Terri Lynn Land was elected to serve as Michigan's 41st Secretary of State in November of 2002 and took office on January 1, 2003. As Secretary of State, she plans to build upon the Department of State's technology base and expand user-friendly programs that would increase the number of Internet users. She is committed to providing the highest level of customer service possible by delivering the most cost-effective and efficient services possible. She believes that effective government thinks creatively and is open to exploring alternatives to the standard ways of doing business. A willingness to listen and learn from customers and employees is one of her top priorities.
Prior to her election, Secretary Land served as Kent County Clerk from 1992-2000, at a time of tremendous change and growth in Michigan's 4th largest county. As Kent County Clerk, she concentrated on making county government more "user-friendly" to the public. By working and building coalitions with other members of county government, local and statewide judges, the State legislature, and the voters, she made sure that elections and vital record keeping were 100 percent accurate and accessible. She has also been a leader in enforcing compliance with Campaign Finance Laws and working with the Qualified Voter File.
Secretary Land's involvement in politics stretches back to her high school years, where she served as a "scatter blitzer" for the Gerald R. Ford for President campaign. A budding politician from Grandville High School, she was one of the youngest attendees at the Republican State Convention in 1978.
Heavy involvement with community organizations, such as the Women's Resource Center, is also one of Secretary Land's hallmarks. In her spare time, Secretary Land enjoys gardening and water-skiing.
Of all her accomplishments, Secretary Land is most proud of her family. She married Dan Hibma in 1983, and the couple has two children together, Jessica and Nicholas. They attend Corinth Reformed Church, where Secretary Land was nursery supervisor for many years. A graduate of Grandville High School, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Hope College in Holland, Michigan.
(from state website)
It's no great secret that the Democrats are holding out much of their hope for winning ANY office this year for the Secretary of State race, where Jocelyn Benson is locked in a close race with Republican Ruth Johnson.
While Johnson has been targeted, and rightly so, as a partisan political opportunist, the Democrats haven't had a lot of luck with getting anything to stick in the minds of voters. Until now, perhaps.
Ever since a Benson spokesperson labeled Johnson as "No Truth Ruth" in recent weeks, it seemed like that may become the defacto attack they attempt to pin on her. Last week I noticed that the domain name notruthruth.com had been registered under MDP Chairman Mark Brewer's name, and today, I see that website has gone live.
It essentially goes through, point by point, the attacks the Johnson campaign lobbed towards Benson in recent weeks, everything from her being an operative of George Soros (she's never met him nor spoken to him), to being behind the "fake tea party" (she learned about it through the press, and immediately called for an investigation).
It effectively paints a portrait of Ruth Johnson being the hack politician that she is, and someone Michigan clearly doesn't need anywhere near the Secretary of State's office.
I think it's worth people taking the time to send their friends a link to www.notruthruth.com so they can see for themselves the desperate measures that Ruth Johnson and the Republican Party are using to keep their partisan operative in charge of our elections.
“The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that accomplishes its leftist policy goals through fear and intimidation and has been labeled a “hate group.”
The SPLC is an organization that is a civil rights law firm based in Montgomery, Alabama. It has sued and successfully shut down several hate groups when that violent rhetoric turned to actual violence. Among its other activities is the Intelligence Project, which tracks Neo-Nazi, KKK, black separatist and other hate groups. It also produces a quarterly publication The Intelligence Report for law enforcement.
As a result of it labeling and reporting on hate groups, it often gets labeled a hate group for opposing groups that expose violent racist and Anti-Semitic rhetoric.
A new poll released yesterday shows the momentum continuing to build for Jocelyn Benson's Secretary of State run. Only a few weeks ago polls showed her down around 9 points. Last week, things were a dead heat. Now, Benson is actually leading by roughly 8 points!
According to the poll:
"Benson and Johnson are statistically even among hard core voter groups (42.44 percent Johnson, 41.95 percent Benson, a .49 point advantage for Johnson), but Benson has the clear advantage among soft partisan voters. Benson's lead among soft partisan voters is 8.29 points, which leads to her total lead of 7.8 points over Johnson.
The same poll basically called the AG's race for Bill Schuette, citing a virtually insurmountable 23 point lead, so it's becoming more and more clear that Benson holds the single best chance for the Democrats this year.
