Jennifer Granholm

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Jennifer M. Granholm
47th Governor of Michigan
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 1, 2003
Lieutenant	John D. Cherry
Preceded by	John Engler
Born	February 5, 1959 (1959-02-05) (age 49) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Daniel Mulhern
Profession	Lawyer

Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian-born American politician and the current Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, Granholm became Michigan's first female governor on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Governor John Engler. Granholm was re-elected on 7 November 2006, and due to term limits, was sworn in for her second and final term on 1 January 2007.

[edit] Early life and career

Granholm was born to Shirley Alfreda Dowden and Victor Ivar Granholm.^[1] She has some Finnish and Swedish ancestors who were born in the Swedish-speaking part of Finland^[2]. Her family moved to California when she was four. Granholm graduated from San Carlos High School, located in San Carlos, California, in 1977. As a young adult she attempted to launch a Hollywood acting career but was unsuccessful and she abandoned her efforts at the age of 21^{[citation needed]}. In 1980 she became a United States citizen and worked for John Anderson's independent run for US President, and enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated from UC-Berkeley in 1984 Phi Beta Kappa with two BA degrees, one in political science, the other in French. Granholm then earned a Juris Doctor degree at Harvard Law School, also with honors. She clerked for U.S. Judge Damon Keith on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1986 she married current First Gentleman Daniel Mulhern, a Michiganian, and took his surname as her middle name; they have three children: Kathryn, Cecelia, and Jack. In 1990 she became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. In 1994, she was appointed Wayne County Corporation Counsel.

Granholm, like California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, was once a contestant on the daytime television game show The Dating Game.^[3]

[edit] Michigan Attorney General

Granholm was elected Michigan Attorney General in 1998, defeating the Republican nominee, John Smietanka, 52% - 48%. She was the first female to hold that position, serving for four years (1999-2002) and focusing on protecting citizens and consumers, and establishing Michigan's first HighTech Crime Unit. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Granholm directed state agencies to work with lawmakers in keeping the fight against terrorism within the powers of the state. She also imposed a regulation on gasoline dealers to keep them from raising prices dramatically, something which occurred sporadically across Michigan immediately following the attacks. In the election of 2002, she defeated former Governor James Blanchard and US House Democratic Whip David Bonior in the Democratic primary, and then went on to win the general election against the Republican nominee, Lieutenant Governor Dick Posthumus, to become governor.

[edit] Governor

Granholm was sworn in as the 47th Governor of the state of Michigan on January 1, 2003. The main issue facing the governor has been the massive budget deficit. Granholm has had to eliminate upwards of $200 per person from state budget expenditures. She has emphasized the need for the state to attract young people and businesses to Michigan. As Governor, she is a member of the National Governors Association and Policy Chairwoman of the Democratic Governors Association. She lives in the official Michigan Governor's Residence located near the Capitol Building.

In 2003, Granholm ran five miles across the Mackinac Bridge, which connects the state's two peninsulas, in 47 minutes during the Mackinac Bridge Walk. Her run began a new tradition, and 2004 saw the first annual Governor’s Labor Day Bridge Run^[4] held hours before the Annual Bridge Walk. This time she finished the run in under 45 minutes. After joining her husband Daniel Mulhern for the last two miles of his October 24, 2004 Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon run, Granholm remarked "I would love to run a marathon before I'm 50."

At an awards ceremony October 28, 2004, Granholm was inducted into the "Michigan Women's Hall of Fame". She has also been the recipient of the Michigan Jaycees 1999 "Outstanding Young Michiganders" and the YWCA "Woman of the Year" awards.

In February 2005, Michigan's Republican-dominated Legislature refused to vote on Granholm's proposed state budget, citing concerns over cuts to state funding for higher education.^[5] In the previous years of Granholm's term, many cuts to higher education had been demanded and voted in the Legislature in order to balance the state budget. The year before, Republican leaders had called Granholm a "do-nothing Governor", claiming that she failed to lead, while Democrats accused legislative Republicans of being obstructionist. In January 2005, Granholm presented an early budget proposal, demanded immediate response from the Legislature, and held a press conference outlining the highlights of the proposed budget. After refusing to consider, debate, or vote on the proposed budget, Republicans stated they would prefer that the Legislature have more involvement in the formation of the state budget.^[6]

In March 2005, Granholm sought to withhold awarding scholarships earned through the MEAP scholarship program in order to trim an estimated $9 million off the state budget. The program awards $500 college scholarships to 11th-grade students that perform well on the MEAP standardized test. Granholm argued that the state had no internal means of determining which students had earned the scholarships. After much criticism, notably from the Detroit Free Press, local area lawyers, and parents (who claimed to have received, and did produce, official letters promising the money), she awarded the students their scholarships, though the state's budget difficulties remained unresolved. Liz Boyd, a representative for Granholm, said though “In many regards, it was a hollow promise made by the Engler administration. They cut revenue and didn’t cut spending and we are still reeling from the effects of those decisions today.”^[7]

Gov. Granholm with Condoleezza Rice and other Governors.

