Posted on 05/14/2002 4:56:56 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Candidates flock to file petitions, meet primary filing deadline
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
The Associated Press
5/14/02 6:13 PM
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The large number of open seats from the governorship on down made the Secretary of State's office a busy place Tuesday as candidates filed to get on the Aug. 6 primary ballot.
Term limits, which for the first time affected the state Senate and offices of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and attorney general, gave many candidates the chance to run for office or trade their existing elected positions for new ones.
Term limits also kept 27 of the state's 38 senators from running for re-election, causing a small stampede of current and former House members to file for the seats.
It even prompted some primary challenges, as House members who had served their six-year limit filed to take on incumbent senators -- some in their own party -- to continue their political careers. Some term-limited state senators decided if they could no longer serve in the Senate, they'd try to return to the House.
Some legislative veterans also have decided to try to return.
Among them is former Detroit Sen. Henry Stallings, who resigned in 1998 after admitting he used public money to employ a state worker in his Detroit art gallery. He is among 13 Democrats running for the 7th District House seat.
Also running again is former Rep. Alma Stallworth. Her son, Keith, has held the seat since she left the House in 1996, but he cannot run again because of term limits. Michael Bennane, who served 19 years in the House before leaving in 1996, hopes to win one final two-year term representing Detroit.
Legislative candidates could pay a $100 filing fee rather than collect petition signatures to get on the ballot. But gubernatorial hopefuls had to turn in at least 15,000 valid signatures by 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Former Gov. James Blanchard, a Democrat who served from 1983-1990, delivered more than 21,000 petition signatures in person Tuesday to the Elections Bureau across from the Capitol.
Standing next to several boxes of petitions emblazoned with "I Want YOU for the Blanchard Brigade," Blanchard said he's looking forward to the Aug. 6 race and thinks this will be a good year for Democrats.
Democrats Jennifer Granholm and David Bonior turned in their petitions on Monday to run for governor. Granholm turned in 30,000 signatures while Bonior turned in nearly 29,000, the candidates said in news releases.
Republican Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus turned in more than 28,000 signatures on Tuesday. State Sen. John Schwarz of Battle Creek and Jim Moody of Farmington Hills also filed petitions to run in the GOP gubernatorial primary.
State GOP spokesman Jason Brewer said he didn't know Moody, who says on his Web site that he's a small business owner and Army veteran who wants to return common sense to government.
In the U.S. Senate race, both Democratic incumbent Carl Levin and GOP challenger Andrew Raczkowski, a state representative, filed signatures to get on the ballot.
Although most of the House members running for the Senate aimed for an empty seat, that wasn't the case in several races. Reps. Hansen Clarke and LaMar Lemmons are challenging Sen. Raymond Murphy for his Senate seat in the Democratic primary. Both men are from Detroit.
Another Democratic Detroit matchup will take place between Rep. Derrick Hale and Sen. Burton Leland. Sen. Shirley Johnson of Royal Oak is being challenged by Reps. Robert Gosselin of Troy and Patricia Godchaux of Birmingham in the GOP primary.
Among senators angling for House seats are Democrat Dianne Byrum of Onondaga and William Van Regenmorter of Hudsonville. Byrum has served two terms in the House while Van Regenmorter has served four, but that was before term limits took effect.
In one of the few races where an outgoing senator is challenging an incumbent House member, Republican Sen. Leon Stille of Grand Haven is taking on Rep. Barb VanderVeen of Allendale in the GOP primary for the 89th District seat.
Redistricting affected some candidates' decisions. U.S. Rep. James Barcia, a former Democratic state lawmaker from Bay City, decided to run for the state Senate after a Republican-drawn congressional map put him into the same district as U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Flint.
Candidates for congressional races traditionally must file by the same filing deadline as other candidates. But a federal appeals court has pushed back the congressional filing date until June 11 so the court can hear arguments on a Democratic challenge to the Republican-drawn plan.
That didn't stop several congressional candidates from filing petition signatures Tuesday, however.
U.S. Rep. Nick Smith, R-Addison, filed to run again for the 7th District seat while U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, filed for the 8th District. Democratic U.S. Reps. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Detroit filed to run in the 13th District and John Dingell of Dearborn filed to run in the 15th District.
Secretary of State Candice Miller, a Republican from Macomb County's Harrison Township, filed to run for the 10th District seat, while GOP state Sen. Thaddeus McCotter filed to run in the 11th District and Republican David Stone of Allen Park filed to run in the 14th District.
Congressional incumbents who already have filed to run for re-election are: U.S. Reps. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee (1st District); Peter Hoekstra, R-Holland (2nd District); Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids (3rd District); David Camp, R-Midland (4th District); Kildee (5th District); Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph (6th District); and Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills (9th District).
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