Blue Oakland tide sweeps Gary Peters into office
Griffin Endowed Chair Gary Peters won a hotly contested congressional race, unseating an eight-year incumbent to represent the Oakland County area.
However, his victory leaves a void in the CMU political science department. Peters is only halfway through his three-year contract as the Griffin Endowed Chair for the university.
Peters, 49, is a former state senator who was recently the state lottery commissioner. He bested Rep. Joe Knollenberg to win the 9th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Peters received 128,106 votes, or 51 percent of the total, to Kollenberg's 108,240, 43 percent of the total, with 280 of 345 precincts reporting as of midnight.
Gary Shapiro, dean of the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences, said he will be meeting with the political science department soon and hopes to have final decision on how to proceed by Nov. 19.
Peters was to teach PSC 301: Law and Policy in Michigan State Government this spring. Shapiro said there are three options on how to proceed.
One option includes cancelling the class and Griffin spring forum, and select a new chair to begin in fall 2009. Another option is to appoint an interim chair and select a new chair for fall 2009. And three, appoint an interim chair and make that person the appointed chair for fall 2009.
Shapiro was clear that Peters would "not get a golden parachute," he said, and would not be paid for any period that he is not teaching.
Jack Kevorkian, once known as "Dr. Death" for his stance on assisted suicide, ran as an independent in the race. He received 3 percent of the vote, 6,679 votes.
The last time Michigan voters ousted an incumbent member of Congress in a general election was 1996, when Democrat Debbie Stabenow beat Republican Rep. Dick Chrysler for a Lansing congressional seat.
Knollenberg had been largely unchallenged for eight terms in what was considered a safely Republican district. The 9th District covers Oakland County from Farmington Hills north through Pontiac.
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