Mark Grebner

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Mark Grebner (born 1952) is an American politician, attorney, political consultant and psephologist from the state of Michigan.

Career[edit]

Grebner is a resident of East Lansing, Michigan. He enrolled at Michigan State University as an Alumni Distinguished Scholar in 1970, completing a bachelor's degree in urban policy through MSU's James Madison College in 1981. He earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School.

He became active in voter registration efforts in East Lansing in 1971 following the ratification of the U.S. Constitution's 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.[1] He was an elected Ingham County Commissioner from 1977 to 2012, except 1981–84, and was selected by board colleagues as Chairperson of the Board of Commissioners in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2011.[2] Grebner's work as Ingham County Commissioner included drafting a comprehensive county ethics policy and support for public transit initiatives.[3]

A Democrat, he represented a district on the Board of Commissioners that included a substantial portion of the MSU campus. In 2012, instead of running for re-election to the county board, Grebner challenged incumbent Ingham County Drain Commissioner Patrick E. Lindemann, alleging fiscal mismanagement and cronyism, while Lindemann touted environmental protection and cost-savings.[4] Lindemann defeated Grebner in the primary election and won re-election in the November general election.

In 2016, Grebner again ran for Ingham County Commissioner, this time as a resident of district 8, including precincts on the western edge of East Lansing. He was elected to a two-year term with 70 percent of the vote.

Grebner is the president of Practical Political Consulting, a voter list and consulting firm which works mostly for Democrats in Michigan. In 1999, the firm expanded its operations to include Wisconsin.[5] In an article about local and national campaign consultants in the early years of electronic data science, The Wall Street Journal described the work necessary to transform raw voter data into a mailing label targeted to specific voters: "Mr. Grebner painstakingly gathers lists of local voters from hundreds of Michigan township and municipal clerks, many of whom don't have computers and keep only hard-copy records. He enters the names in his battery of desktop computers, then matches them to addresses and other data."[6]

Beginning in 2004, his firm conducted a large-scale experiment, called ETOV, to "shame" nonvoters into participating in elections.[7][8] The results of the research were published in multiple academic peer-reviewed journals, including American Political Science Review.[9] The journal Political Behavior described the origins of the experiment: "Mark Grebner, a political consultant in search of a cost effective way to increase voter turnout, developed a form of direct mail with information about whether they and their neighbors voted in recent elections. Grebner's intuition was that nonvoters are ashamed of abstaining but believe they can get away with it because no one knows whether in fact they voted."[10] The effects of this study communicating voter history to neighbors, in research conducted in partnership with Yale University, was determined to be three times more effective at increasing voter turnout from other get-out-the-vote mailings.[11]

From 1974 to 2004, he published Grading the Profs, which reported student survey results on Michigan State University teaching faculty.[12][13]

Grebner is a commentator on politics and political issues, and is often interviewed on radio[14][15][16] and television and quoted in news articles.[17][18][19][20] He also writes on "Technical Politics" for the web site Michigan Liberal.[21] He is described by public radio as "an ardent liberal known widely for his political savvy and his irreverent, often provocative commentary."[22]

Grebner is noted for his iconoclastic and humorous political tactics. The New York Times wrote that "Calling Mr. Grebner eccentric would be too obvious."[23] David Josar, of the Detroit News, calls him "super wonk".[24] During his campaigns for election and re-election as county commissioner, he has used self-deprecating slogans such as "No Worse Than The Rest,"[25][26] "He May Be a Fool, But He's Our Fool,"[23] and (in a coupon book) "Buy One Politician, Get One Free."[23] A humorous letter he sent to his constituents in 1986, announcing his plans for re-election, was reprinted in the "Readings" section of Harper's Magazine.[27] In 2009 Grebner filed a lawsuit based on alterations to this Wikipedia page that he alleges were defamatory.[28][29]

Political activities[edit]

Grebner has been frequently involved in public controversies, typically as an advocate for liberal positions, for voting rights, for freedom of information, and for the interests of university students:

