State House Redistricting - District 42 (HD-42)

State House - District 42
Current Reps - Bill Rogers (R-Genoa Twp)

Declared Candidates:
Rep - Bill Rogers (R-Brighton)
Dem - Shanda Willis (D-Brighton)

Update 5-26-2012 - Bill Rogers has a challenger from Novi Teacher Dale Rogers, who often posts on the Livingston Post website. Bill's favored to win, although I think Dale has the potential with his background to be a strong challenger if he really knows how to run a state rep campaign. Adding Hamburg and Putnam Twps did not do Bill any favors. While most MEA teachers are democrats, there are many who are swing voters or sometimes weak GOP because of some issues. I noticed that from other campaigns, including some names I recognized that I'd never expect to be on a GOP list until I saw one major indicator that would explain it. I'm not going to bet against Bill here, but I don't expect this to be a repeat of Joe Hune vs Paul Rogers.  

Update 8-30-2012 - Bill Rogers wins the primary. 

2010 Results - Old District (66th)
Bill Rogers - 23,480
James Delcamp - 8,246

The new 42th is descended from the old 66th district in Livingston County. This district changed slightly with redistricting. It dropped Milford to the 44th district. It dropped Oceola Twp and Marion Twp to the 47th district with Cindy Denby. It picks up Hamburg and Putnam Townshops from Denby. This new district is much less republican than it was previously, but Brighton and Genoa Townships will carry this even in bad year barring a Don Sherwood level of disaster. I think the last time a dem won this district was maybe  1990 or more likely 1986 for Frank Kelley.

Bill Rogers has one more term left, then this district will open up.

	McCain	Obama	Total	Diff	GOP	DEM	Diff
Brighton	1984	2097	4081	-113	48.62%	51.38%	-2.77%
Brighton Twp	6589	4188	10777	2401	61.14%	38.86%	22.28%
Genoa Twp	6592	4502	11094	2090	59.42%	40.58%	18.84%
Green Oak Twp	5522	4395	9917	1127	55.68%	44.32%	11.36%
Hamburg Twp	6355	5922	12277	433	51.76%	48.24%	3.53%
Putnam Twp	2210	2157	4367	53	50.61%	49.39%	1.21%
Total	29252	23261	52513	5991	55.70%	44.30%	11.41%
	Bush	Kerry	Total	Diff	GOP	DEM	Diff
Brighton	2226	1763	3989	463	55.80%	44.20%	11.61%
Brighton Twp	6977	3525	10502	3452	66.43%	33.57%	32.87%
Genoa Twp	7081	3608	10689	3473	66.25%	33.75%	32.49%
Green Oak Twp	5779	3618	9397	2161	61.50%	38.50%	23.00%
Hamburg Twp	6933	4933	11866	2000	58.43%	41.57%	16.85%
Putnam Twp	2417	1792	4209	625	57.42%	42.58%	14.85%
Total	31413	19239	50652	12174	62.02%	37.98%	24.03%
Last State House	GOP	DEM	Total	Diff	GOP	DEM	Diff
Brighton	1747	950	2697	797	64.78%	35.22%	29.55%
Brighton Twp	5585	1827	7412	3758	75.35%	24.65%	50.70%
Genoa Twp	5692	1806	7498	3886	75.91%	24.09%	51.83%
Green Oak Twp	4603	1888	6491	2715	70.91%	29.09%	41.83%
Hamburg Twp			0	0	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!
Putnam Twp			0	0	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!
Total	17627	6471	24098	11156	73.15%	26.85%	46.29%

Livingston County Candidate Forum, September 23, 8AM

The Argus had this on their website:

Candidates for the 47th and 66th district seas in the Michigan House of Representatives will take part in a candidate forum on Sept. 23 at 8 am at the Livingston Regional M-TEC in Howell.

They incorrectly have the wrong website for the sponsors. It's http://www.thecenterformichigan.net

SEPTEMBER 23: TOWN HALL FORUM

Brighton, Fowlerville, Howell

8 a.m.

Livingston Regional M-TEC, 1240 Packard Drive, Howell

47th-66th State House District Candidates Donna Anderson, Cindy Denby, Scott Lucas, Bill Rogers

I'm not a fan of the polticial stance from the Center for Michigan and their push for the constitutional convention, but I'll give them kudos for setting this up. Tuesdays are usually a bad day for me, but if I can make it I will. I've never seen Scott Lucas in action, and I think Anderson v Rogers is an interesting matchup.

