Link to the December 2022 Michigan Libertarian
By Greg Stempfle
The 2022 Mid-term elections are finally over. The Democrats swept every statewide office here in Michigan and retook both houses of the State Legislature for the first time in nearly 40 years. It was a frustrating night for the Republicans. The Libertarian Party of Michigan (LPM) ran 41 partisan candidates in 2022 and also had frustrating results. Overall vote totals were down from recent elections. However, voters elected one Libertarian candidate, Scotty Boman, to a nonpartisan office in Detroit: District 4 Community Advisory Council.
2022 Statewide Candidates
Governor
Mary Buzuma received 0.87% (38,768 votes), coming in third place for Governor. She earned more votes than the other three minor party candidates combined. Unfortunately, this 2022 result is down from the 1.13% Mary received when she ran in 2014 and from the 1.33% Bill Gelineau received in 2016. As our top of ticket candidate, this race determines if the LPM qualifies for the primary election. Mary fell short of the necessary 220,104 votes for the LPM to qualify for the 2024 primary election so we will nominate our candidates at convention next go around.
Secretary of State
Greg Stempfle received 1.20% (52,979 votes), also coming in third place and earning more votes than the other minor party SOS candidates combined. The results of this race determine the ballot order for the 2024 and 2026 elections; therefore, the LP will be the first party listed on the ballot after the Democrats and Republicans. Unfortunately, Greg also did not improve on his previous performance from 2018 when he earned 1.96% of the vote.
Attorney General
Joe McHugh received 1.55% (67,710 votes), coming in third place. This was Joe’s first run for this position and his results were also down from 2018 when Lisa Gioia received 2.1%.
Supreme Court
Kerry Morgan came in fifth place with 7.02% (437,306 votes).
2022 Education Boards
Our top vote getter for statewide race was Eric Larson who earned 128,697 votes (1.61%) for University of Michigan Board of Regents.
2022 Legislative Candidates
Congress
The nine Libertarians running for Congress averaged 1.65% (5,700 votes). This is similar to how we did the past two elections but down from a record 3.04% in 2016. The best showing was Lorence Wenke in District 4 who earned 2.52% (8,427 votes). Another notable race was that of Dave Canny running in District 8. A progressive PAC spent $69,000 supporting his campaign to try and take votes away from the Republican. Unfortunately, this didn’t reflect in the vote totals and Dave only received 4,598 votes (1.37%). Another active candidate, Mike Saliba in District 10, earned just 3,524 votes (1.08%) but that was enough to cover the margin of difference between Republican John James and Democrat Carl Marlinga which was decided by just 1,601 votes.
State Legislature
The 5 Libertarians running for State Senate averaged 1.94% (2,542 votes) and the 10 Libertarians running for State House averaged 2.00% (718 votes). This is similar to last election but down from a record 4.96% for State House in 2014. The best showing for State Senate was Jessica Fox in District 31 with 2.15% (2,845 votes) and the best showing for State House was Adam Childress in District 69 with 2.66% (991 votes). Two Libertarians held the balance of power in their races. In State Senate District 30, Theodore Petzold earned 2,516 votes and the Republican won by just 405 and in State House District 103, Courtney Evans earned 945 votes and the Democrat won by 765.
All Politics Are Local
2022 Local races
Seven Libertarians ran for partisan local office. Our highest percentage was Scott Parkham who received 30.02% (429 votes) for Alpena County Commissioner. There was no Democrat in the race. In other two way races, Andy Evans received 20.27% (336 votes) for Cheboygan County Commissioner and Ryan Roberts earned 17.84% (2,585 votes) for Delta County Road Commissioner.
The Winner is…
Lastly, Scotty Boman was re-elected to the nonpartisan Detroit Community Advisory Council in District 4! He earned 96.9 % (12,966 votes) with two opponents earning a total of 419 write-in votes between them. Congratulations Scotty and thank you to all of our candidates for running this year!
Link to the December 2022 Michigan Libertarian
