County clerk race fills up

Ingham County Clerk Mike Bryanton is leaning against running for another term in 2012, and there’s no shortage of interested candidates — chief among them state Rep. Barb Byrum and Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope — if he decides to hang it up after 17 years on the job.

Bryanton, 66, stressed that he hasn’t officially made up his mind and that a lot can happen in politics, but he noted that the job has gotten more difficult over the years with the rapid advances in technology compounded by a shrinking budget and the various personalities on the Board of Commissioners.

Recently, a former Bryanton employee sued the clerk for allegedly making her go through a polygraph test to determine if she had left a telephone message in which the caller claimed Bryanton was having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer he had recently promoted.

Both Bryanton and the newly appointed chief deputy clerk, Janie Lee, have repeatedly denied any romantic relationship in the various news reports published since the story broke last month.

The clerk said the lawsuit has "very little to do" with his decision. He called the suing former employee, Nicole Anderson, a "disgruntled employee," who filed the suit a month after she voluntarily resigned.

"Don’t bury me, yet," said Bryanton, a Democrat. "My mind isn’t made up 100 percent either way. I’ve got a year to think things over."

State Rep. Barb Byrum, D-Onondaga, is wasting little time in taking a hard look at the seat. Byrum, who is term limited from running again for her current job in 2012, said she has been approached to run for the clerk’s position and she’s talking with potential supporters about a run whether Bryanton decides to seek re-election or not. A decision is expected in the coming weeks.

"It’s time to bring integrity back to the office," said Byrum, without expanding on the comments.

Byrum said she would like to see some reforms in the clerk’s office, specifically a ban on the clerk, the county’s chief elections officer, from contributing to anyone on the ballot. 

Secretary of State records show Bryanton has donated to more than several Democratic candidates over the years, including Democratic gubernatorial nominee Virg Bernero in 2010 ($700), Secretary of State nominee Jocelyn Benson ($850) and Byrum herself ($25) in 2006.

Bryanton said he doesn’t know what Byrum is referring to with the "integrity" comment. He said there has been no question about the integrity of the Ingham County Clerk’s office since he began his tenure in the mid-1990s and if she’s referring to the current situation regarding Anderson, "shame on her."

If Bryanton does opt against running again, he said he has put in a call to Lansing Clerk Chris Swope and urged him to get into the ring.

"I have all the respect in the world for him and, in my opinion, he would be an obvious choice to replace me given his experience in dealing with elections and understanding elections law," Bryanton said.

Swope declined to talk much about a potential race other than to say Bryanton did talk to him and he’s keeping his options open.

State Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, and state Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Lansing, also are term-limited at the end of their current terms and would be in a position to run for an open seat. Meadows said he’s not taking the option off the table as a possibility, but he’s been interested in succeeding Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, when her second and final term expires in 2014.

Bauer said she has not heard from Bryanton that he may not run again, so any consideration of running for the clerk’s job “would be premature.”

The hypothetical match-up between two local political heavyweights — Byrum and Swope — has local political observers abuzz. 

Practical Political Consultants published the results of a May 15-17 robo-poll of 225 likely Democratic primary voters on Monday that showed Byrum up 72 to 16 percent over Swope. 

Even in Lansing and Lansing Township, where Swope’s name is the most well known, Byrum leads Swope by a 67 percent to 26 percent margin, according to the survey. 

"The most useful polls are the ones with unexpected results, and this one certainly qualifies," said Mark Grebner of Practical Political Consultants. "I figured Swope and Byrum would be roughly competitive, but they’re certainly not. Byrum’s lead was large and consistent."

Grebner said Byrum led 74 to 9 percent in East Lansing and Meridian Township and 80 to 7 percent in the rest of the county. Outside of the lopsided results, Grebner said he found the high response rate interesting. 

"It appears that voters are familiar with the candidates and willing to express their opinions freely," Grebner said. "These results do not appear to reflect mere name identification."

Asked if she paid for the Grebner poll, Byrum said she did bring the question up to Grebner, but he conducted the poll. She said she did not pay for the poll.

Asked if her well-known name  — her mother is former state Rep. and Sen. Dianne Byrum — may have influenced the poll, Grebner said, "I don’t really have an answer for you, quote me however you want."