Oakland County has become more reliably blue in the last decade, driven by shifts in population and politics, writes Kathleen Gray in the Free Press.
"In 1996, Oakland County voters helped Democratic President Bill Clinton win Michigan and re-election over Republican Bob Dole. That presidential trend continued Tuesday, as the county helped deliver Democratic President Barack Obama a second term by a 53%-45% margin.
"Locally, Oakland County voters gave Democrats four of the six countywide offices -- prosecutor, treasurer, clerk and water resources commissioner -- and successfully recalled Republican Troy Mayor Janice Daniels, a tea party supporter who was targeted after anti-gay comments and her promise to derail federal funding for a transit center in the city."
One notable change: Rep. Lisa Brown, who dared to say "vagina" while addressing anti-abortion proposals in the legislature, defeated Republican Bill Bullard for county clerk/register of deeds
Moderate Republicans tell Gray they don't fel at home in the no-compromise GOP of 2012. The Oakland County party sent out an e-mail to its members repeating birther theories, which question whether Obama is a U.S. citizen. Obama released a short form of his Hawaii birth certificate before the 2008 election and the long form certificate last year.
"As chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party, I still have doubts" about Obama's citizenship, Jim Thienel told Gray.