Recent polls in Michigan's Secretary of State race have shown Democrat Jocelyn Benson trailing to her Republican opponent Ruth Johnson by upwards of 9 points. I've written a fair bit recently about why it's so important that Benson, a highly qualified election law expert, defeat Johnson, a partisan politician who is just looking at this job as another step in her political career.
Well things seem to have taken a turn for the better in the race, as MIRS News reported yesterday that an internal poll commissioned by the Benson campaign and conducted by Lake Research Partners showed the race as dead even, with both candidates polling at 33 percent, with 31 percent undecided.
As the MIRS article cited:
"The Michigan Secretary of State race is in a dead heat and will be closely contested from now until election day as both candidates strive to get introduced to voters," read the briefing memo obtained by MIRS. "In this tough election year for Democrats in Michigan, as indicated by public polling done in the state, the Benson campaign is bucking the trend and has a path to victory.
Perhaps most significantly, the polling showed that neither candidate is particularly well known at this point by voters, but once voters get to know Benson, they prefer her by a two-to-one margin. That's why it is critical that Michigan voters tell their friends and family about Benson, send a link to her website to your contacts so they can see her qualifications for themselves, donate a few bucks to help get her name out, volunteer to help out on the campaign, etc... This may be the one statewide race that the Democrats have a good chance in, so we need to make this one count.
I wrote a diary yesterday (link) discussing the importance of electing Jocelyn Benson as Secretary of State in November. The reasons for that became even clearer as campaign finance reports were released by the candidates, and as Benson's campaign pointed out in a media release this afternoon, there were some pretty startling numbers.
While both candidates raised roughly the same amount of money, Benson's contributions came from over 2,300 individual donors while 90% of Ruth Johnson's money came from only 3 sources: Herself ($345,000), the Michigan Republican Party ($60,000), and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce ($33,000).
Johnson's campaign report raises two obvious red flags:
1) Where Johnson came up with $345,000 to give her campaign. Since Johnson won't disclose her personal finances as Benson has done, we simply don't know. Her job as Oakland County Clerk pays her $139,999, which is certainly good money (especially for a job she's not really doing since she's spending her time campaigning), but is it enough to have $345k lying around that you're willing to dump into a campaign? Or are there other sources of income we don't know about that may have potential strings attached to it? Unless she opens her books, voters don't know.
2) With the bulk of the remainder of her campaign funds coming from the Republican Party and their cohorts at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, it raises serious concerns about whose interests Johnson would be serving as Secretary of State. The people? Or the politicians?
Benson's spokesperson probably summed it up best:
"Transparency is key to protecting Michigan voters from bought and paid for politicians that indulge in partisan interests,” Bucholz said. “Since Ruth Johnson has no problem self funding her campaign, she should have no problem disclosing her personal finances."
So not only is Ruth Johnson not telling what she would DO as Secretary of State, she won't even tell us where the money funding her campaign is coming from. Not exactly the qualities we should hope for from our Secretary of State.
Michigan's Secretary of State Office must find itself with an identity crisis at times. On one hand, it serves the somewhat mundane function of renewing drivers licences, license plates, registration tags, etc.. On the other hand, it serves the very critical role of overseeing Michigan's election laws & ensuring everyone has access to a voting booth on election day.
When it comes to electing someone to run this office, however, it isn't the voting rights issue that usually comes front and center, it's the ongoing issue of why the lines are so long at the branch offices, and why, in the year 2010, I still can't pay with my credit card once I get to the front of that line.
So be it. Voters tend to react to what annoys them most. But the reality is that with obscene amounts of money being poured into elections today from untold sources of funding, it is more important than ever that we have someone in the Secretary of State's office that understands the importance of voting access and campaign accountability. Lucky for us, we actually have that candidate running for Secretary of State this year in Jocelyn Benson.
Republican State Senator and current Secretary of State Candidate Michelle McManus recently listed hate-group leader Kyle Bristow endorsement in an e-mail to supporters.
The e-mail, sent June 17th, covers issues such as McManus support for an Arizona-style anti-immigrant bill submitted by Republican State Kim Meltzer (who also has ties to Bristow) and her ‘perfect score’ on a Tea Party questionnaire.
