John Cherry Drops Out, Andy Dillon Jumps In
It was a solemn victory for the GOP when John Cherry ended his exploration of a candidacy for the governship of Michigan. 
Hoesktra and Cox were both polling ahead of Cherry pretty easily. Cherry was completely tied to the Granholm policies, which made it easy to criticize him. Actually, Cherry leaving is really a loss for the GOP whose candidate would have handily beat Cherry in the general election this year. Cherry dropping out is, however, terrific for us – the people of Michigan – who won’t even have to suffer the chance of being subdued to his leadership any longer.
Now to the big question: if not Cherry, then who? While it’s fun to talk about Denise Ilitch or Joe Dumars, it’s pretty obvious it’s going to be a battle between a few contenders with some sort of experience in the legislature. From what I can tell, this means one of the following: state representative Alma Wheeler Smith, House Speaker Andy Dillon, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, State Senator Hansen Clarke or former Congressman/State Senator Jim Barcia.
It’s pretty definite that Andy Dillon will be jumping in the race shortly, most likely tomorrow as was reported on Michigan Radio today. I find it interesting that Dems have all but snubbed Alma Wheeler Smith, whose campaign website has been up for a while now. It should be noted that Virg Bernero is a former State Senator; I haven’t read much on his chances in the general though many blogs seem to indicate that he wouldn’t be able to make it through the primary.
All in all, it’s great to see a divided camp on the other side; perhaps this will divert their resources from the more important state senate races. No matter who the Democratic nominee for governor, I doubt it will make much of a difference to Cox or Hoekstra; pundits and analysts accross the board are predicting a GOP pickup this year.