IMO, the more forums and debates, the better, as long as the questions are good and issues based, and not the crap being spewed by the New York/DC media the last few days.

Livingston County Election Developments

There are several stories in the Argus on this. First off, the Argus endorsed Bill Rogers and Donna Anderson in their primaries for the 66th District, and Cindy Denby in the 47th. Joe Hune also wrote a letter to the editor showing his support for Cindy, which is a break from his usual policy of not endorsing anybody in primary races. While it is not a shocker considering how long Cindy worked for Joe, it is significant as one of his opponents, Carl Konopaska, also mentioned that he interned at Joe's office.

The other shows the campaign finance race. Some of the candidates are going back and forth on this.

Aberasturi criticized Denby for accepting so much PAC money.

"I think that she's going to be needing to follow what the PACs ask her to do if she gets elected because she's accepting all their money," said Aberasturi, who ponied up $5,000 of his own money in his campaign. " I won't have any PACs I plan to follow. I think it's a waste ... to have spent all that money on mailings and stuff like that."

Denby rebuked the claims that she would "follow" PACs if elected, noting she has memberships with several organizations that donated to her campaign.

"No vote is for sale, and, at the end of the day, my approach to when I vote is what's best locally, for the community," Denby said. "At the state level, it would be first what is best for our district and, secondly, what is best for the state of Michigan."

The district covers Fowlerville, Howell, Pinckney and the townships of Hartland, Tyrone, Deerfield, Cohoctah, Conway, Handy, Howell, Iosco, Unadilla, Putnam and Hamburg.

Portelli defended the seriousness of what he called his "bare-bones campaign."

"I have campaigned — I have talked to as many people as I could," Portelli said. "Spending a lot of money on postcards and marketing, I've found to be quiet ineffective in the past, for business purposes."

Konopaska could not be reached for comment.

The words "Political Action Committee" (PAC) and "special interests" gets tossed around like it is a bad thing. They are very misunderstood by much of the public. Whether it is a good thing or a bad thing is dependent on every person's interest. A PAC is nothing more than a group of citizens which support an issue unite to get involved with the goal of electing candidates. PACs are also hard money and tightly regulated and in Michigan, have to submit reports if they raise $1000 or more. I've worked with PACs for years. The implication by some is that PAC's write a check to a candidate in order to get their vote. That is not the case in the PACs I've worked with. The PACs I've worked with want to support the candidates who already have those views. The one I'm now with doesn't write checks to candidates, nor did the last one I worked with. Those PACs educate voters and supporters about the stances of the candidates and need a PAC in order to endorse candidates. 2nd Amendment groups have PACS. Pro-Abortion and Pro-life groups have PACs. Taxpayers groups have PACS. Business and Labor have PACS.

Do I think Cindy will follow Farm Bureau? No. I think she agrees with much of Farm Bureau and is supported because of that. Same goes for Builders and Contractors and the Restaurant Organization (Smoking bill?). One candidate for rep in Farmington Hills, Richard Lerner, has a long list of PAC Surveys and questionaires and you can see most of the questions. He's not a fan of PAC's and ratted out those who sent him a survey by posting the questions. It's a good read and you can find where they stand on a lot of issues.

Speaking of campaign finance, the secretary of state's reports are out. In the 47th, Frank Portelli and Carl Konopaska are running low-budget campaigns and disclosed their reports despite being under the waiver wire (if chosen). Don't laugh at them, Joe Hune did not spend much money either, and neither do the Concerned Taxpayer's Group. Charlie Aberasturi (he's also treasurer) needs to get his report in unless it was sent in the mail and postmarked on time. The Democrat Scott Lucas and his treasurer also does not have his pre-primary. He may not have opposition in the primary, but his name is on the ballot and he is up for election in August as his name is on the ballot. He did not click the waiver wire. These are preventable mistakes where candidates hurt themselves for no good reason. Hopefully for both of them, it was sent in. If not, the fine clock is ticking.

On the 66th Race, from the Argus

Republicans Bill Rogers raised more than $27,000, and Jason Corosanite amassed almost $18,000 total. One-third of Rogers' money came from PACs, with the biggest contributions — $2,500 — coming from each the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers and Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

Corosanite accepted no PAC money and said one can tell where a candidate's "loyalties are going to be" by the amount of such contributions.

Rogers refuted that claim, stating it's necessary to run a campaign and that Corosanite shouldn't complain since he is with the Michigan Association of Chiropractors.

"What's interesting is his focus, from what I've heard before with his experience in Lansing is working with his PAC — his chiropractor PAC — so I guess I'm a little confused with why PACs are so bad if he works with one."

