Republican Rick Snyder appeared Tuesday night headed toward a landslide win over Democrat Virg Bernero in the governor’s race, perhaps leading a possible GOP sweep of statewide offices.

Ruth Johnson also led Democrat Jocelyn Benson to succeed term-limited Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land as the state’s chief election officer.

There was a rare line to vote at Dowagiac City Hall.

Snyder’s Reinvent Michigan Tour bus brought his “bold vision” to Southwestern Michigan College July 26.

“This is not about me, it’s about we,” Snyder said in Dowagiac last summer. “I’m here to provoke you. We let this mess happen” by not demanding accountability from state government, which if it was a business would have been fired long ago.

“We need to demand more out of our government,” he said, noting the State of the State address devolving into a hollow happy talk cheer fest instead of a report card on where Michigan stands.

There are outstanding individual legislators who must be as frustrated as their constituents, Snyder said, and he wants to “make them look good. I don’t want credit.”

He contrasts himself with incumbent Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm as being the first proven manager to run in a long time.

She, as a “litigator,” lacks “that skill set.”

Snyder called himself an “agnostic” in getting public and private sectors to change their “mindset” and do good work together.

He said it’s always a good idea to talk to someone before firing a gun at them for the transition necessary to get to “succeeding together.”

People are hesitant after being down so long, but “it’s safe to bring up ideas.” He didn’t make every decision at Gateway, he “created a culture for success.”

If he tossed anyone out of his office it was for being unable to answer why instead of relying on that’s the way we’ve always done it.

The Battle Creek native announced his candidacy on July 21, 2009, offering his strong entrepreneurial background to provide hope to beaten-down citizens and tangible solutions to challenges, such as “organic gardening” to grow and nurture jobs from within rather than “hunting.”

He directed the growth of the computer company Gateway for six years in 1991 to 1997 from a private company with less than 1,000 employees to a publicly-traded Fortune 500 corporation employing more than 10,000.

Snyder is currently CEO of Ardesta, a venture capital firm that invests in innovative startups, creating hundreds of Michigan jobs and more across the country.

His “framework for success” proven in his professional and personal lives, articulates a vision of being a great state again, identifying steps to move along that path and then acting — not just talking about it.

Michigan has enjoyed two eras, he said.

The first tapped timber. The second was the industrial era of automobiles, furniture, chemicals and cereal that made Michigan the “entrepreneurial capital of the world” and the “catalyst for the American middle class,” but since the 1950s the state has staggered forward complacently, more intent on “protecting what we had” even after the second era ran its course.

One of his “pillars” is quality of life, from utilizing abundant natural resources, restoring central cities and stopping the exodus of young leaving for lack of opportunities. He supports “establishment of a proper mass transit backbone” in the state.

Snyder was the first chairman of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and served as founding chairman of Ann Arbor SPARK, an economic development organization in eastern Michigan.

Born and raised in Battle Creek by his father Dale, who owned a window cleaning business, and his mother Helen, he earned his first 25 credits simultaneously attending high school and Kellogg (“I love community colleges”).

Achieving his bachelor’s degree at 19, by 23, he finished master’s of business administration and law degrees from the University of Michigan.

Snyder, who chose to remain in Michigan starting his career during the 1982 recession because of mentors, met his wife, Sue, as a tax accountant for Coopers and Lybrand in Detroit.

Rick and Sue live in Ann Arbor and have three children, Jeff, Melissa and Kelsey.

Snyder was introduced at SMC’s Mathews Center by Trustee Dan Wyant, former state agriculture director and president of Edward Lowe Foundation in Cassopolis.