With the primary election less than two months away and the general election less than five months away, are we on the verge of seeing a political upset in Livingston County?
Time will tell. But as we wait for that political action to unfold, here is one man’s ranking of the Ten Biggest Political Upsets in Livingston County History – the Last 60 Years. The list is restricted to Livingston County races, or races with at least one candidate from Livingston County.
1. Joe Hune, Republican State Representative primary, 2002
I had a front-row seat for this one, so I might be a little biased, but even the people who didn’t have a front-row seat will tell you this was the biggest political upset in Livingston County history. A 22-year-old kid from Fowlerville beat a whole bunch of better-known elders in what would turn out to also be the closest election ever.
To set the stage, the open 2002 Republican primary for the 47th State House seat featured six candidates:
- Greg Bogdanski, Hartland Township supervisor
- Howard Dillman, Hamburg Township supervisor
- Dave Domas, chairman of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners
- Joe Hune, legislative journal clerk from Fowlerville, age 22
- Buddy Moorehouse, managing editor of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus
- John Shepard, Cohoctah Township attorney
Most observers thought it would be a two-person race between Dave Domas and me. He had the political background and I had great name I.D. (thanks to the newspaper) and movie-star good looks. There was some thought that maybe Bogdanski or Dillman might be able to sneak in. Nobody was expecting the 22-year-old kid from Fowlerville to win.
But he did. He knocked on zillions of doors, he turned out all his high school friends from Fowlerville to vote, and he took advantage of a highly fractured primary. He won the primary with just 25 percent of the vote. Domas also had 25 percent, and I was close-but-no-cigar in third place with 23 percent. The others were far behind.
Domas actually won the initial count by one vote, but Hune asked for a recount, after which he was declared the winner by two votes.
So it wasn’t only the biggest upset in Livingston County history; it was also the closest election in Livingston County history.
2. Dennis DeBurton over Charles Hards, Republican primary for sheriff, 1980
As you’re about to see, there are a lot of sheriff primaries on this list. And this one was the Granddaddy of them All.
Before Theresa Brennan came along, Dennis DeBurton was the most controversial politician in Livingston County history, and it all began with his huge 1980 upset win for sheriff.
Charles Hards had been the Livingston County sheriff since 1968, and he was one of the best-known politicians in the county. Dennis DeBurton was a brash, young, outgoing Michigan State Police trooper who decided he wanted to be sheriff.
The campaign was brutal, and in the end, DeBurton won easily, capturing nearly 60 percent of the vote and shocking most political observers.
3. Mike Rogers over Dianne Byrum, 8th District Congressional race, 2000
Some folks might not consider this a true upset, because the race between Republican Rogers and Democrat Byrum was neck-and-neck the whole way. The last poll taken before the election in late October had Byrum leading by a single point, 45 percent to 44 percent.
But when you look at the Democratic wave in Michigan that year – Al Gore for president and Debbie Stabenow for U.S. Senate won handily – it makes Rogers’ win all the more unlikely. He was up by about 500 votes after the initial count, and after a recount, he won by barely more than a hundred.
4. Carol Sue Reader over Bill McCririe for District Court Judge, 2006
Livingston County hasn’t seen many judicial upsets through the years, but this was a huge one.
Bill McCririe was a well-known politician from one of the best-known political families in the county, so most folks figured he was a shoo-in to beat relatively unknown Brighton attorney Carol Sue Reader in this District Court race. But in the end, Reader pulled out the 3,000-vote win.
5. Don Homan over Dennis DeBurton, Republican primary for sheriff, 1992
And here’s Dennis DeBurton again! His political career began in 1980 with a huge upset, and it ended in 1992 with a huge upset.
DeBurton had run into some legal issues himself in late 1988, when he was charged with improperly touching a waitress at the Chemung Hills Country Club. Even though he was found not guilty in his 1989 trial, the voters seemed to want a change the next time he came up for re-election. In the 1992 GOP primary, he lost to a low-key State Police trooper named Don Homan, who ran one of the quietest campaigns we’ve ever seen.
Homan had to hang on for his political life in 2000, when he was challenged by Detective Ivan Deering in what was probably the nastiest election we’ve seen in these parts. Homan barely won the GOP primary that year, and then retired in 2004.
6. Bob Murray over Sherm Haller, Republican primary for Genoa Township supervisor, 1984
Haller was the very definition of a political institution in Livingston County. He’d been the supervisor of Genoa Township forever, he was the longtime owner of Haller’s Hardware, and (for whatever it’s worth) he looked and sounded exactly like Uncle Joe from”Petticoat Junction.”
But in a three-way GOP primary in 1984, Haller lost his seat to Bob Murray, chairman of the township Planning Commission. Murray went on to a long and distinguished career as one of the best township supervisors we’ve ever seen.
7. Charles Hards over Sonny Erdman, Republican primary for sheriff, 1968
And here’s Charles Hards again! Most folks remember Lloyd “Sonny” Erdman as the longtime Livingston County magistrate, but in 1968, he was the Livingston County undersheriff, and the odds-on favorite to be the next sheriff. Erdman had the backing of outgoing Sheriff Lawrence Gehringer, and most folks thought he was a shoo-in.
Instead, he lost the GOP primary to a young Sheriff’s Department deputy named Charles Hards, who began his 12-year reign as sheriff with this win.
8. The Howell Public Schools bond issue, 2003
The only ballot issue to make the list, this one also ranks as (in hindsight) the worst ballot-issue decision Livingston County voters have ever made.
In 2003, Howell Public Schools Superintendent Chuck Breiner convinced the voters that they needed to spend nearly $100 million to build a new high school on D-19, to be called Parker High School.
I thought there was no way this would pass. The economy wasn’t in great shape at the time, so I thought there was no way the voters would agree to add hundreds of dollars a year onto their tax bill.
I was wrong. By a margin of just 301 votes, the bond issue passed, and Howell proceeded to build a high school that would sit empty for years because NOBODY NEEDED IT. Within a few years, Howell had empty school buildings all over the place.
Along with every vote ever for Judge Theresa Brennan, this is the one voters probably wish they could take back. Anytime you spend $97.6 million you don’t need to spend, that’s a bad day.
9. David Gee over Joe Richards, Republican primary for County Commission, 1974
Before he was a judge, Dave Gee was a Livingston County Commissioner, and his career began with this huge upset in 1974 in this Hartland-Oceola district.
Joe Richards was the chairman of the county board that year, and he was huge political force in the county. But Gee, an attorney from Hartland, knocked him off by about 30 votes in the GOP primary. Richards went on to serve for many years as the Oceola Township Supervisor, while Gee became a judge the next year, appointed to a vacancy on the District Court bench by Gov. William Milliken.
10. Margaret Dunleavy over Bill McCririe, Republican primary for Livingston County Clerk, 1996
Yes, McCririe shows up twice on this list. Ten years before he ran for judge (and lost) against Carol Sue Reader, he ran for Livingston County clerk (and lost) against Margaret Dunleavy. McCririe was thought to be in the driver’s seat for this race, because he was the appointed incumbent. Still, Dunleavy cruised to an easy win, 58 percent to 42 percent.
Most folks chalked it up to Dunleavy earning the support of political power brokers Mike and Joyce Rogers.