Corosanite said he serves in an advocacy position with his association and neither accepts funds from nor donates to the political action committee.

"If anything, it's been eye-opening for me to see everything that's going on," Corosanite said.

"I catch a lot of grief because I don't contribute to their PAC."

Jason's right, and so is Bill. You can often tell loyalties by PAC contributions or endorsements. Not always, but it is a good indicator. The State Chamber contribution shows that Bill likely won't vote for a tax increase. A look at Jason's campaign report shows a lot of contributions, almost exclusively from chriopractors (which he is). That isn't a PAC, but really not much different that support from the "Chriopractors PAC."

Donna Anderson (also treasurer) needs to get her report in if it wasn't mailed in already. She hasn't filed and did not click the waiver wire. Tom Crawford clicked the waiver wire. Bill and Jason's reports are in.

Maybe the reports are in for Aberasturi, Lucan, and Anderson, but if they are, why make it look bad when they are not on the Sec of State site after the due date? It looks sloppy and looks like they aren't in. If they aren't in, then they got fines to pay.

UPDATE - Aberasturi turned in his report on time with a day to spare. It just was not posted on the secretary of state site. Apologies to Aberasturi for implying that he didn't turn it in.

Report on Argus Candidate Forum for State House candidates

I was at the 47th and 66th District candidate forum put on by the Argus. All candidates in the 47th PRIMARY were there. Scott Lucas and Phillip Johnson were not there. Lucas is the only democrat running and Phillip Johnson is the US Taxpayers (Constitution Party in most states) candidate. In the 66th District, both the democrats and the Republicans had a primary. All of the Republicans show up. That wasn’t true with the democrats. Donna Anderson was there, but one of the first notable things there was an empty chair to the right on the 66th side. Tom Crawford, a candidate, no showed. I talked to one of the prominent democrats in the county and asked her “Who’s Tom Crawford?” She didn’t know. That’s the great mystery of this campaign right now. I never heard of him, and on his website’s guestbook, it’s clear other democrats didn’t know either. That primary should be a route, and I expect to see Donna Anderson as the democrat’s nominee.

Like the other event, I tried to keep things as verbatim as possible, limited by my typing speed. The Argus has most of this on video at their website – http://www.livingstondaily.com


One thing I was most impressed with was that Bill Rogers mentioned a five year plan. He talked to me about that on several occasions before one on one, but it is the first time I heard him really mention that in public. Lansing doesn’t budget property. I think the stem cell question was dumb since it is out of the legislature’s hands. The smoking question shows who supports the right of property owners and those who supported bigger government. The rest were the economy related for the most part as that's the big issue. There isn’t a LOT of differences (mostly emphasis over ideology) , except with Donna Anderson, which you’d expect since she’s a democrat.

(Seated left to right)
47th – Charlie Aberstauri, Cindy Denby, Carl Konopaska, Frank Portelli (GOP primary)
Winner faces Scott Lucas (Dem) and Phillip Johnson (US Taxpayers/Constitution) who weren’t there because they do not have a primary.
66th – Donna Anderson, Jason Corosanite, Bill Rogers, empty seat (Tom Crawford is not here). (Both party primaries)

Opening Statement.

Charlie – Married 19 years, children attend Hartland. God has been good to me, and I’ve attempted to give back to the community. Lansing needs leg with experience to solve problems and education to understand them. 33 years experience TRW, EMU MBA and facalty. 11 years hartland school board. CCD teacher. Tells TRW Story about being one of 7 to walk into an empty building and how that is one of the largest employers in the county. He wants to apply what he learned so more people have jobs.

Cindy – Pro-life conservative republican. Lifelong county resident. Married 32 years. Legislative aid for Joe Hune. Handled constituent matters, worked with other reps. immediately can address concerns while others find way around Lansing. Takes a conservative approach to budgets. Can work with neighboring municipalities. Economic climate is issue number one. Taxes and fees not answers. Endorsed by Hune, Ward, Green. Website is Cindydenby.com

Carl – Grad of Howell High 99, married 3 years, 2 degrees at LCC (General assoc, lib arts), pursuing education at EMU. Put himself through college 2 years as carpenter, 5 years heating/cooling. Roots in community. Good leader in Lansing. Youth will help be able to work with younger people. Sub teacher and what he sees is disheartening. The future is kids. Look at website to see ideas to help economic problems.

