Land going all out for Macomb County vote

One Republican who is sure to be in attendance when Gov. Rick Snyder comes to Sterling Heights for Monday’s Macomb GOP Lincoln Dinner is Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land, who has placed a considerable focus on winning Macomb County in the 2014 elections.
As the instant frontrunner for the Republican nomination – and currently the only GOP candidate for the seat being vacated by longtime Sen. Carl Levin – Land has been making the rounds to Republican events across the state. At each stop, she touts her statewide electoral prowess in her two statewide wins for secretary of state.

On Facebook she recently displayed the above graphic and said that she is the one Republican who can do well in the key county of Macomb.
But her plan to focus on Macomb may have taken a hit on Thursday when County Executive Mark Hackel and the “Big Five” countywide elected officials made an unusual move by endorsing the presumptive Democratic nominee, Rep. Gary Peters, a full 16 months before the Senate election.
All six are Democrats but they all – including Prosecutor Eric Smith, Clerk Carmella Sabaugh, Treasurer Ted Wahby, Sheriff Anthony Wickersham and Public Works Commissioner Anthony Marrocco – have a proven track record of garnering a lot of GOP votes. That could have an impact in the 2014 general election.

One distinct disadvantage Land will have is keeping up with Peters’ fundraising abilities. The National Republican Senatorial Committee slammed Peters earlier this week for traveling to California to round up campaign contributions.
But the NRSC ignored Land’s travel schedule, which led her to Washington last week. She reportedly told a Lincoln Dinner crowd in northern Michigan last week that the trip included strategizing and fundraising.

In promoting her electability, Land has apparently relied heavily on Macomb GOP Chairman Rob Montilla.
In an email message to her supporters, she said:
“I want to thank Rob Montilla from Macomb County for his support and sharing the memo below, which details our past successes in southeast Michigan at the ballot box. This is an important opportunity to elect a Republican United States senator in a gubernatorial election year. I am honored to have Rob's support and appreciate him releasing this memo on the importance of electability.

The Montilla memo offered a little pep talk and a few charts: “In Michigan, it has been historically challenging for Republicans to win statewide elections in presidential years. However, in gubernatorial years, the GOP has enjoyed greater success. With the gubernatorial cycle in 2014, this means the open United States Senate seat being vacated by Senator Carl Levin is a potential pickup and a great opportunity for Republican victory. Presidential Year vs Gubernatorial Year Presidential Year Gubernatorial Year 1988 Bush R 1990 Engler R 1992 Clinton D 1994 Engler/Abra R 1996 Clinton D 1998 Engler R 2000 Gore/Stab D 2002 Granholm D (Land won SoS) 2004 Kerry D 2006 Granholm D (Land won SoS) 2008 Obama D 2010 Snyder R 2012 Obama D 2014 – Land Success in Democrat Years "Republicans have won the top of the ticket in almost every gubernatorial cycle since 1990. In the two cycles that Democrats won, Terri Lynn Land won statewide in landslides that led the Republican ticket and in one case even outpaced the Democrat top of the ticket." 2002 Governor Secretary of State Jennifer Granholm 1,633,796 Terri Lynn Land 1,703,261* Dick Posthumus 1,506,104 Butch Hollowell 1,331,441 2006 Governor Secretary of State Jennifer Granholm 2,142,513* Terri Lynn Land 2,089,864 Dick DeVos 1,608,086 Carmella Sabaugh 1,561,828 *denotes top vote getter A second asterisk that Democrats might add to these stats is the fact that Hollowell and Sabaugh were not considered particularly strong candidates on a statewide basis. In fact, Sabaugh’s candidacy was not particularly aggressive or adequately funded.