California conservative Ward Connerly chalked up another victory Tuesday in his assault on affirmative action programs, as Michigan voters approved a ballot initiative that bans affirmative action in state contracting and employment and public university admissions.
Connerly’s proposal won by a substantial margin, although courts are expected to play a role in deciding the scope of the ban.
“It’s a very simple principle that people think the law should be impartial and can be impartial,” said Mickey Craig, chairman of the political science department of conservative Hillsdale College, explaining the outcome of voting on the controversial proposal. “They think everybody ought to be judged on the same thing, not race and gender,” said Craig, a Republican who supported the proposal and echoed the sentiments of other backers.
Proposal 2, which was opposed by a broad coalition of the Michigan “establishment” including the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidates, would “ban affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes.”
Michigan is the third state, after California and Washington, to ban affirmative action.
Governor Jennifer Granholm, the liberal Democrat who handily won re-election over conservative Republican Dick De Vos, had said passage of Proposal 2 “would be a devastating blow for Michigan women,” echoing a chorus of other opponents who sought to broaden public awareness of the sweep of Connerly’s proposal beyond race.
DeVos, whose father founded Amway products, called the initiative “wrong for the state.”
Despite the high profile opposition, Proposal 2 passed on a combination of confusion over its actual meaning and deeply rooted concern about self-interest in a state that has lost tens of thousands of jobs in the past four years. The results left opponents stumped, given the decisive victories by incumbent Democratic liberals Granholm and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, who also opposed Proposal 2.