Frank – Resident of Hartland/Deerfield/tyrone 12 years. Married 16 years. Hartland School. Builder, Small time farmer. 20 years in ops management. Do things better, faster, cheaper. 6 years in auto industry. Launched plants and hired a lot of people. 41 yrs old. Mix of public/private experience. Dealt with municipalities. Lansing is not dealing with priority issues. Endorsed by Right to Life and Citizens for Traditional Values.

Donna – Running because I love state of Michigan, children, grandchildren. Good paying jobs, best education possible, clean environment, affordable health care. 7 years experience as teacher, 25 years business - Overture. Have integrity and not out to build prosperous career. Michigan first.

Jason – Values, faith, politics. First and foremost a Christrian. Life begins with conception. Parents need to educate the way they see fit among private, public, home school. Fiscal Conservative and return to Reagans low takes, less government, less spending. Started two businesses. Experience in biotech and IT field. Lansing experience as well. Had to deal with lobbyists there. Challenges everyone not to accept PAC money.

Bill Rogers – Leadership and Experience puts me above rest. Graduated from Howell and Michigan State. Owns building company. 10 years experience as Board of Commissioners, current chair. Vote August 5.

Q1. – Economy in trouble. What can state do to improve economy?

Cindy - Economy number one agenda. Would like to bring back 1980’s program. Marketing state/local companies – share information with sites ready for development. Discretionary funds. No taxing businesses, and encourage to keep states here. Tax incentives – Abatement works well.

Carl – Invest in 21st century ides people are skeptical about. Factory knowedge to geothermal plants, wind turbines, 2nd best in country for that, give a little incentive to employers. Middle class forgotten. Keep them here, and bring more people here for more tax revenue. No need to raise taxes or think way outside box. These are easy ideas.

Frank – Economy number one on most agenda. Problem is legislature divided unable to move agenda forward. Partisanship problem. Restructure the legislature. Structural problems. Fire – but noone saying get out of the house. Getting things done priority. 3000 tool/die shops. Manufacturing good future in Michigan, but state needs to get out of the way. Small businesses are the main economy. Amazing what happens with Tax breaks (look at movie filming). Cut spending/taxes.

Donna – True we lost jobs, but had some success bringing jobs to Michigan. Glad someone talking about alternative fues. Solar/wind. Bill in House passed, stalled in senate to address that. Cleaning up environment and educating kids, and tax credits, but encourageing – low cost loans. Microloans help in 3rd world as example. Health care off back of employers will help – attractive to entrepreneurs.

Jason – New jobs. Low taxes, less government. Highest unenmployment. 14th highest tax burden in country. Do something about it. MBT and surcharge – need to repeal 22% surcharge. High regulatory – costs and red tape with permits. Streamline. Hostile labor environment. VW to Tennessee, and GM losing job. Right to Work needed. 22 other states have it. Cost of living lower on other states.

Bill – Economy and jobs. Entitlement state and need to get over it. Manufacturing thriving in South, but tax abatement for movie. 13 new movings. Not asking for handout but why am I lowly business in state (referring to tax rates and regulations outside the state). Do have problems with MBT, regulation and govt spending. Spending problem. Government needs to get out of the way. Structural problem in Michigan that other states don’t have. Best signs on borders (Indiana/Ohio). Welcoming small business town. South – larger business. Why can’t we see that. Manufacuting won’t come back if we don’t wake up.
Charlie – State must learn from my TRW experience. Reduce burdensome regulation. Govt must walk side by side or follow, not lead business. Govt does not know what business needs. Government ideas usually don’t help outside of enriching PAC donors. Govt Must learn to be bi-partisan. Must work with rep/dem together. Think out of box. Work to come up with new solutions. Livingston donor county. Bring state funding to schools/roads.

Q2 – Petition drive easy stem cell research. Support/Oppose.

Carl – As pro-life, against stem cell research through embryos. Treatments possible out of embilical cords and spinal embryos. Can not support this.

Frank – ESCR contrary to life begins at conception. 13wks Can not arbitrary make that . Decision. Slippery slope. Unfortunately legislature wrestles with this question as wedge issue. Political hot potato and does not get job done.

Donna – It will go forward and must go forward. Can do certain research with adult and embilitcal. People need to understand where they come from. IV clinics. 40 embroyos created there. Couble may use 3-456. What to do? May give over to research. If not that, medical waste. Would you like to help juvi diabeties, and parkinsons. Losing jobs because of this. We need to go on with this at research at UM.

