Granholm coasts to second term

Mark Hornbeck, Charlie Cain and Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Democrat Jennifer Granholm won her second term as Michigan governor Tuesday, dodging fallout from an anemic state economy and a record-smashing challenge bankrolled by her multimillionaire opponent, Dick DeVos.

The incumbent governor will now have an ally in the Legislature as Democrats seized control of the 110-member state House for the first time in eight years, giving her a foothold to pass a second-term agenda. As of early this morning Democrats also had a chance to take over the state Senate, controlled by Republicans for the last dozen years.

"It is the future of Michigan that we celebrate tonight, a vote cast out of hope and not out of fear," a jubilant Granholm told a crowd at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Detroit shortly after receiving a congratulatory phone call from DeVos. "We may not have arrived at the promised land yet, but we can see it."

With 60 percent of the votes counted this morning, Granholm led Republican DeVos by 13 points -- an unexpectedly wide margin that had not been predicted by pre-election polls, which showed her job approval rating at a dismal 40 percent.

A subdued DeVos, addressing the Republican faithful at a Lansing hotel, said: "I want to congratulate the governor on a successful campaign, a hard-fought campaign and we wish the governor and we wish Michigan the very best in the next four years."

In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Debbie Stabenow coasted to a second six-year term by a 15-point margin over Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, whose campaign never gained adequate financing or traction with voters.

The Democratic Party, however, was unable to run the table of top state officers: Republican Attorney General Mike Cox led Detroit lawyer Amos Williams and Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land led Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh, both by double-digit margins. Both incumbents declared victory late Tuesday.

Even though Michigan has the nation's second-highest unemployment rate, and two-thirds of voters say Michigan is headed in the wrong direction, voters didn't hold Granholm responsible. The economy and jobs were the top state issues identified by voters in the exit polling, who said by a 15-point margin that Granholm was better equipped to handle them than DeVos.

Voters all along said they trusted the charismatic Granholm to do the right thing, and exit polling revealed a sudden change of heart on the issue of her job performance. Pre-election polling showed well over 50 percent of voters giving the governor poor marks, but a majority of voters leaving their precincts Tuesday gave Granholm's job performance a positive rating.

Thomas King, 45, of Detroit's Boston-Edison neighborhood, who owns a home repair company, said backing Granholm for a second time was an easy choice.

"She cares about people. She cares about children and education and about cities," King said. "DeVos is big business, and he could do a good job, but he'll be looking to put more money into the pockets of the rich instead of helping those who need help."

DeVos, meanwhile, never laid out a clear platform on key issues -- such as how he would recoup revenue lost by repealing of the Single Business Tax, Michigan's primary corporate tax. It's due to expire at the end of next year, and raises $2 billion a year.

He also was unable to effectively counter Democratic attacks on his leadership of Alticor, the parent company of Amway, or on its investment in China.

"The Republicans decided to introduce DeVos, not define him," said Ed Sarpolus, who conducted pre-election polls for The News and WXYZ.

"Voters have been telling us since August they don't know who Dick DeVos is, what he stands for or what his plans are. Granholm won because she was perceived to be more trustworthy and honest and because people were comfortable that she was more concerned and caring about the people of Michigan."

Barbara Batdorff, 58, of Bloomfield Hills was among those who got DeVos' message. She said she voted for him, because "I believe he's a strong businessman."

While acknowledging Granholm had "inherited" a lot of economic problems from her predecessor, Gov. John Engler, Batdorff nonetheless thought it was "time for a change."

This year's campaign for governor was the ugliest and costliest race in Michigan history. Through the middle of October, Granholm and DeVos shelled out $56 million between them, even though neither candidate had primary opposition. Together with their surrogates, the campaigns spent $50 million alone on TV commercials -- many of them attack ads.

Amway heir DeVos reached into his own deep pockets for $35 million, the sixth-highest amount ever spent by a gubernatorial candidate on his own race in U.S. history. The campaign had an amazingly early start, with DeVos going on the air in mid-February and never going dark.

Detroit News polling showed DeVos charging out to an eight-point lead by June. The Granholm camp held off on TV advertising until late summer, prompting the Democratic faithful to get anxious. The governor attributed her win to that strategy.

Granholm said she was stunned that polls showed DeVos unable to move past support in the low 40s from September through October, even though his campaign was spending a record-breaking amount.

Tuesday's exit poll, like surveys before Election Day, showed voters were more inclined to blame President Bush than Granholm for Michigan's economic woes.

"We were able to give them tangible pieces of the economic plan," Granholm said, pointing specifically to the July announcement that Google would open a business in Ann Arbor and employ 1,000 people over three years.

Detroit News Staff Writers Catherine Jun, Andy Henion and David Josar contributed to this report. You can reach Mark Hornbeck at (313) 222-2470 or mhornbeck@detnews.com.