The governor and Republican leader of the state Senate drop a hot-potato idea pushed by a representative from Shelby Township.
Rep. Peter Lund's bill to change how Michigan's 16 electoral votes are allocated in presidential elections won't go anywhere, Gov. Rick Snyder and Sen. Randy Richardville say. The proposal is to move from a winner-take-all system to one based on which candidate wins each congressional district.
Bloomberg News: "You don't want to change the playing field so it's an unfair advantage to someone. . . . We want to make sure we're reflecting the vote of the people, and this could challenge that,” Snyder, a Republican, said on Bloomberg Television’s 'Bottom Line.'
“I don’t think this is the appropriate time to really look at it."
Detroit Free Press: "I don't know that the system now is broken. So I don't know that we need to fix it," said Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville.
Lund says he'll still introduce his bill eventually. "I'm still going to do it, but I'm not in a hurry. It's not a priority right now," he told Lansing reporter Gary Heinlein of The Detroit News.
Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, has said it's a plan worth considering.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus also endorses the change, also being discussed in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Virginia.
Earlier coverage
Macomb Republican Wants to Change How Electoral Votes Are Won, Jan. 26