  • To resolve a $4 million deficit, the county's 2009 budget cut 19 full-time positions, including six in the sheriff's department, prompting criticism of possible impact on public safety. Grebner, as chair of the finance committee, defended the budget, saying: "It won't be unbearable; other [counties] get by with a lot less."[30]
  • In 2007, he led a group of plaintiffs who sued to overturn the Michigan presidential primary law as unconstitutional. Judge Collette of Ingham County Circuit Court ruled in plaintiffs' favor, striking down the primary;[31][32] that ruling was upheld by a three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals,[33] but was reversed by the Michigan Supreme Court.[34] A different group of plaintiffs sued on similar grounds in federal court.[35] On March 26, 2008, a federal district judge ruled that the primary law violated the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection.[36]
  • Grebner and his firm have frequently been plaintiffs in Freedom of Information Act lawsuits in Michigan[37] and Wisconsin.[38]
  • As county commissioner, Grebner strongly defended the county's practice of selling county animal control animals for medical and veterinary research, and called animal rights activists "fanatics".[39][40]
  • Grebner has advocated measures to restrict smoking in workplaces in the county.[41]
  • An essay Grebner wrote about methods to increase voter turnout suggested a focus on jail inmates held before trial.[42]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Wilgoren, Jodi (November 7, 2000). "THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: DEAD CENTER; Getting a Lock on Michigan Voters, List by List". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  2. ^ Ingham County Board of Commissioners web site
  3. ^ Sorg, Walt (December 19, 2012). "End of an Era for the Master of Voter Lists". Lansing City Pulse. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  4. ^ Lavery, Kevin. "Election 2012: Ingham County Drain Commissioner Race Swirls in Troubled Waters". WKAR News. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  5. ^ Grebner Masters the Art of the List[permanent dead link], Lansing Business Monthly, February 2008
  6. ^ Sterba, James (September 1, 1992). "Democracy Inc.: Politicians at All Levels Seek Expert Advice, Fueling an Industry". The Wall Street Journal. No. Eastern Edition.
  7. ^ Analyst plans to publicize voting records, Lansing State Journal, August 3, 2004
  8. ^ Attention: This man is watching you, Lansing City Pulse, August 1, 2006
  9. ^ "Social Pressure and Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Large scale Field Experiment", American Political Science Review, February 2008
  10. ^ Green, Donald (May 10, 2010). "Introduction to Social Pressure and Voting: New Experimental Evidence". Political Behavior. 32 (3): 332. doi:10.1007/s11109-010-9120-2. S2CID 144365122.
  11. ^ Issenberg, Sasha (2012). The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns. New York: Random House. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-307-95479-4.
  12. ^ Updated pamphlet grades 'U' profs, State News, February 11, 2003
  13. ^ Golden grading, State News, February 12, 2003
  14. ^ Jack Lessenberry interviews Mark Grebner, Michigan Radio, November 1, 2006
  15. ^ Election 2004: Mark Grebner on the District 8 Congressional Race Archived 2011-05-16 at the Wayback Machine, WKAR Radio, July 12, 2004
  16. ^ Jack Lessenberry interviews Mark Grebner, Michigan Radio, April 28, 2008
  17. ^ Alternative poll: Prop 2 sure to pass Archived 2007-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Michigan Daily, November 6, 2006
  18. ^ Obama is playing catch-up in Michigan, Detroit Free Press, June 4, 2008
  19. ^ McCain Makes a Run at Michigan, A Wavering Democratic Stronghold, Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2008
  20. ^ Obama effort worries some volunteers, Detroit Free Press, September 26, 2008
  21. ^ Michigan Liberal web site
  22. ^ Bashore, Mark (December 23, 2015). "Lansing politico Grebner on straight ticket voting, Trump campaign". WKAR Radio. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  23. ^ a b c Getting a Lock on Michigan Voters, List by List, New York Times, November 7, 2000
  24. ^ "For first time, Cockrel ahead of Bing in robo-poll" Archived 2011-07-16 at archive.today, Detroit News web site, April 14, 2009
  25. ^ Detroit Free Press, January 9, 2006
  26. ^ State House Campaigns Offer Poor Options[permanent dead link], Lansing State Journal, editorial, October 23, 2008
  27. ^ A political soft-sell (campaign letter from Mark Grebner), Harper's, June 1987
  28. ^ "Grebner sues Dennis Lennox, two others for Wiki-based defamation" Archived 2010-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Michigan Liberal, Jul 08, 2009
  29. ^ Brayton, Ed (8 July 2009). "Grebner files libel suit over Wikipedia edits". The Michigan Messenger. Archived from the original on 27 July 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  30. ^ County Taking Drastic Measures to Control Budget, WLNS News, October 29, 2008
  31. ^ "Judge blocks Michigan's Jan. 15 primary," Detroit News, November 7, 2007
  32. ^ Judge rules for voters, principles, Detroit Free Press, November 10, 2007
  33. ^ "Court Rejects Early Primary," Washington Post, November 16, 2007
  34. ^ "Michigan Court OK's Early Primary," New York Times, November 21, 2007
  35. ^ Lawsuit disputes rules for primary, Ann Arbor News, January 12, 2008
  36. ^ Green Party of Michigan et al v. Michigan Secretary of State
  37. ^ Grebner v Clinton Charter Township, 216 Mich App 736
  38. ^ Grebner v. Schiebel, Wisconsin Court of Appeals, 2000
  39. ^ Grebner has one word for animal activists: ‘Fanatics’ Archived 2007-11-06 at the Wayback Machine, Lansing City Pulse, April 16, 2003
  40. ^ Animal rights story mostly right, Lansing City Pulse, April 23, 2003
  41. ^ County likely to ban smoking at work sites Archived 2006-01-12 at the Wayback Machine, Lansing City Pulse, January 9, 2002
  42. ^ Seeking a captive audience, Detroit Free Press, February 20, 2008

External links[edit]

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