Chris Graveline has an extraordinary idea: He thinks Michigan’s attorney general should be above petty partisan politics.
“I tell people, if you elect me, you’ll probably disagree with some of my decisions. But you’ll never have to worry I did it for partisan advantage,” he told me on my radio program last week.
“And I’m not running for governor,” he added with a grin. Michigan’s last three attorneys general – Jennifer Granholm, Mike Cox, and Bill Schuette – indeed saw the attorney general’s office mostly as a stepping stone to getting that job. Granholm succeeded; Cox failed, and we’ll know about Schuette in three weeks.
Graveline (pronounced as if it rhymed with javelin) sees the job as an instrument for justice. “You can elect me, and I’ll do my best to fight for you. Or you can elect someone who, in effect, will function as the top lawyer for one of the two major parties.”
What he says makes a lot of sense. It’s hard not to be impressed by Graveline. His credentials are stunning; he is a former U.S. Army officer who prosecuted fellow soldiers for mistreating inmates at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and later co-authored a book about it – something he often forgets to mention.
He’s also done a stint as an assistant Wayne County prosecutor, and most recently was an assistant U.S. District Attorney. In fact, for the past few years he’s headed the Violent and Organized Crime Unit of the federal DA’s office in Detroit.
That’s not a job for the faint of heart, but in the process, he’s become a walking encyclopedia of gang life in Detroit. Graveline, now 45, grew up on the outskirts of Bay City; went to college, law school and the army, and became a tough but fair prosecutor.
If he has a weakness, it is that he has spent his entire career fighting crime and putting away bad guys; if he has given any thought to the nuances of social issues, it is not apparent.
“If it’s the law, I enforce it, whether I agree with it or not,” he said. Graveline feels strongly that current Attorney General Bill Schuette engaged in politically oriented prosecutions.
On the other hand, Dana Nessel has made it clear she would fight to see that full civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered citizens are protected.
Graveline indicated he is in full sympathy with those folks, but added that he doesn’t believe he could do much for them legally.
As he reads it, Michigan’s Elliot-Larsen civil rights act doesn’t protect people based on gender or sexual orientation. “My job is to enforce the laws, not make them. I tell people they should vote for the legislator they want to make the laws, and then vote for an attorney general they trust to enforce them.
That, he hopes they will agree, will be him. His campaign is the longest of long shots, and he’s staked a lot on the outcome. Republican Tom Leonard and Democrat Dana Nessel have huge party apparatuses behind them. Graveline has himself.
He is not independently wealthy; he has five kids and a house in Berkley, and gave up a secure government job to make this run.
“But my wife and I looked at it, and figured it was something we needed to do,” he said. Initially, he had the formidable support of Barbara McQuade, the popular former U.S. District Attorney who has become sort of a cable TV star. She endorsed Nessel, however, when the state ruled that Graveline didn’t have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. His campaign seemed over before it had begun.
That changed, however, when U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts ruled that Michigan’s standards were too burdensome, and Graveline made it to the ballot after all.
If he had decent money, and the opportunity to participate in debates with the other candidates, he might well have a shot, especially now that straight ticket voting has been outlawed.
But Nessel refuses to appear with him. (Leonard would, which is a pretty fair indicator of which side both think Graveline is most likely to hurt.) Graveline also doesn’t have the money to compete with his rivals in terms of broadcast TV commercials.
Yet in politics, you never say never, especially not in an era where everything indicates people are fed up with conventional politicians. Recent reports of Leonard’s ties to far-right religious groups and of constant turmoil in Nessel’s campaign might also help their challenger – if the voters were paying attention.
There will also be those who say that Graveline is only a spoiler, and that those supporting him are throwing their votes away.
Or maybe, just maybe, they’ve decided to back someone who believes in something, and is making a stand and risking his career on behalf of a principle. When was the last time you saw that?
***
Why nobody should be allowed to run unopposed: Most Oakland County voters have never heard of Julie McDonald. Or at least they hadn’t, until they saw the pictures of her handcuffed in the back of a Royal Oak police car, after she had been arrested and had failed a roadside sobriety test. She was eventually charged with littering, having no proof of insurance, and driving while intoxicated.
Someone being arrested for drunk driving isn’t especially unusual. What is extraordinary, however, is that in less than three months, McDonald, who is a lawyer, will have a new job:
She will be an Oakland County Circuit Judge, paid $145,000 a year by the taxpayers. We know that because she is running for a newly created seat on that bench, and she is unopposed.
Why she has no opposition is a mystery some investigative reporter ought to look into. There is virtually always a contest whenever there’s a judicial position without an incumbent.
True, her father used to be a judge in that court, but he’s been retired for eight years. In any event, she’s sure to win, unless she was to do the classy thing and withdraw … something that would require, ah … class. Don’t hold your breath.
What should happen now is that the Oakland County Bar Association, or somebody. should pick a respectable candidate, fast, and recommend people write her or his name in.
Otherwise, McDonald will likely still be squatting on the bench through 2042, since no incumbent Oakland Circuit Judge has ever lost a bid for reelection. (It could be worse. If it wasn’t for Michigan age limits on judges, “Thirsty” McDonald could be there for life.)
By the way, if she does win, don’t expect the 49-year-old McDonald to hit the ground running: As the Detroit Free Press’ Brian Dickerson astutely notes, unless she contests the charges and is found not guilty, she’s likely to start her career with a 90-day suspension, courtesy of the Judicial Tenure Commission.
After which, more sanctions may follow, courtesy of the Michigan Attorney Grievance Board. But, hey, she’ll be a judge!
And it will be interesting to see what happens when she faces sentencing her first drunk driving defendant.
