By Gregory L. Giroux
Congressional Quarterly

Electoral votes: 18

Delegates: 58

Chairmen: Gov. John Engler, Sen. Spencer Abraham, Joe Schwarz

Hotel: Holiday Inn City Line (215) 477-0200

1996 Election:
Clinton – 52%
Dole – 39%
Perot – 9%

The Feb. 22 Michigan primary provided Arizona Sen. John McCain with one of the big victories that sustained his brief but furious challenge to Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush. Thanks largely to a strong turnout of independents and Democrats eligible to vote in the contest, McCain beat the Texas governor by 51 percent to 43 percent.

McCain won three delegates in each of the 14 congressional districts he carried (he lost only the solidly conservative 2nd and 3rd Districts in western Michigan), plus all 10 of the at-large delegate slots, for a total of 52 of the state's 58 delegates.

But that was hardly the end of the story, one that gave a coda to the lingering hard feelings between the two candidates' camps.

After Michigan, the nominating contest turned quickly and conclusively to Bush's advantage. McCain suspended his campaign in early March and gave Bush six of his Michigan delegate slots - so prominent Bush supporters such as Gov. John Engler and Sen. Spencer Abraham could attend the convention as Bush delegates.

In April, McCain and Engler signed a letter stating that the national convention delegates who would be chosen at the May state convention to fill the remaining McCain slots would be bona fide McCain supporters.

But at that state convention, it was Bush supporters who secured most of the delegate slots. McCain advocates say that only 15 of the 46 "McCain delegates" actually campaigned in behalf of McCain.

One of many delegates who ardently supported Bush in the primary but who is attending the convention as a McCain delegate is Rusty Hills, state Republican Party chairman and a former longtime Engler staffer.

Angered by these maneuverings, McCain canceled scheduled campaign appearances in Michigan for state Sen. Mike Rogers, who is running in the key 8th District open-seat House race, and Chuck Yob, a longtime Republican national committeeman and Bush delegate who is challenging four-term Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak in the 1st District.

But when asked in June, delegates said they had soothed tensions between the Bush and McCain camps in Michigan, and that the party will be strong for Bush in the fall campaign.

One symbol of party unity is the decision to name three delegation co-chairmen: Engler, Abraham and state Sen. Joe Schwarz, who chaired McCain's Michigan campaign. Hills referred to Schwarz as "a prince to work with" and said he is working "110 percent" to help elect a Republican ticket in November.

Without question, the most dominant political figure in the delegation is Engler, a three-term governor who has held elective office since 1970, when he was voted to the state House as a senior at Michigan State University.

Of the nation's 50 governors, only Republicans George Ryan of Illinois and Tommy G. Thompson of Wisconsin have served continuously in public office longer, and only Thompson, now in his fourth term, has more continuous service as a governor.

Engler, who unseated Democratic Gov. Jim Blanchard in 1990 and was overwhelmingly re-elected in 1994 and 1998, usually is regarded as a first-rate political mind. "He's always thinking seven steps ahead," said John Nevin, who worked for Engler for 10 years and is now managing Rogers' congressional bid.

But Engler suffered a high-profile setback in this year's presidential primary. He practically guaranteed a Bush victory - he referred to the Michigan contest as a Bush "firewall" - but appeared to underestimate McCain's appeal to independents and Democrats in the open primary. "I might have made a big strategic error," Engler said after McCain's victory.

Abraham, a former state GOP chairman who will be attending his eighth national convention, likely will have a prominent role at the convention. The first-term senator is embroiled in a close race with his Democratic challenger, 8th District Rep. Debbie Stabenow.

The delegation is packed with state legislative leaders and party officials. State Sen. Glenn Steil is a 3rd District delegate and Bush "pioneer" who raised more than $100,000 for Bush's campaign. Delegate Paul Welday, chief of staff to 11th District Rep. Joe Knollenberg, also is a Bush "pioneer."

Conservatives prevail in the Michigan delegation. Well-known social conservative delegates include Auburn Hills Mayor Tom McMillin, the former state field director for the Christian Coalition who was a delegate for conservative commentator Pat Buchanan at the 1996 Republican convention and unsuccessfully challenged 9th District Democratic Rep. Dale E. Kildee in 1998.

McMillin ran Buchanan's campaign in the Iowa Republican "straw poll" last summer, before Buchanan dropped out and switched to the Reform Party. The suburban Detroit official warned in June that if Bush were to name a vice presidential nominee who supported abortion rights, "some of us would probably walk without even a second thought."

The true McCain delegates are an eclectic bunch. They include Schwarz, who, like McCain, is a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam; Bob Eleveld, a Grand Rapids lawyer who bills himself as a moderate in the mold of former GOP Gov. William Milliken (1969-83); and Nanig Manoukian, a Buchanan delegate in 1996, who immigrated from Lebanon in the 1950s.

MICHIGAN NOTABLES: Gov. John Engler; Sen. Spencer Abraham; state Sen. Joe Schwarz; Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus; state House Speaker Charles Perricone; state Senate Majority Leader Dan L. DeGrow; state Republican Chairman Rusty Hills; Republican National Committeeman Chuck Yob, who is challenging 1st District Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak this year; state Sen. Bill Schuette, a former U.S. House member; former state party Chairwoman Betsy DeVos, wife of Amway Corporation President Dick DeVos.