Election Wrap Up

Presidential Election

Well, no surprises here in Michigan. Kerry won the state, garnering 51% of the vote to Bush's 48%. In 2000, Gore got 51% of Michigan to Bush's 46%. Nader got 2% that year, which interestingly points to the idea that Nader voters don't necessarily take votes away from the Democrat.

In Kent county, things were quite different. The vote was strongly in favor of Bush, 58% to 40%. The City of Grand Rapids went a different way, however, and voted 55% Kerry and 43% Bush. In fact, in our analysis, Kerry won all three wards of the city.

Ballot Proposals

The two ballot proposals passed handily. Statewide, Proposal 1 (gambling-related), passed 58% to 42%. Proposal 2 (defining marriage) passed 59% to 41%. We here at GR Pundit were disappointed that both passed. Both were bad legislation, in our opinion.

Look out for higher property taxes now that less lottery money will likely be raised, which transfers to the school aid fund.

Those were the main issues at hand in Michigan and locally. There wasn't much else of interest in local races. We don't think there were any heated competitions or seats seriously up for grabs.