

It’s been a terrific week of polling for Michigan Democrats. I’ve written about two polls (HERE and HERE) that statistical ties for Mark Schauer and Mark Totten with Gary Peters pulling away from Terri Lynn Land. Yesterday, a USA Today poll conducted by Suffolk University gives even better news. Here’s the synopsis: Mark Schauer leads Rick Snyder for Governor by […]

This week was brutal for the U.S. Senate campaign of Terri Lynn Land. There were two articles put out by national media outlets detailing the implosion of her campaign, both of which came out at the same time a new poll has Peters now up by double digits. Both articles appear to redefine the word “lackluster” to mean “utterly and […]

Mark Totten, photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog Yesterday I reported on new polling numbers show great gains by Michigan Democrats. Another new poll out this morning by Detroit News-WDIV (Local 4) confirms those numbers. (Cross-tabs are HERE.) The race for Attorney General continues to be surprisingly competitive and shows how weak a candidate Bill Schuette is. Schuette […]

Mark Totten, photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog A new poll out by PPP has some terrific news for Democrats. Mark Schauer is still in a statistical dead heat with Governor Rick Snyder, down just a single point – 42-43%. Snyder is under water with respect to his favorability with 51% of those polled holding viewing him unfavorably […]

Last night, Gary Peters appeared at the location for a proposed WOOD-TV debate with Terri Lynn Land. Because Land declined to share the stage with Peters, he debated an empty chair: There was no debate Monday night for the U.S. Senate race. U.S. Rep. Gary Peters stood next to an empty chair representing his Republican opponent, former Secretary of State […]

Politics have many unofficial rules and philosophies that have been followed for years. Pundits of all political persuasions sometimes use these “excuses” to strengthen their point of view, or to protect their party’s candidate and to justify inconvenient truth(s). One such inconvenient truth is that incumbents for office, like Governor, for example, don’t need to debate their opponent. The conventional […]

Republicans and their friends in the media keep squinting at the horizon hoping to see a GOP wave forming for November’s elections. Their biggest argument for it is that it should be coming. “This year, Republicans should do not only well, but very well,” wrote The Weekly Standard’s Jay Cost, one of the many right-wing pundits who predicted Mitt Romney’s […]