Michigan Dems Dump Longtime Chair, Elect New Leader

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Eager for the 2014 election, Michigan Democrats dumped their long-time party leader Saturday in favor of a challenger who said Republicans' complete control in Lansing must no longer stand.

Lon Johnson won when incumbent Mark Brewer, the longest-serving state Democratic Party chairman in the country, conceded the heated race after seeing the writing on the wall.

"When we don't win, bad things happen," Johnson, a national campaign operative who lives in Kalkaska, told thousands of Democrats gathered at Detroit's Cobo Center for their state convention.


Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Mich-Dems-dump-longtime-chair-elect-new-leader-4303107.php#ixzz2Llul7lAi

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Mich-Dems-dump-longtime-chair-elect-new-leader-4303107.php

[Purveyor]

1. More...

Johnson was officially elected the new chairman shortly after Brewer's concession. He is vice president of a private equity firm and a veteran of national political campaigns.

Johnson and his supporters are frustrated that presidential and U.S. Senate candidates win Michigan easily, but Republicans control all of the state government.

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The battle for leadership came as the party was reeling from the passage of right-to-work legislation in December and as it looked ahead to the 2014 elections.

Johnson, who lost a state House race last fall in a conservative district in northern Michigan, has worked on the campaigns of U.S. Rep. John Dingell and presidential nominee Al Gore. His wife, Julianna Smoot, is a former White House social secretary who most recently served as deputy manager for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20130223/NEWS/130229928/state-dems-dump-longtime-chair-mark-brewer-elect-lon-johnson

[mtasselin]

2. Aggresive

Good Luck Lon, come out swinging, take no prisoners, we need you to lead so please lead.

[Scuba]

3. Does Wisconsin need to follow suit? Mike Tate should be on the hot seat ...

... as the entire State legislature is RED while we vote heavily for Barack and Tammy Baldwin. How can that be?

[strikeforce]

18. and zielinski too.

tate has got to go and so does graeme zielinski.when you don't get the job done "you gotta go ".

out here in grant county we didn't know that straight party voting was not going to be on the ballot until 3 WEEKS before election !!!

[Scuba]

19. +1 and welcome to DU.

[Historic NY]

4. Old stagnant policies and alliances aren't good for moving forward.

[Demeter]

5. And about time, too

As long as this isn't a 3rd Way Democrat....(is there any other kind still in a position to influence anything?)

[Fuddnik]

11. Vice President of a private equity firm.

I'd say that probably makes him a 3rd way 1%er.

Sounds like another Erskine Bowles.

Florida just elected another one. A former lobbyist for CHOICE POINT, of voting roll purges in 2000. And her husband was on the Bush Cheney legal team during the 2000 recount. And they wonder why we keep losing elections.

[Demeter]

12. Well, The Governor is one, too, but he's GOP

and while Snyder is a loathesome toady, he's not the complete moron. Not like DeVos.

And Erskine Bowles made my skin crawl from the get-go, unlike Lon. Still, it's easy to fool the public....when they've never even heard of you before this.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

13. I love that turn of a phrase;

loathsome toady! It's great!

[MrScorpio]

6. No more rewarding failure…

Onward to VICTORY!

[Purveyor]

8. Now if this trend can to proceed to the lackluster 'leadership' we witness in DC, i.e. Reid, Pelosi

et. al.

Time for a good 'house cleaning', top to bottom...indeed!

[ybbor]

7. Great News

We Michiganders need some fresh blood at the top. Snyder has to go, and we need to regain control of our senate and house and hold them before the next census and redistricting. We really do have a bunch of idiots on the other side in our state, a few in my own family. I hope has the balls to shake some shit up.

[Cha]

9. In a Nutshell..

"When Dems don't win bad things happen". Things that can take years to rectify.

Thank you, Purveyor

[judesedit]

10. Good luck, gang. You can do it!

[harmonicon]

14. Thank god, but we'll have to wait and see if the new guy is any better.

Brewer was a disaster.

[etherealtruth]

15. "When we don't win, bad things happen" ...

...Johnson, a national campaign operative who lives in Kalkaska, told thousands of Democrats gathered at Detroit's Cobo Center for their state convention.

That is an understatement. It will take a generation to undo the damage Rick Snyder and the band of crazies we call a legislature have done to this state.

[MichiganVote]

16. About time. Mark Brewer totally threw Dem. labor under the bus for years.

[JNelson6563]

17. I hope with all my heart

this is what will help us break the R's stranglehold on Lansing.

Julie