Republicans lead in secretary of state, attorney general races

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The Republican candidates for both the attorney general and secretary of state races are leading the polls heading into Election Day.

According to Detroit Free Press/WXYZ-TV polls, Republican attorney general candidate Bill Schuette is leading Democrat David Leyton, the Genesee County prosecutor, 47 to 37 percent.

Republican secretary of state candidate Ruth Johnson is leading Democrat Jocelyn Benson, a Wayne State University law professor, 44 to 36 percent according to the same polls.

Attorney General

Rusty Hills, spokesman for the Schuette campaign, said Schuette has been traveling and talking to voters during the final week before elections.

“It’s a combination of cautious optimism combined with the nervousness that you always feel at the end of a long and hard-fought contest,” Hills said.

He said Schuette’s number one focus will be public safety if elected attorney general.

“We have to stop and reverse the policies in effect right now,” he said.

He referred to prisoners that are often released too early from prison, something Schuette wants to prevent.

Leyton said he feels confident going into the elections and is poised for victory.

As Genesee County prosecutor, Leyton said he has tried more than 20,000 cases and has a 95 percent conviction rate, an experience he said was necessary for the next attorney general.

“The voters in Michigan are responding very positively to our message of reform of public safety and fighting for ordinary people,” he said. “We’re just going full-speed ahead, meeting with folks all over the state. We’re just in full campaign mode here in the last week.”

He said he wants to create a public corruption division to crack down on corrupt officials. He also wants to eliminate taxpayer-funded lifetime health benefits for public officials and cut politicians’ pay by 10 percent.

Secretary of State

Benson said her campaign has been successful so far.

“The next Secretary of State’s job is going to be to force campaign election laws and protect the people’s voices in the process,” Benson said. “The Secretary of State is really the guardian of the democratic process.”

In addition to partnering with private businesses and creating a branch office appointments process to allow residents to avoid long lines, Benson said she also wants to implement a credit card payment system. She also wants to offer multi-year license plates that do not need to be renewed for up to three to five years.

Denise DeCook, campaign spokeswoman for Republican Secretary of State candidate Ruth Johnson, said Johnson is prepared for Election Day.

“She’s very, very focused, running high energy,” DeCook said. “She is really running fast and furious, she is one of those individuals that derives a great deal of energy from the people she meets and the voters she has conversations with.”

Johnson, the Oakland County clerk, plans on making Secretary of State branch offices more efficient by working with the private sector to allow some services, such as license plate renewal, to be offered in retail businesses.