Jason – Pro-life Christian. All life needs to be protected at any state. Proponents say that it is a great hope. Truth is that 0 procedures created because of this. 0 procedures. BUT 70 in effect with adult stem cells. Numbers don’t add up. Not as much hope as might believe. UM ALREADY using them with existing lines. Core blood stem cell bank used. MI can be leader by promoting this.

Bill – Answer is no. Research is conducted, and has been conducted and defer to comments my opponent (Jason) has made. Talking to researches and medical folks, they are necessary supportive of this research. Unnecessary and will vote no.

Charlie – No surprise I’m against this also. Adult stem cell proven to find cures. No reason to kill person to guess that we may have cure. In 40’s, concentration camps. History will look at this same way. Life doesn’t begin at conception, then when? If conception, we are killing them.

Cindy – I’m also opposed. Unfortunate issue brought up time and time again.

Q3 – Reforms for legislature proposed over years. Do you support any?

Frank – Supported term limits, but proven ineffective. Broken legislature crippled state. Unable to move forward. Part time good idea. Less time focuses legislature on agenda. Can’t be kicked around. Budget in May – set in May, not October with haggling. Pay reduction good idea – small drop though. Part time reduced hundreds of laws and saves millions of dollars.

Donna – Term limits did not serve state well. Reduces knowledge. We have term limits. They are called elections. Part time? Not sure. Might be good, but part-time or not will work. Reduce pay? No problem. Will give 5% to state with defecits. Legislature gets a lot of bennies that we don’t have at regular people. Lifetime health care at 55+= nice package.

Jason – Extend term limits, not sure with abolishing. Time frame does not allow experience for relationships. Start cutting budget – cut pay 5% if not more. Work towards part-time. 39 states have it. Addicted to full time. Uses doctor strike/example in Europe. Ridiculous lifetime benefits with 6 years. Should get nothing, make it 20/more.

Bill – Term limits – I admit making a mistake (voting for it). Tactical error. Part time – do not believe in. Voting is part time legislative body. People need to do their job (vote). Only way to consider is have to be cautious of special interest – could eliminate businessmen. Look at Right to work. Staffers will still be there. Toss out the bad ones and don’t throw others out of the bus.

Charlie – Part time just reduces those who can participate. Only felxicable, wealthy, and retired could be on legislature. 9-5 can not participate. I couldn’t do it since I’m not wealthy. Reduce pay for no-shows. Term limits abolished. Legislation brought in to reduce benefits – they should be similar to others. Legacy costs. (GM example get rid of) Current AND past legislators.

Cindy – Understand the support of them then. Now, doesn’t work well. Should be 14 years, and apply to bost house/senate. Can support part-time, bt what does part time mean? Still staff full time? Needs place to call to get assistance. As far as pay – adjusted several times. Have made some reductions.

Carl – Last summer intern for Hune. Some insight on how it worked. Blown away. Right now we have part time since they work fewer as school teacher (not against that as I am). Michigan 2nd highest pay behind California and with the cost of living difference, could be number one - Michigan too high. Reduce staff in offices. As far as that goes, leaning towards it. Show people Lansing will cut selves.

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Q4 – Will you support workplace smoking including bars, rest, casinos.

Donna – Yes, I support ban in all public places including those. Reason – We have a lot of laws that protect health. I expect dishes washed at proper temp. Expect fresh food, no poison. In casino – like to be able to spend $25 on slots without health. Why do we have right to these laws and not clean air in these places? Ok, just let owners decide, if not patronize business. If like me, I don’t patronize. No reason why any public buildings or others. We aren’t doing it? I don’t know.

Jason – As doctor, health important to us, and smoking is bad. We have strict regulations, and it is up to business/public to decide. Don’t have to force people. Against te ban.

Bill – As SBO, opposed to adding another unfunded mandate. I do have office with non smoking sign. my prerogative, your prerogative to attend these functions. If enough of you decided, people change. Many play converted to non-smoking. How does state balance budget? Tobacco fund! (pointing out hypocracy) Don’t play around. Go after culprit. Instead, we balance budget with it.

Charlie – Everyone’s lungs important. Personal.. 7 weeks in respiratory unit from legionaries disease. Smoking should be banned where people are forced to attend. Government, education, and job reasons. Opposed in businesses. Govt needs to stay out of regulations. Let businesses decide.

Cindy – Businesses in Michigan pay taxes and follow regulations. This is just one more. Biz owners should decide smoke free. I’m not smoker, but don’t impose on those who own business.

Carl – Agree with most of what I’m hearing. Red tape bureaucracy and telling business. McDonalds with kids, yes. Bennigans/Applebees no. Choice of biz owner.

