2016 Michigan elections

2016 Michigan elections

November 8, 2016 (2016-11-08)

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Michigan on November 8, 2016.[1][2]

There were voting machine failures on election day.[2]

State elections

Michigan House of Representatives

Supreme Court

2016 Michigan Supreme Court election

November 8, 2016 (2016-11-08)

2 seats of the Supreme Court of Michigan
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Last election 5 2
Seats won 2 0
Seats after 5 2
Seat change

Associate Justice (Full term)

2016 Michigan Associate Justice election (Full term)

November 8, 2016
 
Candidate David Viviano Frank S. Szymanski
Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Popular vote 2,316,459 792,944
Percentage 67.23% 23.01%

County results
Viviano:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Justice before election

David Viviano

Elected Justice

David Viviano

Candidates
  • Doug Dern (Natural Law)[3]
  • Frank S. Szymanski (Democratic), judge of the Wayne County Probate Court[3]
  • David Viviano (Republican), incumbent Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan[3]
Results
2016 Michigan Supreme Court Associate Justice (Full term) election[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan David Viviano (incumbent) 2,316,459 67.23%
Nonpartisan Frank S. Szymanski 792,944 23.01%
Nonpartisan Doug Dern 336,160 9.76%
Total votes 3,445,563 100.0%
Republican hold

Associate Justice (Term ending 01/01/2019)

2016 Michigan Supreme Court Associate Justice (Term ending 01/01/2019) election

November 8, 2016
 
Candidate Joan Larsen Deborah Thomas
Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Popular vote 1,940,260 984,107
Percentage 57.62% 29.23%

County results
Larsen:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Justice before election

Joan Larsen

Elected Justice

Joan Larsen

Candidates
Results
2016 Michigan Supreme Court Associate Justice (Term ending 01/01/2019) election[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Joan Larsen (incumbent) 1,940,260 57.62%
Nonpartisan Deborah Thomas 984,107 29.23%
Nonpartisan Kerry L. Morgan 442,781 13.15%
Total votes 3,367,148 100.0%
Republican hold

Senate district 4 special election

Virgil Smith Jr., a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives was elected to represent Michigan's 4th Senate District in 2010 and 2014. Smith was arrested on May 10, 2015, for allegedly shooting at his ex-wife's SUV, riddling it with bullets and totaling it and was charged with multiple felonies.[5] Two days later, Smith was removed from all of his committee posts, his leadership post and removed from the Senate Democratic caucus.[6] On February 11, 2016, Smith agreed to plead guilty to malicious destruction of personal property $20,000 or more. Per his plea agreement, Smith will serve 10 months in the Wayne County Jail, resign from the state Senate and serve five years of probation where he will not be allowed to hold public office.[7] At his March 14, 2016, sentencing, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Talon sentenced Smith but said it would be illegal for him to require Smith resign from office or not hold office during his probation. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said if Smith does not resign, her office would rescind Smith's plea agreement.[8] At a hearing on March 28, 2016, Talon refused a request from the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office to rescind Smith's plea agreement and take the case to trial, seeing as he had yet resigned his Senate seat. Immediately after the hearing, Smith was taken into custody to begin serving his 10-month jail sentence.[9] On March 31, 2016, Smith submitted his resignation to Michigan Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, effective April 12, 2016.[10]

When Smith's resignation became official, Gov. Rick Snyder called a special election to fill the remaining portion of the term, with the special primary and general elections scheduled for August 2 and November 8, alongside Michigan's regularly scheduled primary and general elections.[11]

4th Senate district special election, Democratic Primary[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Ian Conyers 6,063 34.5 N/A
Democratic Fred Durhal Jr. 4,480 25.5 N/A
Democratic Patricia A. Holmes 1,362 7.8 N/A
Democratic James Cole Jr. 1,327 7.6 N/A
Democratic Carron L. Pinkins 1,103 6.3 N/A
Democratic Vanessa Simpson Olive 773 4.4 N/A
Democratic Ralph R. Rayner 602 3.4 N/A
Democratic Howard Worthy 581 3.3 N/A
Majority 1,583 9.0 N/A
Turnout 17,563
4th Senate district special election 2016[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Ian Conyers 69,305 76.6 N/A
Republican Keith Franklin 21,225 23.4 N/A

Federal elections

President and vice president of the United States

United States House of Representatives

References

  1. ^ "Michigan elections, 2016". Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Alter, Charlotte (December 14, 2016). "Detroit Voting Machine Failures Were Widespread on Election Day". Time. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "See Democratic and Republican candidates for Supreme Court, university boards". August 28, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "2016 Michigan General Election Results". Michigan Secretary of State.
  5. ^ Gus Burns (May 11, 2015). "Sen. Virgil Smith of Detroit arrested after Sunday morning shooting incident". MLive. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  6. ^ Jonathan Oosting (May 12, 2015). "Sen. Virgil Smith kicked from committees, leadership post following criminal charges". MLive. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  7. ^ Elisha Anderson; Kathleen Gray (February 11, 2016). "State Sen. Virgil Smith to resign as part of plea deal". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  8. ^ Elisha Anderson (March 14, 2016). "State Sen. Virgil Smith to serve 10 months in jail in gunfire incident". Detroit Free Press.
  9. ^ Kathleen Gray; Elisha Anderson (March 28, 2016). "Sen. Virgil Smith goes directly to jail, collects $71K". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  10. ^ Khalil AlHajal (March 31, 2016). "Jailed senator will resign, but prosecutor still wants plea thrown out". MLive.
  11. ^ Kathleen Gray (April 12, 2016). "Gov. Snyder sets elections to fill Virgil Smith's Senate seat". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  12. ^ "Special Election Results – Primary Election – August 2, 2016". Michigan Department of State. August 3, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  13. ^ "4th District State Senator Partial Term Ending 01/01/2019". Michigan Department of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.