Nice table. What happened to Blanchard between 1986-1990?
That's exactly what I was thinking. The only candidate to win in a landslide in this entire chart didn't get re-elected.
A spiteful Coleman Young refused to turn out the Detroit machine because of a feud with Blanchard. Combine this with very low turnout and the fact that it’s hard for a governor to win a third consecutive term, Engler won in a perfect storm. I’m glad I wasn’t alive/politically aware during Engler’s reign of terror. Blanchard was one of the best and most successful governors in Michigan’s history and he was replaced with one of the worst governors we’ve ever had.
Engler’s dismantling of the state mental health system and fiscal irresponsibility still have lasting effects on our state 15 years after he left office. Engler left Granholm a massive budget mess to clean up, and Snyder will be leaving Whitmer/El-Sayed with two public health crises and a budget balanced with smoke and mirrors to clean up.
