Michigan’s elected officials can’t become “career politicians” within the state Legislature.
A federal judge on Friday issued a ruling upholding Michigan’s term limits for state lawmakers - six years, or three two-year terms for representatives, and eight years, or two four-year terms for senators.
Ten former state legislators recently went to court to challenge those limits, established by a 1992 ballot initiative that embedded the terms in the state Constitution. Nearly 59% of Michigan voters supported the limits at the time.
The lawmakers who filed the federal lawsuit argued that the limits, referred to in the complaint as a “failed social experiment,” are the “shortest and harshest in the nation,” don’t prevent “political careerism” or advantages of incumbency and haven’t boosted candidate diversity.
They argued that the law actually hurts the Legislature and constituents by indiscriminately erasing years of valuable political experience each election.
“In 2014, Michigan’s term limits resulted in thirty-four lawmakers leaving office,” the plaintiffs argued, according to a ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Janet Neff on Jan. 20. “These term-limited legislators had a combined 248 years of experience ... In 2019, term limits resulted in nearly 70% of state senators and more than 20% percent of state representatives being prohibited from running for their legislative seats.”
And when politicians can no longer be politicians, they don’t leave politics altogether. Nearly a quarter of term-limited politicians go on to become lobbyists, consultants or paid advocates, the ruling said.
The former legislators posed various legal challenges to the term limits based on the state and U.S. Constitution.
But Neff found that the law doesn’t infringe on rights established by either document, either because the arguments were “without merit” or barred by previous court rulings.
“Plaintiffs have not established, as a matter of law, that the Michigan Constitution’s term limits provision violates either the federal or state Constitutions,” Neff ruled.
“Michigan voters took action three decades ago to change our state constitution, and that amendment has now held up twice in a court of law,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “I appreciate the court’s ruling and review of the case law on this matter, and while the legal challenges have failed, the Michigan Constitution – and term limits for our lawmakers – remain something voters can revisit and amend through lawful means as they deem appropriate.”
Term-limited Republican politician Roger Kahn, who served 12 years in the state Legislature -- four as a House representative and eight as a senator -- told MLive when he left office in 2019 that he didn’t run to become a “professional politician.” Nevertheless, Kahn joined other politicians to file the lawsuit later the same month.
Other politicians who signed on to the lawsuit include:
- Sen. Mike Kowall, R, White Lake
- Paul Opsommer, R-Dewitt
- Rep. Joe Haveman, R-Holland.
- Rep. David Nathan, D-Detroit
- Rep. Scott Dianda, D-Calumet,
- Rep. Clark Harder, D-Owosso
- Rep. Mary Valentine, D-Norton Shores
- Sen. Douglas Spade, D-Hillsdale
- Rep. Mark Meadows, R-East Lansing
Read the judge’s full ruling here.
More on MLive:
Term-limited politicians file lawsuit
Voters not Politicians talk term limit challenge
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