The e-mail list a number of endorsements of various Republican Party officials. Kyle Bristow, former vice Chair for the 12th district, is listed third from the top on the list, after former State Senator Mat Dunakiss and Gerald Law, but above one state committee members and Wayne and Mackinac county chairmen. Why should a former chair of a county district place above current county chairmen? The McManus campaign did not respond to an e-mail inquiry.
(While MichiganLiberal.com does not officially endorse candidates, our readers are more than welcome to advocate for whomever they wish. (And really, did you think anyone here is voting for Michelle McManus?) - promoted by PerfectStormer)
On May 20, 2008, NBC's Andrea Mitchell warned that then-Senator Barack Obama would have to “figure out a way to get a fair vote” because of the potential for “Katherine Harris-type” Secretaries of State to tamper with election results. That remark, virtually unthinkable before 2000, epitomizes the cloud of suspicion that has hung over every hotly contested election race ever since.
The “Katherine Harris effect,” refers to the former Florida Secretary of State who, amid great controversy and hanging chads, certified disputed election results that declared George W. Bush the winner of Florida and the presidency. Harris’s decision to certify the election results while also serving as the co-chair of the Florida Bush/Cheney Presidential campaign shattered voters’ faith in the integrity of the democratic process. It also invited the broader suspicion that Secretaries of State, the chief elections official in most states, work behind the scenes to ensure that their political party gains power and wins elections by hook or crook.
If our democracy is to stand, voters must have confidence that elections are an accurate reflection of the will of the voters. You would think it would go without saying that the Secretary of State, who oversees statewide recounts and certifies election results, must operate their office in a nonpartisan manner. They should not co-chair any campaigns or endorse any candidates in elections over which they serve as the final certifier of results. Whether elected as a Democrat or Republican, Secretaries must make decisions based on state and federal law and constitutional principles, not partisan gain.
In the years following the 2000 election, a handful of states have enacted legislation requiring that their Secretary of State remain neutral in all state and federal races. A Louisiana law specifically “prohibits a Secretary from being involved in any political race except his own.” I guess it would surprise no one that Michigan is not one of those states. That's why, I was taken by surprise when Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan Democratic Party’s endorsed candidate for Secretary of State, pledged last week to take an oath to operate the office in a neutral and nonpartisan fashion. And called upon other candidates for the office to do the same.
{{{{{crickets....}}}}}
That stunning silence from the other declared candidates should really tell you all you need to know. It's one thing for candidates who are long shots and underdogs to make campaign-style promises in a desperate attempt to gain attention. It's another thing entirely when the frontrunner - who's been a virtual shoo-in from day one - makes the promise. When you do the right thing simply because its right, then that says something about your character. When nobody, but nobody else steps up to show the same moral leadership and sense of conviction, well, that says something about their character also.
Michigan citizens deserve to have full confidence that their elections are clean, honest and fair. Ensuring that the next Secretary of State takes an “Oath of Nonpartisanship” is a direct way to reach that goal.
My name is CeCe Grant and I unabashedly endorse Jocelyn Benson for Michigan Secretary of State.
Yesterday, February 6, three Democratic candidates for statewide office appeared on a panel to discuss their candidacy and to answer questions from the audience. The event was sponsored by People of Diversity United for Equality (PODUE) and was held at the Brown Chapel AME in Ypsilanti. In attendance were Alma Wheeler-Smith -- candidate for governor, Jocelyn Benson -- candidate for Secretary of State, and Richard Bernstein -- candidate for Attorney General. The forum was moderated by Rep. Rebekah Warren -- with opening and closing remarks by House Speaker Pro Tempore Pam Byrnes, both candidates for State Senate.
From L-R, Rebekah Warren, Alma Wheeler-Smith, Jocelyn Benson, Richard Bernstein, Pam Byrnes, Pastor Jerry Hatter
For those of you who may have missed the news, Jocelyn Benson formally announced her bid for Secretary of State at press conferences in Grand Rapids, Detroit, Lansing and Flint last week. Jocelyn is running on a platform to make Michigan the model for fair, accountable, and efficient elections. A concept that sounds almost quaint to those of us who watched the debacle of politics gone wild during the 2008 elections.
