Just a few weeks ago, protesters marched through the Michigan Capitol claiming that Republicans were trying to subvert the will of voters and seize power from the Democrats who had just been elected governor, attorney general and secretary of state.

The protesters’ worst fears did not come to fruition.

On Friday, Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican whose eight-year tenure ends next week, vetoed a bill that would have allowed lawmakers to intervene in court cases, a measure seen as an effort to dilute the authority of the new Democrats. Other legislation that would have stripped power from incoming officials never made it to a floor vote.

The results gave Michigan Democrats some measure of relief, though they were not at all thrilled with what had happened in recent weeks. Mr. Snyder also signed or vetoed dozens of other bills this week passed by lawmakers during their busy, contentious lame-duck session.

“Some of the ones that he vetoed, we are a little surprised that he vetoed,” State Representative Adam Zemke, a Democrat, said. “And so that’s a positive thing.”

In recent years, lame-duck bills to strip authority from newly elected Democrats have become part of the partisan playbook in Republican-controlled states. But Mr. Snyder’s approach to those measures contrasted sharply with that of Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who proudly signed farther-reaching legislation this month, and of former Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina, who approved similar bills in 2016. In left-leaning states like New Jersey, Democrats have tested their own strategies to consolidate power.

In Michigan, Mr. Snyder loomed as the likeliest barrier to the authority-stripping measures. Never a hard-right Republican, the governor had disagreed over the years with his legislative counterparts on issues like gun rights. And Mr. Snyder had weathered criticism from some within his own party for his handling of the water crisis in Flint.

“He is not necessarily going to be motivated by the same things that Scott Walker or another really partisan Republican governor was,” said Brandon Dillon, the chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party and a longtime critic of Mr. Snyder. “We thought there was a good chance that he would take a different approach to these bills going out the door.”

In vetoing the bill that would have allowed legislators to weigh in on legal cases, Mr. Snyder said he would not have liked such intervention while he was governor. “Accordingly,” Mr. Snyder wrote in a letter to lawmakers, “I do not believe it prudent to sign this legislation as my term as governor comes to an end.”

His decision garnered praise from Dana Nessel, the Democrat who will become attorney general next week. “We are grateful to Gov. Snyder for demonstrating his integrity and commitment to upholding the Michigan Constitution,” she said in a statement.

Some bills opposed by Democrats still became law. Mr. Snyder signed dozens of new measures this week, including one limiting administrative rule-making and another that makes it harder for citizens to gather signatures for ballot initiatives. Previously, he approved measures that gutted citizen efforts to raise the minimum wage and expand paid leave for sick workers.

Efforts on Friday to reach Tom Leonard, the Republican speaker of the Michigan House, and Arlan Meekhof, the Republican majority leader in the Michigan Senate, were not immediately successful. A spokeswoman for the Michigan Republican Party declined to comment.

Mr. Zemke, the Democratic representative, said the tumult of recent weeks had raised questions about whether Michigan should even have a postelection legislative session in the future.

“Even though we may have come out less scarred than we had thought we might,” Mr. Zemke said, “if we didn’t have a lame duck, none of these bills would ever have been introduced.”

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