Granholm left for Japan on July 22, 2005, along with Michigan State University president Lou Anna K. Simon, and Department of Labor and Economic Growth Director (and former Lansing mayor) David Hollister. Their trip was planned, for the purpose of emphasizing Michigan as "the North American intersection of cutting-edge research, life sciences talent and high-tech innovation". They met with Shiga Prefecture Governor Yoshitsu Kunimatsu, Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe and the representatives of 150 Japanese automotive, biotech, and human sciences companies. On the first day of the five-day trip, Monday, the 25th, Granholm led a seminar of 65 Japanese auto-related companies at the 2005 World Expo in Nagakute, Aichi. On the 26th, Granholm met with DENSO Corp. (employing 4,500 workers in Michigan) President and CEO Koichi Fukaya at the company's D-Square facility in Kariya, Aichi. Granholm then met with Gov. Yoshitsu Kunimatsu aboard the Michigan paddlewheel boat on Shiga's Lake Biwa, Japan's largest freshwater lake. Like the Great Lakes (which surround Michigan), Lake Biwa has a history of fighting against an influx of invasive species, the Prefecture paying bounties to fishermen and hiring 43 official catchers to curb the growth of species which threaten the natural freshwater ecosystem. Shiga Prefecture is Michigan's "sister state", selected in 1968 due to their similarity in sharing their nation's largest freshwater resource. Granholm returned to work in Michigan the next Monday.^[8][9] She also signed a legislation to keep steroids out of schools and requiring school boards to write their own steroid policies, though the stance did not go as far as random drug testing of athletes.^[10] She is trying to establish a $4000 scholarship for each Michigan college student.[2][3]

[edit] 2006 campaign

Jennifer Granholm during the 2006 campaign

Main article: Michigan gubernatorial election, 2006

Granholm ran for a second term in the 2006 election. Her opponents were Republican businessman and politician Dick DeVos, Libertarian Gregory Creswell, Green Douglas Campbell, and the Constitution (US Taxpayers) Party candidate Bhagwan Dashairya.[4]

The state's unemployment rate hovered around 7% for much of her term. Additionally, Michigan ranked #49 in retaining young adults between 2000 and 2005, again attributed to the sluggish economy.^[11][12]

Both the Granholm campaign and the Michigan Democratic Party put out television commercials which focused on the Governor's efforts to revive Michigan's economy and accused DeVos of cutting Michigan jobs while he was head of what was then called Amway. [5]

Granholm won re-election, defeating DeVos. The margin (rounded to the nearest percent) was 56% (Granholm), 42% (DeVos), 1% (Creswell), 1% (Campbell) and <1% (Dashairya).[6]. Granholm polled 4.9% higher than she did in her first gubernatorial election in 2002.

[edit] Second term

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The 2006 elections saw a return to power by the Democrats in the Michigan State House of Representatives but the retention of Republican control over the Michigan Senate. The partisan division of power in Michigan's state government led to a showdown between Granholm and Republican lawmakers over the FY2008 state budget that resulted in a four-hour shutdown of non-essential state services in the early morning of October 1, 2007 until a budget was passed and signed. ^[13] The budget cut services, increased the state income tax and created a new set of service taxes on a variety of business activities, from ski lift tickets to interior design and landscaping, to address a state budget shortfall. As a result of the controversial budget, some taxpayer and business advocates called for a recall campaign against Granholm and lawmakers who voted for the tax increases.^[14]

The budget crisis eventually led Standard & Poors to downgrade Michigan's credit rating from AA to AA-. Additionally, the crisis contributed to sinking approval ratings for Granholm, which stood at 43% in August 2007^[15], to a low of 32% in December 2007. The divided Michigan legislature received an even lower approval rating of 18% in the same poll.^[16].

