Elected every gubernatorial cycle to a four-year term, the attorney general acts as the state’s principal law enforcement officer and legal consultant.

After serving 12 years on the Flint Township Board of Trustees, Leyton was elected as the Genesee County Prosecuting Attorney in 2004 and re-elected in 2008. Prior to his public service, Leyton worked as a civil litigator in private practice.

Schuette, who beat out Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, in a close vote at the Michigan Republican Party nominating convention in late August, served three terms in U.S. House, from 1985 to 1991. He served as director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture during former Michigan Gov. John Engler’s term of office, and afterward served eight years in the state Senate. In 2002, he was elected as a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Compared to Schuette’s political experience, Leyton said his experience as a prosecutor makes him a better choice for attorney general.

“I’ve handled virtually every type of case that the attorney general is required to handle,” Leyton said. “(I am familiar with) facing down some of the nastiest rapists (and) murderers anywhere in the country, and I’ve had a 95 percent conviction rate, and that compares to (Schuette’s) zero cases and zero convictions, because he has never done it. … I am battle tough and ready.”

However, Schuette said his experience as a judge more than qualifies him for the attorney general position. He said his top priority remains keeping Michigan citizens safe, something Leyton has failed to do in Flint, which lies inside Genesee County.

“Just in the middle of the summer, community leaders in the city of Flint asked for the National Guard to be deployed because the streets aren’t safe,” Schuette said. “You can’t promote someone who has failed in protecting public safety in the city of Flint. … If you can’t get the job done at home, you can’t get the job at the state.”

Schuette said he is committed to fighting President Barack Obama’s nationwide health care plan, maintaining border safety in Michigan and fighting for the needs of single-parent families and women.

Decided at party conventions rather than by voters in the August primary, the candidates for attorney general have a lot of campaigning to do to gain the recognition of voters, said Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of the newsletter “Inside Michigan Politics.”

“There’s some preliminary polls that have been taken that show Schuette ahead by anywhere from 9 to 15 points … simply because it seems to be a Republican year,” Ballenger said. “I don’t think the electorate knows any of these candidates very well (but) there’s a generic advantage the Republicans have this year.”

Leyton and Schuette are taking contrasting campaign strategies to emphasize their differences, Ballenger said.

“Now (Leyton is) a full-time prosecutor and he’s trying to make his case to the voters that he’s the real prosecutor (with) the experience in a courtroom trying to convict lawbreakers,” Ballenger said.

“Schuette’s argument is he’s had a variety of experience, including being a judge. … He’s contending (that) he has a rich variety of experience that better prepares him to be attorney general than Leyton, who’s new on the scene.”