Traverse City Record-Eagle

Election 2008

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    WAYNE SCHMIDT ELECTION PARTY
November 5, 2008

12:01 am: Scripps ahead; Elsenheimer wins

By Sheri McWhirter

SUTTONS BAY — Democrat Dan Scripps was poised to beat Republican Ray Franz for a two-year seat in the state House.

Scripps and Franz battled to fill the open seat in the Michigan House’s 101st District, where term-limited Republican David Palsrok wasn’t on the ballot.

The district includes Benzie, Leelanau, Manistee and Mason counties and Scripps held a 5,300 vote lead late on Tuesday night.

“I think that we put forward a positive image of what Michigan can look like, focusing on jobs, schools and the great outdoors and the people responded,” Scripps said.

He said he will work to make the voices of northwestern Lower Michigan heard in Lansing and will focus on creating a new energy economy, fighting for equity for local schools and protecting the environment.

“I look forward to getting to work,” Scripps said.

The campaign for the 101st District seat brought a fair amount of negative advertisements, with Scripps accused of accepting “dirty money” from a “billionaire homosexual activist” and Franz accused of wanting to outlaw birth control and committing violations of state campaign laws. Negative ads targeted at Scripps came from the Franz campaign, while those against Franz were paid for by the Michigan Democratic Party.

Franz clung to hope for a win, despite being down by more than 5,000 votes around 11:15 p.m. Tuesday.

“We haven’t seen anything yet from Manistee, but we’re holding out hope. We won it big last time and that’s what we’re hoping for again,” Franz said, acknowledging he was behind, but hoped for a strong showing in Manistee County.

In more northern counties, incumbent Republican Kevin Elsenheimer retained his seat in Michigan’s House for the 105th District, challenged by Democrat Connie Saltonstall.

The district includes Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan and Otsego counties and the vote tally showed Elsenheimer more than 7,600 votes ahead by late Tuesday night.

“The turnout was extraordinary and that’s a great thing for our democracy,” Elsenheimer said.

He said he is humbled by voters’ support and is excited for the challenges in Lansing over the next two years, particularly in restructuring Michigan’s finances. It’s an opportunity to “right-size Michigan’s government for the future,” Elsenheimer said.

Saltonstall said she would have liked more votes, but was glad to discuss so many important issues during the campaign, such as jobs, health care and education. She also said she hopes Elsenheimer works on those issues and that “his record on the environment improves.”

Record-Eagle Business Editor Bill O’Brien contributed to this report.

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