Hansen defeats Knight for House

Despite tabulations plagued by mechanical problems with punch card counters, Democratic House candidate for the 52nd District John Hansen appeared last night to have beaten his Republican challenger Julie Knight.

With half of 54 precincts reporting, Hansen had received 57 percent of the vote. But to a gathering of Democratic supporters at Conor O'Neill's in downtown Ann Arbor, he cautioned the remaining precincts were mostly townships, and his support in those areas would not be as strong as in Ann Arbor.

For the key townships, Hansen said he relied on direct mail, phone-calling and newspaper and radio ads.

Hansen, who calls himself a "career educator," worked as a principal and then superintendent at Dexter Schools, and said education was an important issue to him. "Preserve, protect and promote education" was a slogan he ran on.

ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Daily Democrat John Hansen talks to reporters at Conor O'Neill's bar after his victory over Republican Julie Knight.

"You don't need to pass a law" to protect public education, Hansen said. "I'm more concerned with how we feel about public education," he said, adding that while some favor privatized schooling, he said he believes the best course of action is to start out by respecting teachers.

Arguing that legislation is not the answer to everything, he said, "If you can change it overnight, someone else can change it back the next night."

Knight said she backs charter schools and greater choice to students in the school they attend. He also supports better roads and expanded county bike paths. An ally of Republican Gov. John Engler, she agreed with Engler on the issues of tax cuts, welfare reform and job creation.

She charged that Hansen was a one-issue candidate, focusing only on education.

Although other races in the state involved a large amount of mudslinging, the race between Hansen and Knight was remarkably amicable.

"We wanted a clean campaign, and we ran a very clean campaign," said Kristina Lyke, Knight's campaign manager and Eastern Michigan University senior.

Hansen also noted the good relations between him and his challenger. "We know each other, we respect each other, but we don't agree on anything."

Knight and her supporters blame the Republican defeat on the lack of unity in the 52nd District.

"The low turnout (of Republicans in Ann Arbor) was probably a factor ... the city numbers do not look good," Knight said.

The race for the 52nd district House seat was marked by an unusual turn of events when Jane Lumm, who was defeated by Knight in the Republican primaries, endorsed Knight, then withdrew the endorsement, only to again throw her support to Knight late in the campaign.

Knight's supporters point to Lumm's indecision and the general dislike of rural candidates by Ann Arbor Republicans as factors in the loss.

Lumm's supporters "would rather see Hansen win," said Della Blanchard, a Dexter resident.

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