For the many non political wonks here who want to know why this office is so important, we don’t have to go much farther than Macomb County, where the chairman of the Republican Party tried to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting. Contrary to the common sense of a 12-year-old, the party leaders of Macomb County decided in their unbridled attempt to subvert the democratic process, that if your house was listed as a foreclosure, that means you are no longer a citizen, registrant, or voter in Macomb County. Nevermind simple little facts like:
Even after foreclosure, most people have up to a year to move out of their homes.
You could have made financial arrangements with the new owners to stay in your home.
You could be living right down the street from your old address, which would still make you a properly registered voter.
You just plain can’t use foreclosure procedures as a ruse to deny people the right to vote.
Election watch advocates pulled the cover on this tactic and the underhanded dealings became national news. Reporters reported, lawyers sued, and finally thirteen senators petitioned the Justice Department to guarantee that voters were not harassed at the polls, most notably Carl Levin, Debbie Stabenow, Barack Obama (D- IL), Edward Kennedy (D- MA) and Joseph Biden (D-DE).
Yes, so while most media attention will focus on the governor and congressional races, from time to time, the little bitty office of Secretary of State becomes big, huge news. In 2000, Florida became the laughing stock of the entire world because of an incompetent, corrupt, partisan ideologue who flip-flopped between whose vote would and would not be counted. Four years later, Ohio had more than its share of voting problems ranging from breakdowns in electronic voting machines to accusations of widespread voter disenfranchisement. Ohio elected Jennifer Brunner their new Secretary of State, under whose leadership the 2008 elections went much smoother.
2010 is quickly approaching and the battle to become Michigan’s next Governor, Congressman and State legislator is rapidly gearing up. Obama landslide aside, Michigan is still very much a battleground state and our purple status is still being hotly contested. The 2010 U.S. Census count and the inevitable losses due to redistricting is also looming on the horizon. If there was ever a time to have a highly regarded voting rights expert helming the ship, this is that time.
Jocelyn wants to modernize our voter registration, voting and driver licensing processes in the State of Michigan and make us a model for other states to follow. In yesterday's Lansing State Journal oped, she writes:
Jocelyn is a party leader but not a partisan. She is a highly respected professor, lawyer and election expert, running an unprecedented grassroots campaign to become our next Secretary of State and needs our support.
Last Friday, yvette248 posted an excellent diary promoting Democrat Jocelyn Benson in her bid to become Michigan's next Secretary of State. She wrote about a fundraiser in Washington, D.C. that was attended by powerful members of the state and national government and the broad support that Benson has still nearly a year and a half before election day 2010. One of the Republicans who is running against Ms. Benson is the current Calhoun County Clerk and Register of Deeds, and a former president of The Michigan County Clerk's Association, Ann Norlander. After reading Yvette's diary, I noticed a comment by bulljiver suggesting that it was strange that Norlander's website lists the endorsements of Democrat Saginaw County officials Sue Kaltenbach and Milly Dodak. Prompted by this comment, I decided to take a closer look at that endorsement list.
The first thing that jumped out at me was that Norlander listed Patricia Manley (D) as an endorser. Manley is Marquette County's Register of Deeds, although on Norlander's website she is also listed as "Marquette County Clerk." This is not correct, as Connie Branham (D) is the Marquette County Clerk. In 2008, Manley was re-elected as Marquette County register of deeds unopposed. Suspicious about why she, a Democrat, would endorse Norlander, a Republican, I decided to contact Ms. Manley.
Join the 9th, 12th & 14th Congressional District Republican Party organizations
at the
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN SHOWDOWN IN MOTOWN:
GOP Michigan Secretary of State Candidates Town Hall Forum Master of Ceremonies: Republican National Committeewoman Holly Hughes
Join Republicans from across Southeast Michigan as we come together to hear from GOP candidates running for Michigan Secretary of State in 2010. The candidates will take your questions during this live town hall panel discussion about how & who can win in 2010.
Senator Cameron Brown, Senator Michelle McManus & Clerk/Register Anne Norlander will attend this complimentary event. Snacks/goodies will be provided by the Executive Committees of the 9th, 12th & 14th Congressional District Republican Party organizations.
Event date: Monday, March 30th. Social hour/meet the candidates: 6:30 – 7:30 PM. Event starts at 7:30 PM. Event location: Trott Financial Center (former McCain-Palin ’08 Great Lakes Regional Headquarters), 31440 Northwestern Highway (between 13 Mile & Middlebelt Roads – east side of road), Farmington Hills. Bring your friends!
