Local Sen. Mike Kowall Posts Perfect Attendance in 2012 Votes

For State Sen. Mike Kowall (R-15th District), 2012 must have been a busy year.

The nonpartisan vote-tracking website michiganvotes.org — which compiles the voting histories of lawmakers in the Michigan House and Senate — noted that Kowall did not miss a single one of the Senate's 1,082 roll call votes in 2012.

State Reps. Lisa Brown (D-39th District), Gail Haines (R-43rd District) and Chuck Moss (R-40th District) also posted perfect attendance records on the House's 904 roll call votes. 

State Sen. Jim Marleau (R-12th District) missed 19 of 1,082 votes.

Michiganvotes.org notes that missed votes by legislators may be due to illness, family emergencies, or other good reasons. In addition, members of the House and Senate majority and minority leadership teams are sometimes required to be off the floor during votes.

State Senators are elected for four-year terms and are limited to two terms. Both Kowall and Marleau were elected for their first terms in Nov. 2010. 

State representatives are elected for two-year terms and are limited to three terms. Brown chose not to run in the Nov. 2012 general election with one term remaining on her three-term limit, while Haines won a third term. Moss was term-limited.