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A breakdown of the 2018 Midterm Election ballot

Katarina Kovac, Campus Editor|November 5, 2018

Proposal 1: Legalizing recreational marijuana

A “YES” vote supports legalizing the recreational use and possession of marijuana for people 21 years of age or older and enacting a 10 percent tax on marijuana sales to support clinical trials, schools, roads and municipalities
A “NO” vote opposes legalizing the recreational use and possession of marijuana for persons 21 years of age or older and enacting a 10% tax on marijuana sales

If passed, Michigan will become the 10^th state in the country and Washington D.C. to legalize marijuana.

Proposal 2: Independent redistricting commission

A “YES” vote supports shifting the power to draw the state’s congressional and legislative districts to an independent redistricting commission
A “NO” vote opposes shifting the power to draw the state’s congressional and legislative districts to an independent redistricting commission

If passed, this proposal will end gerrymandering in Michigan.

Proposal 3: Easier access to voting

A “YES” vote supports adding eight voting policies to the Michigan Constitution, including straight-ticket voting, automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting
A “NO” vote opposes adding eight voting policies to the state constitution, maintaining that straight-ticket voting, automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting are not used in Michigan

If passed, this proposal will allow for an ease in access to voting.

Governor of Michigan: 6 candidates

Gretchen Whitmer (D)
Bill Schuette (R)
Todd Schleiger
Keith Butkovich
Bill Gelineau (L)
Jennifer Kurland (G)

Former state Senate Minority Leader Whitmer (D), Michigan Attorney General Schuette (R), and four other candidates are running in the general election for Governor of Michigan. Activist Garlin Gilchrist II (D) is Whitmer’s running mate, and state Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons (R) is Schuette’s running mate.

U.S. Senate Michigan: 5 candidates

Debbie Stabenow (D) (Incumbent)
John James (R)
George Huffman III
John Howard Wilhelm
Marcia Squier (G)

The Class 1 Senate seat currently held by incumbent Sen. Stabenow (D), who was first elected in 2000, will need to be filled. She faces Army veteran James (R) in the general election. James is a a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment and pro-business conservative. First elected to the Senate in 2000, Stabenow is Michigan’s first female U.S. Senator. Before her election to the Senate, she was a member of the House of Representatives and represented Michigan’s 8th congressional district. She is an outspoken supporter of women’s reproductive freedoms and civil rights equalities.

U.S. House Michigan District 8: 4 candidates

Mike Bishop (R) (Incumbent)
Elissa Slotkin (D)
David Jay Lillis
Brian Ellison (L)

After college, Slotkin (D) joined the CIA and served in Iraq. Following the her position with the CIA, she served on President George W. Bush’s national security staff and in the Department of Defense during the Obama administration. Bishop (R) has been the chief legal officer for the International Bancard Corporation and served as an adjunct professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: 6 candidates

Garlin Gilchrist II (D)
Lisa Posthumus Lyons (R)
Earl Lackie
Raymond Warner
Angelique Chaiser Thomas (L)
Charin Davenport

Gilchrist II (D) served as the director of new media at the Center for Community Change and as the national campaign director of MoveOn.org. In 2014, he moved home to Detroit to serve as the city’s director of innovation & emerging technology. Lyons (R) is a former Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 86 from 2010 to 2017. After leaving the state House, Lyons became the Kent County clerk.

Michigan Secretary of State: 4 candidates

Jocelyn Benson (D)
Mary Treder Lang (R)
Robert Gale
Gregory Scott Stemple (L)

Benson (D) is currently CEO and Executive Director of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), a national nonprofit, and has more than a decade of experience as a national leader in election law and administration. Lang (R) is an accomplished leader with over thirty years of success in computer security, business development, executive leadership, and managerial, sales and operations.

Michigan Attorney General: 5 candidates

Dana Nessel (D)
Tom Leonard (R)
Gerald T. Van Sickle
Lisa Lane Gioia (L)
Chris Graveline

After graduating, Nessel (D) was an assistant prosecutor in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. In 2005, she opened a legal firm and later founded the Fair Michigan Foundation in which her team continues to investigate hate crimes and prosecute hate crimes committed against the LGBTQ community. She is the first statewide openly gay candidate. Leonard (R) was a prosecutor for Genesee County from 2007 to 2010 and served as an assistant attorney general in Lansing from 2010 to 2012. He was first elected to represent District 93 in the Michigan House of Representatives in 2012.

Michigan Supreme Court: 6 candidates

Megan Cavanagh (D)
Samuel Bagenstos (D)
Elizabeth Celement (R) (Incumbent)
Kurtis Wilder (R) (Incumbent)
Doug Dern
Kerry Lee Morgan (L)

The terms of Supreme Court justices Elizabeth Clement (R) and Kurtis Wilder (R) will expire on January 1, 2019, which means that the justices have to stand for nonpartisan election by voters in order to remain on the bench. Bagenstos (D) has worked as an attorney and law professor, including the Frank G. Millard Professor of Law at the University of Michigan and served as the principal deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights from 2009 to 2011. Cavanagh (D) has over fifteen years of experience as one of Michigan’s top appellate attorneys and is a shareholder at Garan Lucow Miller P.C. in Detroit.

Michigan State Board of Education: