Michigan – US Senate | Political News, Analysis & Opinion

Michigan – US Senate

Incumbent Party – Democrat

Projection – Slight Democrat Hold

Primary Date	August 07, 2012
General Date	November 06, 2012
Incumbent	Debbie Stabenow
Incumbent Status	Seeking Re-election

Debbie Stabenow – D (Incumbent)

Pete Hoekstra – R

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Assessment:

Michigan will be a battleground. Here we will witness a fairly competitive presidential race and a senate race that will probably be more competitive than it currently looks.

Stabenow is unopposed her race for the Democrat Party and Rep. Pete Hoekstra is the candidate most likely to win the Republican nomination. Once that is official, expect to Hoekstra to organize a well planned ground game that will force Stabenow to sweat.

At the top of the ticket, Mitt Romney, the son of a former popular Governor of the state, will be far more competitive than G.O.P. presidential nominees of the recent past were, and that will help keep Hoekstra competitive with the well established incumbent, Debbie Stabenow.

Stabewnow will have unions behind her, but as we have seen in Wisconsin, unions are not carrying the the same kind of clout among voters that they did in past elections. In fact, at the moment, unions are more of albatross around the neck of a candidate than asset. And in Michigan, the issues surrounding unions, including public employee pensions, will play a big role in the discussion of the national economy in this race. As such Hoekstra will see his candidacy encounter some wind behind its sails.

But Stabenow is well established in Michigan. Many special interests in Michigan defend as her as one of their own and they will be out in full force to assure that Stabenow is reelected.

In the end, Stabenow is likely to raise more money than Hoekstra and she is likely to be able dodge Hoekstra’s attempts to tie Stabenow to the national economy and President Obama’s failed fiscal policies.