Was it just the wave of 2006 that propelled Granholm to a 14-point landslide? Michigan was the worst-hit state by the mid-2000s recession and faced 15% unemployment that showed no sign of improvement. Mass foreclosures, outsourcing, and the decline of the auto industry plagued the state.
Granholm’s name has become an epithet in Michigan politics and became pretty much the only talking point of Bill Schuette’s campaign last year. Whether she deserves it or not, Granholm is still widely regarded as the worst governor in Michigan’s history.
She had underwater approval ratings as late as August 2006 and trailed in the polls as late as September. Yet she won by half a million votes, won tons of counties that would never go blue post Trump, and Democrats won the Michigan House of Representatives for the first time since 1996.
2006 was a pretty good year for democrats in the Great Lakes area (Strickland won in a landslide, Casey and Brown were elected by double digits margin....)
