LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has
accomplished much of what he set out to do when he was elected four
years ago. He’s logged improvements in the state’s economic health,
presided over the creation of 250,000 private-sector jobs and confronted
many of Detroit’s worsening financial problems.
That’s more than
many governors achieve in a single term. But instead of cruising to
re-election on the fulfillment of his 2010 promises, Snyder’s bid has
been met with ambivalence by parts of his own party. Some Republicans
don’t know what to make of his neutrality on social issues and his
reluctance to bash Democrats. And he’s made plenty of enemies among
Democrats and organized labor.
"You know I’m not a great
politician. I don’t want to be a great politician," the former venture
capitalist and corporate executive recently told a crowd of approving
business leaders.
Snyder, who never held public office until he became governor, won the job with a campaign as a
"tough nerd" and an outsider.
The
business community adores him for overhauling the tax system and
delivering many cuts for private enterprise. He also signed on-time
state budgets and other commerce-friendly measures. But conservative
activists are angry about his embrace of the Medicaid expansion in the
health care overhaul, Common Core education standards and proposed
higher gasoline taxes to improve roads.
Snyder also defied fellow
Republicans by committing state money to help Detroit emerge from
bankruptcy and vetoing GOP gun, abortion and voter ID bills.
"I
expect someone with an ‘R’ by their name to promote the Republican
Party’s platform at the very least," said Joan Fabiano, a Lansing-area
tea party leader.
Snyder has incensed voters on the left, too.
Labor leaders were enraged that he made Michigan a right-to-work state
and toughened a law giving the state more control over financially
distressed local governments. Unions have targeted him for defeat. The
Democratic Governors Association has spent more than $5 million on TV
ads to help opponent Mark Schauer, a former one-term congressman.
Snyder
remains the favorite, and most polls have shown him ahead of Schauer,
who is still unknown to many voters. No first-term Michigan governor has
lost re-election in 52 years.
But the former accountant’s
job-approval and favorability ratings are lagging. And an EPIC-MRA poll
conducted in mid-July showed the candidates about even among 600 likely
voters: Snyder with 46 percent, Schauer at 43 percent, with a sampling
error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
"This is a
governor who is stuck in the mid-40s" in the polls," Schauer said.
"There is a combination of anger and motivation for change."
Some
observers question whether independents will stay in Snyder’s corner and
whether the GOP base will be excited enough about a second term to vote
in large numbers.
"There are a lot of people out there who don’t
like what he’s done," said Bill Ballenger, a political analyst and
former Republican state lawmaker. "I don’t think there’s visceral
dislike of Snyder personally. I don’t think he’s got any great visceral
passion for him either."
A tea party candidate plans to run
against Snyder’s running mate, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, at the GOP’s state
nominating convention in August, threatening party unity before
November.
Snyder, 55, beat much better-known Republicans in the
2010 primary. His rivals split the conservative vote, and he also
appealed to Democrats and independents.
Once in office, he
delighted conservatives with the elimination of Michigan’s longstanding
requirement that unionized workers pay union fees as a condition of
their employment. Then he moved back toward the middle.
That shift
included decisions that alienated others in his party. He vetoed an
abortion-insurance bill that GOP legislators later overrode. More
recently, he signed bipartisan laws raising the minimum wage and
committing $195 million to prevent steep cuts in retiree pensions and
the sale of city-owned art in Detroit’s bankruptcy case.
"We are
the comeback state. … We’ve gotten a lot done, and we should be proud
of that," Snyder said. "But we should not be complacent nor content."
Some
analysts think he could be vice presidential material in 2016 if he
secures re-election in a state that has been carried by Democrats in six
straight presidential elections. But he must first win over Michigan
voters, some of whom are still reeling from the Great Recession, which
threatened the survival of the American auto industry.
One
casualty of the downturn is Warren Allen, 59, who lost his job in
Pfizer’s senior management six years ago in a merger-related downsizing.
So did his wife.
He said the couple pays $3,000 more a year in
taxes because Snyder and the GOP-led Legislature eliminated or phased
out exemptions on retirement income to help offset a major reduction in
business taxes. Snyder has defended the move as fairer to all taxpayers
and one that still leaves Michigan with a generous exemption.
Allen,
a lifelong Republican, said he won’t vote for Snyder again because
people who were forced into early retirement don’t qualify for a partial
tax break on IRA distributions that others can take.
"He put it all on the retirees’ back," Warren said, "and seniors aren’t going to
forget."