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Election 2012

http://ipraudio.interlochen.org/ElectionRoundUp.mp3

5:30 A.M.EST

Michigan's Emergency Manager law appears to be heading toward repeal. Unofficial results show it is the only ballot drive that will be successful. (A no vote is success for the petitioners who want the law struck down.) The other five were amendments to the state constitution and were all soundly rejected.

Voters in the Traverse City area turned down a $100-million school bond proposal. The no votes came close to 60 percent of the total. The proposal was criticized as extravagant in part because it included the construction of a new performing arts center at Traverse City Central High School.

Voters in Traverse City gave up some parkland in order to ease traffic congestion along U.S. 31. A proposal to use a strip of 30 feet of park on the west side of Division Street for an unidentified solution to traffic problems easily passed yesterday.

5:15 A.M. EST

Unofficial results show Ray Franz winning a second term to represent Michigan's 101st State House District. The Republican from Onekema has taken 51 percent of the vote, about 1000 more votes than the challenger Allen O'Shea. More than 49,000 voters turned up in the 101st, slightly less than four years ago when more than 51,000 votes were cast in that race. It includes Mason, Manistee, Benzie and Leelanau Counties.

4:45 A.M. EST

Congressman Dan Benishek appears to have narrowly won a rematch with Democrat Gary McDowell. Current results show Benishek taking less than 49 percent of the more than 300,000 votes counted in Michigan's 1st Congressional District and about 4,000 more than the Democrat. Libertarian candidate Emily Salvette picked up about three percent of the vote yesterday.

Representative Bruce Rendon has survived a challenge in what might have been the most expensive state house race in Michigan. The Republican from Lake City defeated Lon Johnson from Kalkaska County. Johnson won in Crawford and Roscommon Counties but Rendon did very well in Missaukee County where he lives.

State Elections results show Representative Ray Franz ahead in the race for Michigan's 101st but that is without the results from Manistee County where both Franz and the challenger Allen O'Shea live.

12:15 A.M. EST

National Public Radio has projected Barack Obama as winner of the U.S. presidential election. 

National Public Radio has projected President Barack Obama the winner in Michigan over Republican challenger and native son Mitt Romney.

Senator Debbie Stabenow has declared victory in her bid for reelection. Speaking in front of Michigan Democrats at the MGM Grand Casino in Detroit, Stabenow thanked her staff and supporters. A number of media outlets have projected Stabenow the winner of Michigan’s Senate race. Early results show her with a significant lead over former Congressman Pete Hoekstra.

It is a very tight race right now for Michigan’s northernmost congressional seat. The Detroit Free Press is reporting 55 percent of the vote counted and a tie for incumbent Republican Dan Benishek with Democratic challenger – former state Representative Gary McDowell in the 1st District. The candidates are tied with 48% each. 

Incumbent state Representative Republican Wayne Schmidt has a commanding lead over his challenger Democrat Betsy Coffia in Grand Traverse County. Schimdt leads Coffia 57% to 43%.

Results of other state House races are slow in coming in.

The bond proposal for Traverse City Area Public Schools – continues to fail with voters at press time. The vote so far is 58% to 42%. 

The Detroit Free Press reports that five of the six ballot proposals were handily beaten on election day. Proposal 1, which is an attempt to repeal the state’s emergency manager law, is too close to call according to an EPIC-MRA poll conducted for the Free Press.  

With only a few precincts reporting, early election results show Republican State House Speaker Jase Bolger and Bill Farmer in a very close race for state House according toMLIve. Bolger has a slight lead over Farmer. Bolger and Representative Roy Schimdt are under a grand jury investigation over allegations that Bolger ran a fake candidate against Schimdt after he switched parties. 

MLive is reporting that Michigan’s 2012 voter turnout could be the biggest in 44 years and that good voter turnout usually favors Democrats. 

Michigan voters are complaining about problems at the voting booth. The Michigan Election Coalition says it’s received hundreds of hotline calls. The group says callers reported dozens of malfunctioning voting machines in metro Detroit and that has led to unusually long wait times, some more than three hours. The office of the Secretary of State says long lines are mainly due to high voter turnout.