Schostak: GOP can win Michigan in 2016 with right candidate – not too right

In a candid interview with the Associated Press, Bobby Schostak, who stepped down from the state Republican Party chairmanship last weekend, talked about the surprising gains made by the GOP in the 2014 elections.
His analysis of the Republican’s party apparatus should certainly give pause to the Michigan Democrats who unanimously re-elected Lon Johnson as their party chair two weeks ago.
And Schostak offered a bit of a warning to a state GOP that keeps drifting further right: After three decades of minimal Republican success, Michigan may finally be in a position to choose a GOP candidate for president, if that candidate is more of a centrist than a rigid conservative.

Here’s a taste of the AP report:

Gov. Rick Snyder, Attorney General Bill Schuette and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson won re-election in November. Republicans kept their edge on the Supreme Court and expanded their legislative majorities to 63-47 in the House — same as when Schostak first took the helm — and 27-11 in the Senate, one seat more than before.

"Nobody was expecting that," Schostak said, saying the targets were between 56 and 61 House seats and 24 to 26 Senate seats. "It was a direct result of the micro level of precinct operations that we had going on the ... the 19 months prior, where we were in working communities, working the voters, training the volunteers, developing technology to have an impact really on a micro level. It's expensive, time-consuming and tedious but made the difference."

By the 2016 election, when Democrats will benefit from increased voter turnout for the presidential election, the GOP will have controlled the governorship and Legislature for nearly six straight years.

What Schostak could not do during his tenure was end Republicans' poor performance in statewide federal elections.

Barack Obama easily won Michigan again, the sixth straight victory for a Democratic presidential candidate. Sen. Debbie Stabenow trounced her opponent. Sen. Carl Levin's retirement was an opportunity, but Gary Peters won in a rout despite Democratic Senate candidates struggling in other states.

Schostak said while there is no denying that Michigan favors Democrats in presidential elections, Republicans are in their "strongest position in a long time" to have a "better shot" at delivering the state because of advances in technology, voter canvassing, minority outreach and data collection.

"A candidate way to the right may not win in Michigan. The candidate who portrays maybe a more centrist, middle-of-the-road right probably could be more successful in Michigan," he said.