At first glance, that question looks absurd. Rick Snyder was elected governor twice, the first time by a landslide. Bill Schuette lost decisively last week, in the worst performance by a Republican candidate for governor since Bill Lucas’ all-time low in 1986.
Yet Schuette got far more votes than Snyder did four years ago, and virtually as many as Snyder did in his landslide win in 2010. The difference, of course was turnout.
This year, nearly 4.3 million voters showed up for the midterm elections, a million more than in either 2010 or 2014. And those voters went overwhelmingly Democratic. Final returns won’t be official for a few weeks, but according to the latest figures, Schuette got 246,251 more votes than Snyder did four years ago.
Unfortunately for him, Gretchen Whitmer, the governor-elect, got 777,734 more than Mark Schauer, the Democrats’ last nominee.
On Election Night, an aide to Schuette glumly said that Republicans couldn’t win when turnout reached four million in a midterm election. Is there any wonder the GOP has been fighting every effort to make it easier to vote?
