2002 Michigan gubernatorial election

The Michigan gubernatorial election of 2002 was one of the 36 United States gubernatorial elections held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican Governor John Engler, after serving three terms, was term-limited and was ineligible to run for a fourth term; his lieutenant governor Dick Posthumus, also a Republican, ran in his place. Jennifer Granholm, then Attorney General of Michigan, ran on the Democratic Party ticket. Douglas Campbell ran on the Green Party ticket, and Joseph M. Pilchak[1] ran on the Constitution Party[2] ticket.

2002 Michigan gubernatorial election
November 5, 2002
Turnout3,177,565
 
Nominee Jennifer Granholm Dick Posthumus
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate John Cherry Loren Bennett
Popular vote 1,631,276 1,504,755
Percentage 51.4% 47.4%
County results
Granholm:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Posthumus:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election

John Engler
Republican

 Elected Governor

Jennifer Granholm
Democratic

Elections in Michigan

Granholm won with 51% of the vote, followed by Posthumus' 47%, Campbell with 1%, and Pilchak with less than 1%.[3][4] This made Granholm the first female Michigan governor and the first Democratic governor of Michigan in 12 years.[5]

Republican Primary

With incumbent Governor John Engler ineligible to seek re-election for a fourth term,[6] Posthumus, Michigan's lieutenant governor, was considered the overwhelming favorite for the Republican nomination. Following his primary win, Posthumus selected state Sen. Loren Bennett as his running mate.[7]

Republican primary results[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dick Posthumus 474,804 81.39
Republican Joe Schwarz 108,581 18.61
Total votes 583,385 100.00

Jim Moody created a candidate committee and filed a Statement of Organization, but did not submit sufficient ballot-access petition signatures to be included on the 2002 primary ballot.[9]

Democratic Primary

Candidates

Eliminated in primary

The Democratic Party was a competitive, three-way race with between state Attorney General Jennifer Granholm, former Gov. James Blanchard (who was upset by Engler in 1990) and former House Minority Whip David Bonior.

Granholm was accused in the 2002 Democratic primary of several allegations of cronyism while working as Wayne County Corporation Counsel. Her husband, Daniel Mulhern, had received several contracts for his leadership training company shortly after Granholm left her position as a Wayne County Corporation Counsel in 1998. He received nearly $300,000 worth of contracts, despite being the highest bidder for one of those contracts. Opponents criticized Granholm supporters for engaging in cronyism and giving contracts to her husband immediately after leaving county employment. Granholm and her supporters responded that no ethical violations occurred and that Mulhern had earned the contracts on his own merits.[10]

Granholm was the first woman ever nominated by a major party to be Michigan governor.[11] Following her primary victory, Granholm chose state Sen. John Cherry as her running mate.[7]

Results
Primary results by county:
Democratic primary results[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jennifer Granholm 499,129 47.69
Democratic David Bonior 292,958 27.99
Democratic James Blanchard 254,586 24.32
Total votes 1,046,673 100.00

Minor Parties
Third-party candidates for governor in 2002. Green Party candidate Douglas Campbell, and no image is available of Joseph Pilchak.

Candidates

Green Party

The Green Party of Michigan nominated Douglas Campbell. Campbell, a registered professional engineer and published Atheist from Ferndale, joined the Green party upon learning of its existence in 2000,[12] and was the Wayne-Oakland-Macomb county campaign coordinator for Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, 2000.[13] During the 2002 campaign he claimed he was beaten, arrested and jailed (in Brighton, Michigan) for attempting to participate in a gubernatorial debate from which he was excluded, at the time being the only candidate who was not either a Republican or Democrat.[14]

United States Taxpayers Party (Constitution Party)

Capac resident Joseph Pilchak was nominated by convention to be the U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate for Governor of Michigan. He was the U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate for U.S. Representative from Michigan 10th District in 2000.[1] The Michigan US Taxpayers' Party is affiliated with the United States Constitution Party,[15] but Michigan election law does not provide a mechanism for changing the name of a political party.[16]

General Election campaign

Posthumus, who had been previous Governor Engler's Lieutenant Governor, ran his general election campaign promising to maintain the Engler legacy.[17]

Granholm promised change, running as a tough crime-fighter and consumer advocate. Granholm criticized the Engler administration for coming into office with a budget surplus and leaving with a deficit.[17]

Kilpatrick memo controversy

In the biggest event of the election, Posthumus released a memo from Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick asking for more appointments for blacks and jobs for Detroit contractors in a Granholm administration. Posthumus pointed to the memo as an example of Democratic Party corruption. Granholm, however, denied ever receiving the memo and said she wouldn't have agreed to it anyway. She said Posthumus was trying to be racially divisive.[17]

Election results
Michigan gubernatorial election, 2002[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Jennifer Granholm 1,633,796 51.42% +13.64%
Republican Dick Posthumus 1,506,104 47.40% -14.81%
Green Douglas Campbell 25,236 0.79%
Constitution Joseph Pilchak 12,411 0.39%
Write-ins 18 0.00%
Majority 127,692 4.02% -20.41%
Turnout 3,177,565
Democratic gain from Republican

