Michigan Attorney General election, 2014
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August 5, 2014 |
November 4, 2014 |
Bill Schuette |
Bill Schuette |
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Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General |
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The Michigan Attorney General election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Bill Schuette (R) was first elected in 2010 and won re-election in 2014.
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Michigan utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[1]<[2] The attorney general and secretary of state did not appear on the primary ballot, and the gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial positions did not have contested primaries in 2014.[3]
This election developed into a competitive race between incumbent Bill Schuette (R), challenger Mark Totten (D) and three third-party candidates. Jump to our polls section to read about polling in the race, or learn more about past elections for attorney general in the past elections section.
Candidates
General election
Bill Schuette - Incumbent
Mark Totten[5]
Justin M. Altman
U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate Gerald T. Van Sickle
John Anthony La Pietra
Results
General election
| Attorney General of Michigan, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Bill Schuette Incumbent |
52.1% | 1,603,471 | |
| Democratic | Mark Totten | 44.2% | 1,359,839 | |
| Libertarian | Justin Altman | 1.9% | 57,345 | |
| U.S. Taxpayers | Gerald T. Van Sickle | 1% | 30,762 | |
| Green | John Anthony La Pietra | 0.8% | 25,747 | |
| Total Votes | 3,077,164 | |||
| Election results via Michigan Department of State | ||||
Race background
Endorsements
Mark Totten
Former governor William Milliken (R) endorsed Totten in September. Milliken, who served in office from 1969 to 1983, also endorsed Gov. Rick Snyder (R) over Mark Schauer (D) in the gubernatorial race and Gary Peters (D) over Terri Lynn Land (R) in the U.S. Senate race.[6][7]
Bill Schuette
Schuette received endorsements from the Detroit Police Officers Association and the Retired Detroit Police and Firefighters Association prior to the general election. Both groups pointed to Schuette's defense of their pensions during Detroit's bankruptcy proceedings.[6]
Polls
| Attorney General of Michigan | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Bill Schuette (R) | Mark Totten (D) | Undecided/Third-party candidate | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| EPIC-MRA (October 26-28, 2014) | 47% | 35% | 18% | +/-4 | 600 | ||||||||||||||
| EPIC-MRA (October 17-19, 2014) | 43% | 33% | 24% | +/-4 | 600 | ||||||||||||||
| EPIC-MRA (September 25-29, 2014) | 38% | 32% | 29% | +/-4.0 | 600 | ||||||||||||||
| Detroit News-WDIV (September 3-5, 2014) | 40% | 38% | 21% | +/-4.0 | 600 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 42% | 34.5% | 23% | +/-4 | 600 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Campaign media
Mark Totten
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Past elections
Margin of victory analysis
The average margin of victory in the past three races for attorney general was 6.4 percent. The smallest margin of victory was 0.2 percent in 2002, while the largest margin of victory was 10.2 percent in 2006. Percentages of votes for third-party candidates have increased from 2.4 percent in 2002 to 4.2 percent in 2010. The following chart compares the margin of victory for winners of attorney general races with the margin of victory for candidates who won the most votes for the top race on the ballot:[8]
| Margin of victory analysis | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | AG candidate margin of victory (%) | Party of winning candidate | Top race on ballot | Party of winning candidate | Margin of victory (%) | |
| 2010 | 8.8 | Governor of Michigan | 18.2 | |||
| 2006 | 10.2 | Governor of Michigan | 14.1 | |||
| 2002 | 0.2 | Governor of Michigan | 4 | |||
2010
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election[9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party | 52.3% | ||
| Democratic Party | David Leyton | 43.5% | |
| Libertarian Party | Daniel W. Grow | 2.3% | |
| U.S. Taxpayers | Gerald T. Van Sickle | 1.9% | |
| Total Votes | 3,136,224 | ||
2006
| 2006 Race for Attorney General - General Election[10] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party | 53.8% | ||
| Democratic Party | Amos Williams | 43.6% | |
| Libertarian Party | Bill Hall | 1.6% | |
| U.S. Taxpayers | Charles Conces | 1.0% | |
| Total Votes | 3,690,415 | ||
2002
| 2002 Race for Attorney General - General Election[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party | 48.9% | ||
| Democratic Party | Gary Peters | 48.7% | |
| Green Party | Jerry Kaufmann | 1.5% | |
| U.S. Taxpayers | Gerald T. Van Sickle | 0.9% | |
| Total Votes | 3,068,012 | ||
Campaign finance
Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $4,629,349 during the election. This information was last updated on May 14, 2015.[12]
| Campaign Contribution Totals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Office | Result | Contributions | |
| Bill Schuette |
Michigan Attorney General | $3,848,722 | ||
| Mark Totten |
Michigan Attorney General | $780,627 | ||
| Justin Altman |
Michigan Attorney General | $0 | ||
| Gerald T. Van Sickle |
Michigan Attorney General | $0 | ||
| John Anthony La Pietra |
Michigan Attorney General | $0 | ||
| Grand Total Raised | $4,629,349 | |||
Key deadlines
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| April 22, 2014 | Filing deadline for political party candidates |
| July 7, 2014 | Filing deadline for minor party candidates |
| August 5, 2014 | Primary election |
| November 4, 2014 | General election |
| January 1, 2015 | Inauguration day for state executive officials elected in November |
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Michigan + attorney + general + election"
See also
- Michigan Attorney General
- Michigan state executive official elections, 2014
- State executive official elections, 2014
External links
- Office of the Attorney General of Michigan
- U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan announces 2014 candidates
- Michigan Green Party announces candidates
- Michigan Libertarians nominate candidates at state convention
Footnotes
- ↑ NCSL,"State Primary Election Types," accessed October 7, 2024
- ↑ Michigan.gov,"Questions and Answers: Michigan’s Presidential Primary," accessed October 7, 2024
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Filing Requirements for Secretary of State and Attorney General: 2014 Election Cycle," accessed August 5, 2014
- ↑ The Detroit News, "Peters 'considering' run for Levin's seat as 5 GOP members drop out," March 8, 2013 (dead link)
- ↑ M Live, Mark Totten announces bid for attorney general, explains why he wants to take on Bill Schuette, June 17, 2013
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Detroit News, "Milliken endorses Totten in AG’s race," September 18, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Radio, "Former Governor Milliken endorses two Democrats, but does it matter?" September 19, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Previous Election Information," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Department of State - 2010 General Election Results
- ↑ Michigan Department of State - 2006 General Election Results
- ↑ Michigan Department of State - 2002 General Election Results
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Overview of Michigan 2014 elections," accessed May 14, 2015
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