By Elena Durnbaugh
Gongwer News Service
The call to change the process for nominating candidates for attorney general and secretary of state is growing louder, with lawmakers introducing a joint resolution on Thursday to change the constitution.
HJR U and SJR I would change the process for selecting partisan candidates for attorney general and secretary of state from a nominating convention with delegates to a primary put before voters. The House resolution is sponsored by Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock, and Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit. The Senate resolution has not yet been formally introduced.
The resolutions, and proposed constitutional amendment, would also establish new ethics requirements and term limits for board members of Wayne State University, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Board members would be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, rather than nominated by partisan conventions before a statewide vote in the general election. The proposed amendment would also add a ninth member to all three boards to focus on alumni representation.
In recent years, nominating conventions for both the Michigan Republican Party and the Michigan Democratic Party have been contentious. After this year’s Democratic convention, there was much discussion about decorum, as candidates were booed while on stage, and investigations are ongoing regarding problems with accurately counting votes of the delegates. Republicans faced fights and factions at their nominating conventions in previous years under the leadership of former Chair Kristina Karamo.
“Primaries have become the normal practice for selecting nominees for most offices, and many citizens are surprised there are no primaries for these two important offices,” Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, one of the initiative’s sponsors, said in a statement.
“Voters will get to know the candidates and what they stand for during the primary, and parties will be able to nominate candidates who can handle the rigors of a statewide campaign.”
The proposed changes to the university board nominating process comes after an MSU board meeting held last Sunday when some trustees refused to sign an ethics pledge which would bar trustees from speaking negatively about board actions to press or the public. The MSU board has also had a history of infighting amongst board members. The nominating process for the University of Michigan Board of Regents also became highly contentious this year between intraparty scuffles and a scandal involving sexually inappropriate messages sent by one regent.
Former Govs. John Engler and Jim Blanchard issued statements supporting the proposed changes to the university board nominating process.
“In recent years, we have seen how political parties have fumbled the nominating process by failing to properly vet board candidates,” Engler said in the statement. “When board members are distracted by infighting and petty grievances and ignore their fiduciary responsibilities, they can do irreparable harm to our universities. Talented administrators and faculty are discouraged, and the ability to retain or attract the most highly qualified people becomes impossible. In Michigan, the quality of our 10 appointed university boards is in sharp contrast to our elected boards.”
Engler, who served a controversial and brief run as MSU president in the immediate aftermath of the Larry Nassar scandal, noted only four states have elected university boards.
“If the amendment is adopted, the boards of the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and MSU will have to comply,” he said. “The recent embarrassing meeting at MSU saw three board members say that they would not comply with a voluntary ethics code even after it was adopted by a majority of the board. We need to change a broken system.”
Blanchard was similarly supportive of the measure, saying it was necessary to fix an “increasingly broken status quo.” He also applauded the bipartisan work that has gone into the proposal.
Jason Cabel Roe, a Republican political strategist with Roe Strategic, LLC, is also working on a bipartisan commission on a narrower proposal. Roe is working alongside Republican political strategist Jamie Roe, former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lon Johnson and Democratic political strategist Jason Ellenberg.
Roe said although he had no opposition to the changes to university boards, the proposal he was working on was focused on making changes to the attorney general, secretary of state and lieutenant governor races.
The more you add to a resolution, the harder it is to get to the necessary threshold of votes, Roe said.
“It’s about what can get the two-thirds to get on the ballot,” he said.
Roe said they’ve had conversations with legislative leadership, as well as former governors and other individual lawmakers. Next week during the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference, Roe said he would be looking to enlist support and raise funds.
“Given this is constitutional amendment we can’t take anything for granted,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s going to be the Legislature that decides.”
Not everyone is as supportive of the measures.
Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, was asked about the proposals during an appearance on WKAR’s “Off the Record.” He said he preferred the convention process.
“Michigan has open primaries, and the Democrats vote in our primaries … and they vote for the most liberal Republican,” Maddock said. “The convention is a closed primary.”
He said the resolution was dead on arrival in the Legislature, as he thought it would be unable to get the required two-thirds vote.
When House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, was asked about the proposal during a press conference on Wednesday, he said he had not taken a position on it.