Results by County
County Granholm Votes Posthumus Votes Others Votes
Alcona 47.20% 2,165 52.04% 2,387 0.76% 35
Alger 52.59% 1,855 46.02% 1,623 1.36% 49
Allegan 36.66% 12,772 62.28% 21,695 0.11% 369
Alpena 56.95% 6,391 42.52% 4,722 0.98% 110
Antrim 39.67% 3,752 58.96% 5,576 1.36% 129
Arenac 51.14% 2,821 47.34% 2,611 1.52% 84
Baraga 50.93% 1,263 47.18% 1,170 1.90% 47
Barry 40.15% 8,136 58.93% 11,983 0.92% 187
Bay 53.29% 21,190 45.27% 18,001 1.43% 568
Benzie 45.83 3,036 52.53% 3,480 1.65% 109
Berrien 41.85% 17,094 57.24% 23,278 0.91% 373
Branch 45.04% 5,001 54.14% 6,012 0.82% 9
Calhoun 52.59% 21,298 46.40% 18,789 1.01% 409
Cass 45.10% 5,741 53.77% 6,845 1.12% 143
Charlevoix 39.89% 3,836 58.31% 5,608 1.80% 173
Cheboygan 43.29% 4,107 55.53% 5,268 1.18% 112
Chippewa 49.81% 5,428 49.16% 5,357 1.04% 113
Clare 50.05% 4,719 48.56% 4,578 1.39% 131
Clinton 46.39% 12,070 52.61% 13,711 1.07% 279
Crawford 45.65% 2,233 52.45% 2,566 1.90% 93
Delta 50.37% 6,862 48.37% 6,590 1.26% 172
Dickinson 46.47% 3,882 52.17% 4,358 1.35% 113
Eaton .% .% .%
Emmet .% .% .%
Genesee .% .% .%
Gladwin .% .% .%
Gogebic .% .% .%
Grand Traverse .% .% .%
Gratiot .% .% .%
Hillsdale .% .% .%
Houghton .% .% .%
Huron .% .% .%
Ingham .% .% .%
Ionia .% .% .%
Iosco .% .% .%
Iron .% .% .%
Isabella .% .% .%
Jackson .% .% .%
Kalamazoo .% .% .%
Kalkaska .% .% .%
Kent .% .% .%
Keweenaw .% .% .%
Lake .% .% .%
Lapeer .% .% .%
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Lenawee .% .% .%
Livingston .% .% .%
Luce .% .% .%
Mackinac .% .% .%
Macomb .% .% .%
Manistee .% .% .%
Marquette .% .% .%
Mason .% .% .%
Mecosta .% .% .%
Menominee .% .% .%
Midland .% .% .%
Missaukee .% .% .%
Monroe .% .% .%
Montcalm .% .% .%
Montmorency .% .% .%
Muskegon .% .% .%
Newaygo .% .% .%
Oakland .% .% .%
Oceana .% .% .%
Ogemaw .% .% .%
Ontonagon .% .% .%
Osceola .% .% .%
Oscoda .% .% .%
Otsego .% .% .%
Ottawa .% .% .%
Presque Isle .% .% .%
Roscommon .% .% .%
Saginaw .% .% .%
St. Clair .% .% .%
St. Joseph .% .% .%
Sanilac .% .% .%
Schoolcraft .% .% .%
Shiawassee .% .% .%
Tuscola .% .% .%
Van Buren .% .% .%
Washtenaw .% .% .%
Wayne .% .% .%
Wexford .% .% .%

References
  1. The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/pikiel-pinchot.html
  2. The Constitution Party is still on the Michigan ballot as the United States Taxpayers' Party in Michigan. Although the party changed its name in 1999, the Michigan Bureau of Elections does not provide any mechanism for a political party changing its name.
  3. CNN.com Election 2002 – Governor. CNN.
  4. 2002 Official Michigan General Election Results – Governor 4 Year Term (1) Position Archived 2014-01-13 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Christian, Nichole M.; Cushman Jr, John H.; Day, Sherri; Dillon, Sam; Lewis, Neil A.; Pear, Robert; Pristin, Terry; Shenon, Philip; Steinberg, Jacques; Wayne, Leslie (7 November 2002). "THE 2002 ELECTIONS: MIDWEST; MICHIGAN". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  6. Associated Press (September 5, 2001). "It's (finally) official: Posthumus enters race for governor". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  7. Associated Press (August 23, 2002). "Mich. Candidate Chooses Running Mate". The Edwardsville Intelligencer. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-22. Retrieved 2009-10-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. , Michigan Bureau of Elections, Committee Statement of Organization #510903
  10. Selweski, Chad (January 13, 2002). "Granholm supporters helped her husband secure Wayne County contracts". Macomb Daily. Archived from the original on June 29, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  11. Longest-serving member of House wins fight of career. USA Today. Accessed 15 February 2009.
  12. Greens, US. "Green Party Speakers Bureau". gp.org (website).
  13. "Bio: Douglas Campbell". 2006-10-09. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  14. Campbell, Douglas (2002-05-21). "Thinking Politically (Letter from the Brighton Jail)". Synthesis/Regeneration 29 (Fall 2002).
  15. The Constitution Party was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party in 1992. The national party's name was changed to the Constitution Party in 1999.
  16. U.S. Taxpayers and Constitution Party of Michigan. "Gubernatorial Debate – Part II Bhagwan (Bob) Dashairya Enters Michigan Governor's Race " Archived 2007-02-17 at the Wayback Machine. ustaxpayersandconstitutionpartymi.com (website).
  17. Granholm becomes Michigan's first female governor. USA Today. (Associated Press). Accessed 15 February 2009.
  18. http://miboecfr.nicusa.com/election/results/02GEN/
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