Political Career
In 1998, Romney announced his candidacy for the office of Michigan Attorney General . That office had been held for 37 years by one person, Democrat Frank Kelley. However, for health reasons, Kelley announced his retirement as Michigan Attorney General that same year (1998). The Republican Governor at the time, John Engler, had backed U.S. Attorney John Smietanka against Kelley, despite the strong likelihood that Kelley would easily win re-election. However, upon Kelley's surprising announcement that he was not seeking re-election, Engler switched from supporting Smietanka to supporting Scott Romney for the Republican nomination. What followed was a power struggle at the Michigan Republican Party convention with influential Michigan Republican and Smietanka supporter Chuck Yob. Romney lost his bid for the nomination to become Michigan Attorney General; Smietanka won the nomination. Smietanka went on to lose the attorney general's race in the general election to the Democratic Party candidate, attorney Jennifer Granholm.
Governor Engler subsequently appointed Scott Romney to the Michigan State University Board of Trustees in August 2000. Romney ran for and won a full eight-year term in November 2000. He was defeated for reelection by Dianne Byrum in November 2008.
Read more about this topic: G. Scott Romney
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“No wonder that, when a political career is so precarious, men of worth and capacity hesitate to embrace it. They cannot afford to be thrown out of their life’s course by a mere accident.”
—James Bryce (1838–1922)