The Office of the Attorney general is in charge of prosecuting the laws of the state of Michigan; the title of Attorney General is a four-year term with a two-term limit that has barred the current Attorney General, R-Mike Cox, from running for a third consecutive term.

This year’s Republican candidate for Attorney General is attorney and former justice of the Michigan Fourth District of Court Appeals Bill Schuette. A native of Midland, Mich., Schuette has served on the House Budget Committee, House Agriculture Committee and House Select Committee on Aging. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in foreign services before studying at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. In 1979 he received his Juris Doctorate from the University of San Fransisco School of Law. Between 1987 and 1989, Schuette sponsored 11 bills – none of which were successfully enacted.

After his election to the Michigan Fourth District of Court Appeals in 2002, he remained there until 2009 when he let his term expire in order to establish candidacy for state attorney general. The main issue that he is focusing on in his campaign is the emptying of jails and putting fewer police officers on the streets.

David Leyton is the Democratic party nominee for Michigan Attorney General. Leyton passed the Michigan bar exam in 1984 and created a private law firm that defended victims across Michigan. During that practice Leyton became very involved in his community. He served for 12 years on the Flint Township Board of Trustees.

Leyton is also involved in the Genesee County Bar Association. he runs under the campaign slogan of “Tough, Independent and Fair.”

On Leyton’s 2010 campaign website, he lists his “plan of action:” tough, independent, fair. His website states that “David Leyton believes Michigan needs an attorney general who is a prosecutor, not a politician.”

Currently, in both the Glengarrif Group Inc. poll and the Public Policy Polling, Schuette leads Leyton 43.2 percent to 34 percent in the race for attorney general with 21.8 percent of voters undecided. The poll attributed Leyton’s No. 1 campaign mistake to his failure to utilize time properly in order to make his name familiar to state voters. Schuette’s name was recognized by 43.5 percent of voters while 23.5 percent said they had heard of Leyton.

In a press release provided by Schuette’s campaign, John Tramontana, spokesman for the Michigan Democratic Party made a statement about the current polls.

“We’re not concerned about poll numbers at this point,” he said. “The campaigns are just getting into their stride. The only poll that matters is the one on Nov. 2.”

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