In announcing her new role Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris said that Ganholm has a “demonstrated track record of cultivating many public-sector and private-sector collaborations that have laid the groundwork for profitable and sustainable growth for 21st century manufacturing.”

The Midland Daily News reports:

Granholm’s appointment may seem a natural fit for Dow, a Michigan company that has invested heavily in clean energy fields such as solar and battery technology as the company has transformed itself in recent years. As governor, Granholm made multiple stops in Midland to highlight hundreds of millions in state tax incentives for Dow and its subsidiaries for clean energy projects that have boosted job opportunities in the region.

Tax breaks aren’t the only way the Granholm administration helped Dow Chemical.

Dow is responsible for a 52 mile long plume of chemical contamination that stretches from its Midland plant through the Tittabawassee and Saginaw Rivers and into Lake Huron’s Saginaw Bay.

In her role as governor Granholm argued against having the federal government declare the contaminated area a Superfund site — a move that could have allowed for relocation of people living in the contaminated zone.

Michigan has the most races of interest, including a governor’s seat that Republicans hope to recapture when term-limited Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) steps down. Vying for the chance to do so today are three candidates – businessman Rick Snyder, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and state Attorney General Mike Cox — all of whom are still in the chase. According to Chris Cillizza, turnout will be key to the candidates’ chances:

The critical counties in the Republican race will be Kent (Grand Rapids), Oakland (Pontiac), Macomb and Wayne (Detroit); the four counties accounted for about 40 percent of the vote in the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary. But turnout in Ottawa County on the western side of the state will be key for Hoekstra — it sits in his 2nd district base and is one of the most reliably Republican counties in the state.

Meanwhile, in Kansas, GOP voters will likely select the state’s next senator, as a Republican is virtually assured to win retiring Sen. Sam Brownback’s (R-Kans.) seat. The race between Kansas Republican Reps. Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt will be another test of Sarah Palin’s sway, as Tiahrt has been out-fundraised and out-polled by Moran but is banking on enthusiasm generated by the endorsements of Palin and of most tea party groups in the state.

The race has long been ugly, and in a state like Kansas both candidates have long focused on outflanking the other on the right, while discrediting their opponent’s conservative passion:

The biggest blow to either campaign came at the close of July when Moran’s ex-campaign manager called out his former boss on social issues, accusing him of having “winced” at being aggressive with his pro-life stance (pro-life groups largely back Tiahrt). Tiahrt’s camp used that in a TV ad to continue its relentless attack on Moran — he went negative from the start before introducing himself with a positive spot to east KS voters — and reinforce the idea that Moran may vote correctly but is not a leader on causes most dear to conservative activists within the party.

California and Michigan prison officials continue to negotiate a move of California prisoners to two of Michigan’s soon to be closed prisons. Michigan officials have been in California this week as part of the negotiations which started with a letter from Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California. That letter indicated Michigan would be happy to play host to overflow prisoners from California. [...]

Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said the state is interested in keeping the 550 prison guards and officials slated for lay off with the closure of the two prisons on the job. But, that hope is not keeping the Standish facility occupied. Officials say the move of prisoners from the prison will continue in preparation for a closing at the end of July.

Michigan’s prison population peaked in 2006 with 51,454 prisoners, and this year it is at 48,000. Granholm wants to reduce that number by 3,000 to 45,000 by Oct. 1 with early releases in order to save money in the state budget which is facing a projected $1.7 billion budget hole. By reaching the 45,000 prisoner mark, the MDOC will be housing the lowest number of prisoners since 1999.

Michigan pays $30,000 per year to house a prisoner, while California pays $46,000 a year to house its prisoners.

In May, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) suggested that a new, maximum security prison in the state’s remote Upper Peninsula could bring in some much-needed federal dollars by housing Guantanamo Bay detainees after that facility’s scheduled closure in January 2010.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers told a gathering of progressive activists gathered at the Cobo Convention Center on Saturday that he has withdrawn his support for Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Obama.

“[Obama] had no doubt she would make a good Supreme Court justice and I don’t either. But I am not supporting somebody who is — especially when she is waiting to be considered as a possible nominee for the highest court in the land — she can write a letter telling us some U.S. attorney has done a good job when everyone in the state knows that he hasn’t,” Conyers said in an interview with Michigan Messenger following his address at Cobo.

And just who is this failed federal prosecutor?

The attorney is question is a current U.S. attorney, but Conyers could not recall his name. Calls to members of the congressman’s staff to clarify which of Michigan’s two U.S. attorneys Conyers was referring to were not immediately returned.

Sounds like a pretty solid case against Granholm.

As Ed Brayton of TWI’s sister site, The Michigan Messenger, suggested last week, the biggest obstacles to Granholm’s confirmation will be her tax problems and other scandals. Last year, WILX, the NBC affiliate in Michigan’s capital, reported that the IRS “has placed a federal tax lien on [Granholm’s 2002 inaugural] committee to the tune of $19,535 in unpaid taxes that date back to 2003.” The Detroit Free Press (3/7/08) confirmed the report and also mentioned an “$800 lien placed against the Wayne County home of Granholm and her husband in 2006 for failing to file unemployment insurance reports on their nanny.”

The group doesn’t, however, think she could be derailed for her lack of legal writing.

Ed Brayton of TWI’s sister site, The Michigan Messenger, has the details.