Legislative Information

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

As you already know, the efforts to protect our tort reform laws took a huge step forward yesterday with the success of the MDPAC-endorsed Supreme Court candidates Justice Bob Young and Judge Mary Beth Kelly.  I wanted to give you a preview of the other information that will be shared with the MDPAC board later today, as prepared by our government relations team.

The Michigan Doctors’ Political Action Committee endorsed 79 candidates who were involved in yesterday’s general election.  Of those 79, 75 won their general elections, for a winning percentage of 95%. 

The endorsed candidates who did not win were: Rep. Sarah Roberts (D-St. Clair Shores), Rep. Marty Griffin (D-Jackson), Rep. Jennifer Haase (D-Richmond), and Susan McGillicuddy (R-Meridian Twp.). Rep. Roberts, Rep. Haase, and Rep. Griffin, were all endorsed  due to their votes against the physician tax.  All three were considered potentially vulnerable.  The defeats of Rep. Griffin and Ms. McGillicuddy were not unexpected, the defeats of Rep. Haase and Rep. Roberts, were not.  Exceptionally strong Republican turn out in Macomb County most likely played a role in their defeats.

Other items of interest from yesterday are:

-Total votes cast was approximately 2.7 million, well below the 3.6 million cast in 2006.  This is a clear signal of suppressed democratic turnout.  The common thought is, the higher the turnout, normally the better the environment for democratic candidates.

-The final statewide election results tracked almost exactly with the polling that was done prior to the elections. This can be taken as another sign that democratic voter turnout was suppressed. Democratic voters are often thought to be more fickle about voting and can sometimes skew polling.

-Rick Snyder (R-Ann Arbor) defeated Virg Bernero (D-Lansing) 58 to 40 percent, the largest margin of victory in a gubernatorial election since John Engler defeated Geoffrey Feiger in 1998.

-The Republicans managed to net gain a total of 20 seats in the Michigan House of Representatives leading to their retaking majority of the lower chamber.  This is the largest gain in history by either party in one election.  A total of 9 Democratic incumbents were defeated.

-The next Speaker of the House will most likely be Jase Bolger (R-Marshall). Rep. Bolger will be beginning his second term and has an excellent relationship with MSMS.  He was the beneficiary of a physician organized fundraiser in Marshall in September, hosted by MSMS Board Member John Bizon, MD.

-The next Senate Majority Leader will either be Sen. Randy Richardville (R-Monroe) or Rep. John Proos (R-St. Joseph), with the common belief being that Sen. Richardville has the edge at this point.  MSMS has an excellent relationship with both men. Sen. Richardville is a past recipient of the MSMS lawmaker of the year award, and Rep. Proos is the son of a physician.

-MSMS and Michigan as a whole was lucky to have a total of four physicians running for state and federal level offices.  All four sacrificed time away from their family and practice to try and hold public office, a true testament to their commitment to this state. Two were successful in their efforts, and unfortunately two were not.  Senator Roger Kahn, MD (R-Saginaw) was successful in his race against Debasish Mridha, MD (D-Saginaw).  Doctor Kahn defeated Doctor Mridha 55 percent to 42 percent in the 32nd State Senate seat.  Dan Benishek, MD (R-Iron Mountain) defeated Gary McDowell (D-Rudyard) 51 percent to 42 percent in the first congressional district.  Rob Steele, MD was defeated by Congressman John Dingell 56 percent to 41 percent.

Thanks to all of you for your leadership and support during this critical election cycle.  We are already planning to inform and work with a new administration and many new legislators in the coming year.

Julie L. Novak

Executive Director

Michigan State Medical Society
jnovak@msms.org
517-336-5742