‘Go Green’ MSU could go all blue for first time ever

Since Michigan State University’s governing body was first appointed in 1861, the board has always had a Republican on it.

Whether that board member was appointed or elected, it didn’t matter. A Republican was always on it.

That unbeaten streak may end this year.

If Democratic nominees Rebecca Bahar-Cook and Thomas Stallworth III are elected this November, the board will consist of seven elected Democrats and one politically agnostic appointee picked by a Democratic governor.

The Republicans will be completely swept off.

This interesting historical artifact is more than fun trivia shared at an Election Day party. It’s a startling reversal of fortunes for the Republicans, who — just when it seems they couldn’t lose anymore —keep losing more relevance, one election at a time.

I’ve written before that the Michigan Board of Education could go all Democratic for the first time since the new Constitution in 1964. Frankly, that was a right-place, right-time scenario for the Democrats that hasn’t repeated itself.

This situation with Republicans on the MSU board is more about four straight election cycles of making the wrong moves. Some of it is bad luck, but bad luck four cycles in a row for one major political party doesn’t typically happen in Michigan.

Before this proclamation sounds too hyperbolic, let me go back and explain what happened here.

The university, when it was Michigan Agricultural College, was overseen starting in 1861 by a six-member state Board of Agriculture appointed by the governor to staggered six-year terms.

The governor in 1861 was Republican Austin Blair. From 1861 to 1909, Michigan’s governor was elected every two years. A Republican won every time during this period except twice: 1882, when a Fusion candidate won, and 1890 when a real Democrat won.

After those two elections, the governor appointed his required two board members, but Republicans remained in the majority.

In 1909, the 1908 Constitution made the Board of Agriculture an elected body. So instead of Republicans being appointed to the board, they just kept winning elections to it, even when Democrats elsewhere were doing well.

After the Great Depression, Republican didn’t win every election like they had been doing from the Civil War to 1932.

However, Board of Agriculture elections were held in the spring. Not many people voted in these affairs, but farmers did, and they voted, predominately, for Republicans.

IF you know MSU, you’ll recognize the names of two trustees from that time. Clark Brody, for whom the Brody complex was named on campus, served from 1921 to 1959. Forest Akers, for whom the golf course is named, served 17 years from 1940 to 1957.

In 1959, the Board of Agriculture was renamed the Board of Trustees. Four years later, the Constitution was reconfigured and these trustees became a body of eight people elected in 1964 to staggered eight-year terms.

From this point on, Republicans never bombed four straight cycles. They always managed a seat here and there, even in the 1970s after Watergate, Nixon and the rest.

This changed in 2018. That year, Whitmer beat Bill Schuette by 10 points, while Democrats Kelly Tebay and Brianna Scott were elected to the board. 

In 2020, Joe Biden beat Donald Trump and Democrat Rema Vassar was elected along with Republican Patrick O’Keefe, who resigned less than two years into his term. It allowed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to appoint Sandy Pierce, who has not publicly declared a party affiliation. 

In 2022, Democrat Renee Knake Jefferson was reelected along with Democrat Dennis Denno as Whitmer dominated again.

Now Republicans are running Mike Balow and Julie Maday, but delegates may have missed an opportunity by not renominating board Chair Dan Kelly, who won with Donald Trump on the ballot in 2016.

Polling is showing another tight race, but with Kamala Harris slightly ahead, Democratic nominees are favored to win again.

If the Republicans lose again, the GOP’s losing trend will have reached something historic. It’s not something they’re shooting for.

(Kyle Melinn is the editor of the Capitol news service MIRS. His email is melinnky@gmail.com.)