The race for the University Board of Regents often gets lost in the publicity of other, higher-profile national and statewide elections.
Regents are elected by the state at-large. To many voters, the names on the ballot for regent are unfamiliar.
Yet in Ann Arbor and among the University community, regents have enormous influence on day-to-day life. Tuition, construction projects and nearly every other undertaking at the University proceed with the regents' approval.
"There can be no more noble position than to be on this board," said Mike Bishop, a Republican seeking a seat on the board. "It's just amazing the kind of pride and respect people have for this school."
Whether or not most students realize it, the elections for regent can be crucial to the education they experience.
"We have a fundamental, first-priority duty to the undergraduate system, and it's important that it's accessible to as wide a range of people a possible," said S. Martin Taylor, a Democrat who is running for a regent spot.
Four candidates - two Democrats and two Republicans - are competing for two seats on the board. This year, Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor) is the only incumbent in the race. Regent Nellie Varner (D-Detroit) is not seeking another term.
The four candidates cover a wide range of experiences:
n Baker is the board's most reliably conservative member. First elected in 1972, Baker has worked with three full-time presidents. His opposition to the Code of Student Conduct, health benefits for same-sex couples and "political correctness" on campus have sometimes made the light of controversy shine his way.
n Bishop is a 29-year-old municipal lawyer based in Bloomfield Hills. Though he would be the youngest member of the board, Bishop said his youth is an asset because it makes him more sympathetic to the needs of students. At campus appearances, Bishop has emphasized the need for students to be active in politics.
n Olivia Maynard, a Democrat from Flint, works in the fields of gerontology and public policy related to aging. Maynard said she first became active in politics during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. In 1978 and 1990, she made unsuccessful runs for lieutenant governor.
n Taylor has a deep background in state politics - he was director of the state's Department of Labor and was president of New Detroit, an urban renewal group. The Grosse Point Farms attorney says his experience in state government prepared him to deal with the Open Meetings Act and publicity surrounding controversial issues.
All four candidates said financial restraint will be a crucial concern for winners of the board election.
The most pressing financial ailment of the University - the fiscal health of the Medical Center - is something all candidates hope to cure.
"I'm not interested in seeing it sold to a private corporation," Maynard said.
Taylor said the quality of the Medical School must not be compromised in the search to cut costs.
"The Medical Center and the Medical School is of course a major asset," Taylor said. "We have to keep the costs as low as possible. At the same time, it's one of the finest hospitals around."
Bishop said the hospitals are part of what makes the University unique.
"It's a center of miracles. I shudder to think we'd ever lose control of that school," Bishop said.
Baker said the funding of the Medical Center is the central long-term issue for the board.
Although candidates run under party labels and go through statewide nominating conventions, they all agree that regents must be certain not to let their political beliefs affect the decisions they make as a regent.
At recent board meetings, Baker has emphasized that board members occasionally may have "differing philosophies," but never direct political confrontations.
"I don't think I've seen a political action in the 24 years I've been on the board," Baker said.
Taylor said political "pettiness" within the board can pose a threat to the University's future.
"I would go to that job with absolutely no personal agenda," Taylor said. "One is better off having a regent that comes without a preconceived notion of politics. ... We do not want this institution soiled by the pettiness of the board."
Maynard said regents need to work with people who have different approaches and views.
"There is a really good tradition here of cooperation and coordination among the regents here at the University," Maynard said. "Anyone who serves as a regent has to learn to work with diverse people."
Though Bishop received the GOP nomination for regent in part because of his conservative beliefs, he said he would be open to compromise and non-partisanship as a board member.
"I thought it was very important that you listen to all the students and the faculty and the regents," Bishop said.
Considering the recent lawsuit levied at the board for the process being used to hire the next University president, the regents' relationship with the Open Meetings Act will likely come into play during the tenure of the next board members.
"Clearly the law says if there's a decision to be made by a public board, it has to be done in public," Maynard said. "When you attempt to bring in quality candidates, you run the risk of chasing off candidates who don't want us to air their names."
Baker frequently frames the rights of the regents to select a president in private within the context of the University's role in the state constitution. "This is a pretty special place," he said. "It's great because it's free. It's free because it's autonomous."
Taylor said the state's lawmakers should perhaps consider legislation to make the University exempt from parts of OMA - particularly when it comes to finding the next president.
"The public's right to know has to be balanced with the process of finding a good candidate," Taylor said.
With Varner's decision not to seek re-election, it is inevitable that at least one new regent will come on board. If Baker is defeated and the Democrats seize two new seats at the regents' table, the board will have a 5-3 Democratic majority.
But it will also lose its two longest-serving members in the same year, and have a less-experienced composition. If Baker is not re-elected, none of the current regents will have sat through a full, eight-year term as regent.
Baker says he can pull through and be elected to the board for a fourth time.
"Each time I've run, I've led the ticket in votes gathered by a very substantial margin," Baker said. "I have a better chance of being re-elected in a state election."
WARREN ZINN/Daily
Olivia Maynard, a Democratic candidate for University regent, speaks at a debate Monday night in the Michigan League. She is hoping for one of two open spots.