Dems add to lead in state House

November 06, 2008 12:00 am

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DETROIT (AP) -- Democrats picked up nine seats in Michigan's state House, giving them one of their biggest majorities of the past three decades.

Barack Obama carried Michigan en route to the White House and Carl Levin won a sixth U.S. Senate term on Tuesday, helping fellow Democrats farther down the ticket increase their current 58-52 advantage in the state House when the new Legislature convenes in January.

Democrats in several tough races gained a significant fundraising advantage over their Republican rivals with the help of Kalamazoo billionaire Jon Stryker and his Coalition for Progress political action committee, which pumped in money for TV ads, campaign fliers and automated calls.

Democrats will hold a 67-43 advantage over the GOP in the next legislative term, the Democrats' biggest edge since they controlled 70 seats in 1980. Republicans will still have control of the state Senate, which wasn't up for re-election this year.

House Speaker Andy Dillon, a Democrat from Wayne County's Redford Township, said he hoped that the gains Democrats made Tuesday will persuade Republicans in the Michigan Legislature to be more bipartisan.

"The question is, will it signal to Senate Republicans they need to start working with us?" Dillon said. "I would hope so."

Of the 64 House incumbents up for re-election Tuesday, 41 were Democrats and just 23 were Republicans. House incumbents have won about 98 percent of their re-election bids this decade and had another strong showing Tuesday, as none were defeated.

But Republicans had far more open seats to defend. They'll lose 28 incumbents this year because of term limits, Michigan's law that restricts House members to three terms of two years each. Another Republican lawmaker, David Law of Oakland County, skipped a shot at another House term to run for Oakland County prosecutor.

Democrats will lose 16 term-limited lawmakers. One incumbent, Ted Hammon of Burton, lost his primary election to Democratic challenger Jim Slezak of Davison.