There was a lot of excitement, especially in Detroit, at the news that Democrat Gretchen Whitmer had picked Garlin Gilchrist II as her choice for lieutenant governor. The choice was seen as inspired, as he was seen as a fresh, dynamic face who came out of nowhere to almost beat Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey last year.
There’s an unwritten rule that Democrats have to put an African American on their ticket for one of the “big four” statewide jobs – Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State or Attorney General. That’s been the case since 1970, when Richard Austin won the first of six terms as Michigan Secretary of State.
Every ticket since has had a black candidate. So, with the exception of Austin, how many of those have been elected?
Ah… that would be zero.
Austin finally was defeated in 1994, after a dismal performance in a televised debate showed that the aging process is not always pretty. Democrats next ran Mary Lou Parks for secretary of state, who accomplished the rare feat of losing every county. Butch Hollowell next lost that job in 2002. Amos Williams got beaten for attorney general in 2006. Then-Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence was the nominee for lieutenant governor in 2010, and Godfrey Dillard got the honor of losing to Secretary of State Ruth Johnson four years ago.
Now, it is Garlin Gilchrist’s turn to see if he can become only the second African-American elected to a statewide office, other than a school board or Michigan Supreme Court seat.
Regardless of whether he is elected or not, he isn’t really running independently; voters will be primarily delivering a verdict on Whitmer or the GOP nominee, Bill Schuette.
Republicans, by the way, have twice run black candidates for statewide office: The late Myron Wahls for attorney general in 1974, and William Lucas for governor in 1986 – the only African-American ever nominated for the top job by either party.
They both got less than a third of the vote.
