You’ve all read about the Democratic defeats in the governor races in Virginia and New Jersey. But there were other notable Democratic defeats and in some of the nation’s most economically beleaguered states.
In Michigan, the state with the nation’s highest unemployment and the headquarters of bankrupted General Motors and Chrysler, , Republican Mike Nofs has beaten state Representative Mike Griffin in the special election to fill the state Senate seat of Democrat Mark Schauer, who was elected to the House by defeating one-term Republican incumbent Tim Walberg in the 7th congressional district in November 2008. Republican Nofs won by a 61%-39% margin in a district that had voted 61%-39% for Democrat Schauer in November 2006. Turnout this year was just 40% of the turnout in November 2006—a pretty clear indication that Democrats just did not turn out to vote.
This Republican victory has great political significance. It shows that the economic distress so obvious in Michigan has not pushed voters to support the party favoring bigger government; rather the contrary. And as Michigan political commentator (and long-ago moderate Republican state senator) Bill Ballenger points out, this gives Republicans a 22-16 margin in the Michigan Senate, a majority Ballenger, in his district-by-district analysis, says Democrarts are unlikely to overturn in the November 2010 election. That means Democrats will not be in total control of congressional redistricting in Michigan, even if they hold the governorship being vacated by term-limited Democrat Jennifer Granholm and hold on to their current big majority in the Michigan House.
The 2002-10 congressional districting plan was a partisan Republican plan that enabled Republicans to win 9-6 margins in the Michigan House delegation in 2002, 2004 and 2006. In addition, Upper Peninsula Democrat Bart Stupak held and holds an Outstate district that otherwise leans Republican. In 2008 Democrats beat Republican incumbents in the 7th district and in the Oakland County-based 9th district, giving them an 8-7 edge in the 15-member delegation. Michigan http://www.polidata.org/census/st008dca.pdf is expected to lose one House seat in the reapportionment following the 2010 Census. If Democrats controlled the process, they could probably eliminate the 11th district seat held by Republican Thaddeus McCotter. Now, assuming Republicans hold on to their state Senate majority, that’s much less likely to happen.
Meanwhile, in far-off foreclosure-ravaged Arizona, Democratic Councilwoman Nina Trasoff was defeated by Republican Steve Kozachik. The local tea partiers are claiming the Democrat’s scalp in a city that has traditionally been the Democratic bastion of Republican Arizona.