Gongwer News Service
The call to change the process for nominating candidates for attorney general and secretary of state is growing louder, with lawmakers introducing a joint resolution on Thursday to change the constitution.
HJR U and SJR I would change the process for selecting partisan candidates for attorney general and secretary of state from a nominating convention with delegates to a primary put before voters. The House resolution is sponsored by Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock, and Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit. The Senate resolution has not yet been formally introduced.
The resolutions, and proposed constitutional amendment, would also establish new ethics requirements and term limits for board members of Wayne State University, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Board members would be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, rather than nominated by partisan conventions before a statewide vote in the general election. The proposed amendment would also add a ninth member to all three boards to focus on alumni representation.
In recent years, nominating conventions for both the Michigan Republican Party and the Michigan Democratic Party have been contentious. After this year’s Democratic convention, there was much discussion about decorum, as candidates were booed while on stage, and investigations are ongoing regarding problems with accurately counting votes of the delegates. Republicans faced fights and factions at their nominating conventions in previous years under the leadership of former Chair Kristina Karamo.
“Primaries have become the normal practice for selecting nominees for most offices, and many citizens are surprised there are no primaries for these two important offices,” Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, one of the initiative’s sponsors, said in a statement.
“Voters will get to know the candidates and what they stand for during the primary, and parties will be able to nominate candidates who can handle the rigors of a statewide campaign.”
The proposed changes to the university board nominating process comes after an MSU board meeting held last Sunday when some trustees refused to sign an ethics pledge which would bar trustees from speaking negatively about board actions to press or the public. The MSU board has also had a history of infighting amongst board members. The nominating process for the University of Michigan Board of Regents also became highly contentious this year between intraparty scuffles and a scandal involving sexually inappropriate messages sent by one regent.
Former Govs. John Engler and Jim Blanchard issued statements supporting the proposed changes to the university board nominating process.
“In recent years, we have seen how political parties have fumbled the nominating process by failing to properly vet board candidates,” Engler said in the statement. “When board members are distracted by infighting and petty grievances and ignore their fiduciary responsibilities, they can do irreparable harm to our universities. Talented administrators and faculty are discouraged, and the ability to retain or attract the most highly qualified people becomes impossible. In Michigan, the quality of our 10 appointed university boards is in sharp contrast to our elected boards.”
Engler, who served a controversial and brief run as MSU president in the immediate aftermath of the Larry Nassar scandal, noted only four states have elected university boards.
“If the amendment is adopted, the boards of the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and MSU will have to comply,” he said. “The recent embarrassing meeting at MSU saw three board members say that they would not comply with a voluntary ethics code even after it was adopted by a majority of the board. We need to change a broken system.”
Blanchard was similarly supportive of the measure, saying it was necessary to fix an “increasingly broken status quo.” He also applauded the bipartisan work that has gone into the proposal.
Jason Cabel Roe, a Republican political strategist with Roe Strategic, LLC, is also working on a bipartisan commission on a narrower proposal. Roe is working alongside Republican political strategist Jamie Roe, former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lon Johnson and Democratic political strategist Jason Ellenberg.
Roe said although he had no opposition to the changes to university boards, the proposal he was working on was focused on making changes to the attorney general, secretary of state and lieutenant governor races.
The more you add to a resolution, the harder it is to get to the necessary threshold of votes, Roe said.
“It’s about what can get the two-thirds to get on the ballot,” he said.
Roe said they’ve had conversations with legislative leadership, as well as former governors and other individual lawmakers. Next week during the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference, Roe said he would be looking to enlist support and raise funds.
“Given this is constitutional amendment we can’t take anything for granted,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s going to be the Legislature that decides.”
Not everyone is as supportive of the measures.
Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, was asked about the proposals during an appearance on WKAR’s “Off the Record.” He said he preferred the convention process.
“Michigan has open primaries, and the Democrats vote in our primaries … and they vote for the most liberal Republican,” Maddock said. “The convention is a closed primary.”
He said the resolution was dead on arrival in the Legislature, as he thought it would be unable to get the required two-thirds vote.
When House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, was asked about the proposal during a press conference on Wednesday, he said he had not taken a position on it.