Granholm delivered her sixth State of the State address on January 29, 2008. The speech was focused mainly on creating jobs in Michigan's challenged economy through bringing alternative energy companies to Michigan. ^[17] Through passing a renewable portfolio standard, which would require that by 2015, 10 percent of Michigan's energy would come from renewable sources and 25 percent by 2025, Granholm expects the alternative energy industry to emerge in Michigan. ^[18] Granholm also called in the speech for an incentive package to offer tax breaks to filmmakers who shoot in Michigan and use local crews in production. A package of bills offering film industry incentives was approved by both houses of the Michigan Legislature and signed into law by Granholm on April 7, 2008.^[19]

Meanwhile, the 2008 presidential campaign has had a substantial impact on Michigan. Republican contender Mitt Romney, a Michigan native and son of former governor George Romney, formally announced his candidacy at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Furthermore, partially because of pressure from Granholm, Michigan's Democratic presidential primary was moved up to January 15, leading the Democratic National Committee to strip the Michigan Democratic Party of its delegates (Michigan historically held its caucuses on February 9). Granholm has been named a likely candidate for United States Attorney General in any Democratic administration. She is currently the Policy Chair of the Democratic Governors Association.

A May 2008 Michigan State University poll marked Granholm's approval rating at 20%^[20].

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Wayne County contracts

Granholm was accused in the 2002 Democratic primary of several allegations of cronyism while working as Wayne County Corporation Counsel.

Her husband Daniel Mulhern had received several no-bid contracts for his leadership training company shortly after Granholm left her position as a Wayne County Corporation Counsel in 1998. He received nearly $300,000 worth of contracts, despite being the highest bidder for one of those contracts. Opponents criticized Granholm supporters for engaging in cronyism and giving contracts to her husband immediately after leaving county employment. Granholm and her supporters responded that no ethical violations occurred and that Mulhern had earned the contracts on his own merits.^[21]

Former Michigan Governor Jim Blanchard and former Representative David Bonior faced Granholm in the Democratic primary and criticized her handling of contracting procedures at Detroit Metro Airport. Granholm was Wayne County Corporation Counsel when the questionable corporate contracts on two parking projects took place from "an apparent pattern of cronyism and no-bid contracts," which prompted investigation by the FBI and by state and local auditors. She ordered a review as state Attorney General. Blanchard and Bonior criticized her for "reviewing" the project rather than ordering a full investigation, and Bonior insisted that Granholm should remove herself from the case. Granholm defended that she had taken the appropriate action and continued to oversee the review.^[22][23][24]

[edit] Kilpatrick memo

Shortly before the 2002 gubernatorial election, a memo was released to reporters from Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick addressed to Granholm. It asked that in exchange for his support and Detroit votes, Granholm must provide jobs and appointments for Detroiters. The memo proposed numerous specific ways that Granholm could help if elected, including ensuring that 20% of new political appointees were African-American. Granholm’s opponent, Republican Lieutenant Governor Dick Posthumus, publicly denounced the “corrupt pact” between Kilpatrick and Granholm. Granholm said that she had never seen the memo, and she stated that she would never “respond to those kinds of demands.” In addition, Kilpatrick said he had not written the memo or signed off on its terms.^[25]

[edit] Budget cuts and the Bible

During Granholm’s first year in office, she made a significant number of budget cuts. She was upset by proposals to cut state funding to social welfare programs, such as homeless shelters and mental health agencies. During an interview, she reflected on the proper perspective of budget cuts:

"Often those who cloak themselves in a cape of religiosity happen to be some who are the biggest cutters. Now, some of that can balance out. But when you get to cutting the services for the least of these -- in the 25th chapter of Matthew in the 37th verse the Lord says, 'Whatsoever you do to the least of these, so also you do unto me' -- that's when I question whether somebody is really living out the faith that they profess."

The interviewer noted that Granholm would be criticized, but she hoped that everyone would “keep those values in mind . . .through the budget process.” Betsy DeVos, the chairman of the Michigan Republican Party (1996-2000, 2003-05), was upset that Granhom had decided “to cloak her views on balancing the budget in religious terms in order to demonize her political opponents.” Granholm responded that she did not think her response was controversial, and she said that many people of faith are serving in state government.^[26]

[edit] Electoral history

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Jennifer Granholm

• Michigan Office of the Governor Jennifer M. Granholm official state site
• Granholm Leadership Fund official leadership fund site
• National Governors Association - Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm biography
• Follow the Money - Jennifer M Granholm 2006 campaign contributions
• On the Issues - Jennifer Granholm issue positions and quotes
• Project Vote Smart - Jennifer M. Granholm (MI) profile
• Jennifer Granholm, John Cherry official campaign site
• Michigan Democratic Party
• Michigan Department of State 2002 official election results
• Michigan Department of State 2006 official election results

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