Most Lansing-area Dem seats safe

Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel, Jr., all but wrapped up the 23rd Senate District race last year when he cleared the field of any strong Democratic opposition. He does have a Republican opponent, Leslie hard rock guitarist Craig Whitehead.

Rep. Andy Schor´s campaigns signs are popping up like he´s re-running his competitive 2012 Democratic primary. He´s not. His token Republican opposition in this 73 per cent Democratic base district is a GOP staffer named Rob Secaur. The nearby 69th District race is all but over, too, with Rep. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) on the ballot with perennial Republican candidate Frank Lambert.

Every once in a while, the state Republicans take a serious stab at the southern Ingham County 67th District, but 2014 isn´t one of those years. Delhi Township Trustee John Hayhoe has experience on both the local road and planning committee – someone the R´s would rally around under different circumstances.

But Rep. Tom Cochran, the former Lansing Fire Chief, won this seat by 13 points in ´12. That´s a large enough margin that Republicans and the interest groups that support them see other Democratic incumbents as more vulnerable.

Like Rep. Theresa Abed in the Eaton County-based 71st District. This state House district has evolved into one of Michigan´s most politically balanced districts with a true 50/50 partisan split.

It´s created a situation where Abed, a former school social worker and county commissioner, has found herself engulfed in three straight races with lots of spending from both the political parties and outside groups.

This go around, former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and current chief warrant officer Tom Barrett has benefited from radio spots bankrolled by the Koch Brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity and the Michigan Farm Bureau, among other groups. This doesn’t include the money raised and spent by their respective campaigns, which are now at a combined $607,518, the state´s secondhighest total for a state House race.

Republicans see the 33-year-old as possibly their best shot to unseat Abed, who has shown a bit of an independent streak -- voicing opposition to adopting Common Core standards for elementary school students, for example.

Abed has baked her campaign with staple Democrat issues – opposition to the Governor´s 2011 education cuts and the repeal of income tax exemption on pension income.

Barrett frames himself as a conservative who can be an independent voice in the House.

"I´m a Republican because I believe in lower taxes, individual liberty, less government . . . but I don´t think any political party is perfect," he said.

Abed has counted on face-to-face contact and the fact many people -- particularly in Grand Ledge – know who she is.

"The difference is I´ve been connected with our community," she said. "I´ve been involved in our community for 25 years. My kids went through the schools . . . They have proof what I say is what I do."

The only public polling in the race about a month ago showed Abed with a slight 47-46 percent lead, proving what both candidates and observers figured all along – this one is going to be tight.