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NOVI, Mich. – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel will serve a second term and retain the Democratic executive trifecta.
Nessel defeated Republican attorney and 2020 election critic Matthew DePerno, the Associated Press predicted at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 2 hours after all polling stations began to close.
De Perneau urged Nessel to concede, the Republican’s campaign manager, Tyson Shepherd, told MLive. He also announced his concession in a statement.
Along with the victories of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Democrats will get four more years in the state’s top offices. Nessel’s race was the closest of the three according to pre-election polls, as she led all independent polls, but was often within the margin of error.
With 86 percent of the vote counted shortly after 10:15 a.m., according to the AP, Nessel’s lead was 6 percentage points, narrower than Whitmer or Benson.
Latest results: Michigan 2022 election results: Governor, AG, SOS and ballot propositions
In brief remarks at a viewing party for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Detroit Tuesday night, Nessel thanked her family and staff, then predicted a victory that “underscores the values we hold dear here in Michigan.”
“Love over hate, hope over fear, unity over division, science over ignorance, equality over bigotry and racism, facts over lies and democracy over fascism,” she said.
GOP challenger De Pernod has run a campaign focused on issues such as violent crime and teaching diversity in schools after leading efforts to detect non-existent widespread election fraud after 2020.
A special prosecutor is deciding whether to bring criminal charges against De Pernod, state Rep. Deire Rendon and others in an alleged scheme to take and analyze tabulated ballots last year from three Michigan counties. An investigation by Nessel’s office alleged that De Pernod was “one of the main instigators of the conspiracy.”
Because of this case and De Pernod’s “hateful and dangerous rhetoric,” she refused to discuss it.
Accomplishments that Nessel noted earned her a second term include investigations into clergy and Boy Scout abuse, $800 million in opioid settlements and task forces to combat elder abuse, hate crimes and domestic terrorism.
Among the notable missteps was the failed prosecution of former Gov. Rick Snyder and other high-ranking officials over the Flint water crisis, as the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that their “single grand jury” technique was unconstitutional.
The AG race was particularly nasty, with both candidates hurling personal insults at the other. In separate interviews with MLive, DePerno called her a “coward” and “completely incompetent,” while Nessel called him a “fundamentally flawed human being.”
Read more: Michigan AG race epitomizes ‘uniquely awful’ moment of campaign incivility
He and Republicans have also continually hounded Nessel for a joke she made this summer about wanting a “drag queen for every school,” even as she spoke to a crowd about how Republicans are using “wedge issues” to “divide us.”
DePerno has repeatedly referred to Nessel in interviews and on social media as a “groomer,” a word used for someone who befriends a child in order to lure them into sexual abuse. He told MLive that Nessel “wants to sexualize our children within the education system.”
Go deeper: The GOP’s outrage over the drag queen joke shows a lack of real politics, Nessel says
In response, Nessel, Michigan’s first openly gay elected official, told MLive that the slur was “personally offensive” and made her think of LGBTQ children who are bullied and sometimes driven to suicide.
Read more from MLive:
Michigan AG race epitomizes ‘uniquely awful’ moment of campaign incivility
Nessel Touts Record, Calls AG Opponent ‘Fundamentally Flawed Human Being’
De Pernod sees crime and education as priorities if elected attorney general
Public testing of voting machines in Michigan combats election conspiracy theories
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