Tuesday night saw a momentous milestone in the Oakland County Democratic Party's history: I actually made it to their monthly meeting on time for once! Change Happened!
Seriously, though, aside from the other various and sundry items on the agenda, the most interesting event of the evening IMHO was the special guest speaker, Prof. Jocelyn Benson, who is running for Michigan Secretary of State in 2010.
This is significant for a number of reasons: First, Prof. Benson has a hell of a resume. Rather than try to parrot it, I'll just give a summary from her official campaign website:
This was an op ed in the Free Press Today. Jocelyn Benson is a great young progressive and one of the leading election law experts in the country. (You can also learn more about her on the Facebook Group page supporting her)
About 15 minutes before polls closed on Election Day last November, a young woman ran into a northwest Detroit precinct to vote for the first time. She presented a valid driver's license, but a quick search of the statewide voter file showed she was registered to vote at another precinct.
She explained that she was staying with her aunt temporarily in this area of the city. She had worked all day and had not had a chance to get to the polls until now. The poll worker encouraged her to go to the precinct where she was registered. Another offered to give her directions.
But the young woman felt she didn't have time to get there. She left, head down, without casting a vote.
Had this voter lived in a number of other states, she could have cast her ballot at any precinct in her city, and her vote for offices she was clearly entitled to vote for (such as president) would have counted. Instead, she was turned away because of a legal technicality that prevents anyone from casting a ballot outside of her or his precinct.
This press release went out last week regarding potential voting problems in Michigan. Sheila Smith, currently political director at Michigan ACORN, is running for Oakland County Clerk. I'm working on her campaign. This is a serious problem, and we need to keep our eyes on the ball. If elected in November, Sheila will work to end these kinds of problems, but she can't do anything about this year's election.
If you live in Oakland County, please vote for her. She is running unopposed on the Dem side of the November ballot so has no primary next week.
On May 11, 2005, President Bush signed the "Emergency Supplemental Appropriation for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005," P.A. 109-13. Slipped into P.A. 109-13--without a hearing or time to study or modify it-- was a democracy-killing amendment, named the REAL ID Act of 2005, that has received far too little attention from the public it directly attacks. It is set to take effect in May of 2008, nicely timed to guarantee massive suppression of votes in the November Presidential Elections. Even though the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently extended the deadline for compliance to 2014, Michigan's Republican Secretary of State,Terri Lynn Land, is determined to advance the deadline.
In her July 24 "NEWS YOU CAN USE" memo to elections clerks she says:
As earlier advised, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled on July 18, 2007 that a 1996 law which requires voters to present photo identification in the polls when applying for a ballot is constitutional and enforceable. (See MCL 168.523)
As a result of the court's ruling, the Bureau of Elections is currently in the process of developing a comprehensive informational program to assist clerks with the implementation of the photo ID requirement. The release of the informational materials in time for the implementation of the photo ID requirement at the upcoming November 6, 2007 election is planned. ..."
The Detroit Free Press grimly noted the dangers of Real ID's Cheney-like imprint in its May 27, 2007 editorial, printed below the fold:
I have received a letter dated April 13, 2007 responding to this artical and original complaint of " Evidence of Corrupt Judge Elections in Jackson Michigan" from the Michigan Department of State and it's Director of Elections Mr. Christopher M. Thomas.
Mr. Thomas has made the following statement;
"Please be informed that the above described actions do not represent violations of Michigan election law as you contend. Essentially, you have ascribed new and unique definitions to the terms "political Party" and "valuable consideration" which are inconsistent with the commonly understood and accepted meanings of the terms." Well please Mr. Thomas just how stupid and or ignorant do you think the voting public is? I used definitions that are and have been "commonly understood and accepted meanings of the terms" for more then one hundred years as according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is probably one of the most commonly used dictionaries in use today in Michigan and the United States of America. As a matter of fact I recently saw one in the Court Clerks office and in Judge Wilson's office in Jackson Michigan. I also used the Michigan Compiled Laws Chapter 168 Election Laws which I quoted. So folks you tell me. You the voting public read the following complaint that I and others made in regards to the Corrupt Judge Elections in Jackson Michigan and then you log on and voice your opinion's to this matter.