Frank – Clean air and health important. Smoking is bad. It says on package. People do it by choice. For state to tell business is mistake. Market should decide. Ban fries, music, planes, and other things not good for public health. Must draw line where govt. People choose to go to bar, restaurant, casinos Windsor/Detroit. Patronizing business is choice. Mandates – mistake. Always loophole.
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Q5 – Last Question – School Funding.

Jason – My kids are in Howell schools so it is important. Our district not funded equal. Up to legislature to make sure we get same amount as others. 2x funding not far enough. Need parity. Apart from that, it’s tough right now. 1% increase. Schools need to better job consolidating, reducing costs, etc. They need to tighten up. Do they need more money? More in our district to bring up to statewide level. Last thing that should be cut, but need to live within means.

Bill – Equitable funding critical. Tragic kids are inferior dollar/cents to other. 2x is start. Work towards stabling funding. We need to come up with new ideas. Funds need to go to classrooms. 8k-12k – I don’t have magic number. Not 12K, and never will believe it, but disparency needs to be tightened up. Can’t answer specific number, but equitable funding.

Charlie – Been on board 11 years, and paper highlights fiscal policy in positive lights. New contract with less turmoil. Somehow our district figured it out. State says with finding that we are 7/8 of a person. Legislature let us down and it is not fair. We need to stand up and push to make sure we get our fair share.

Cindy – Need to work towards equitable funding. Limited funds. 2x step in right direction, but bandaid. Bill introduced to funds from charter school students who take class or two at public. Reform funding. Not good enough right now. Use money wisely, work towards equal funding, econ development, state aid fund. Approved by house. $110 more per student. Big issue for several years.

Carl – Difference between County and eastern district. $7200-12K. Money out there, but need to look at district and what it needs. Howell 130 Sq miles and 7,000 students, and bus them everywhere compared to City with fewer area, fewer busses, and more money. Need to plan before throwing money at problem and fixing it. 2x, not going to show how each district on money. Band-aid

Frank – Is funding enough? Not sure. Need to line item. Can’t do that unless FOIA we right now. Transparency will help as we will know how it is being spent. Educational is a profitable business for a lot of suppliers. $7800 a lot, not compared to other district. Hard to say what gets to classroom. We have failure districts, state needs to take action. State Prison budget is where to look at education dollars. $10000 per inmate more than other state.s

Donna – Equitable funding important. Unfortunately Prop A – richer districts had head start and maintained by held harmless. More money at same time does not ever catch up. 2x – 10 years to catch up. Like to see more money go for education one way or the other. Agree with Portelli is to look at prison budget. $30-35k to lock someone up, but can’t fund schools.

Closing Statements.

Bill – Honesty, integrity, common sense, safety welfare residents, fiscal responsibility, balance budget, come from county government as chair that has accomplished the above. Taught to be part of the solution, not problem. Strong desire to bring this to state level which needs help. Top 5 bond rating in state. Only AAA is Oakland, we’ll get them. Lowest millage rate – here – and proud of it. We reduced budget by 5%. Reduction in dept – because we have a five year plan, a novel approach. Detroit schools is the example of what not to be like.

Charlie – Lead manager which got 1000 jobs in Livco. Worked with billion dollar budgets. Earned MBA. Finance gut on Hartland board. Supported youth as coach. In church, served 3 pastors. 15 years CCD. Skills to help Livingston county get fair share. Succeeded in business, education, politics, serving youth, and church.

Cindy – Experience and Knowledge. Worked on legislative issues. Localgovernment experience. Economic development. www.cindydenby.com.

Carl – Christrian, conservative, pro-life, and working class. Education system must be best. Someone paid for me/you to go to school. Why should future be less? Issues not mentioned. Veterans. They do not get enough recognition and need help funding jobs.

Frank – People say all pols are crooked. Not at all the case. Most are good people. Not fun campaigning, but legislature becomes ineffective. Structural problems holding people back. Moved to Livingston County since it is a great place to raise family. Hartland schools great district. State level – floundering. Needs to set agenda, and sticking to it. Revolving door at term limits. No personal relationships to reach out to other areas. Common sense. Strength is continue to plow forward against brick walls until plowed over. Frankforrep.com

Donna – Hope today and bright tomorrow. People resources to fulfill needs. Stop Canadian trash. Stop polluting. Fund early child education. Provide health care. Tired of Michigan critics. MI will turn on lights city on hill. Glittering diamond in lakes.

Jason – Addressed a lot of issues. Promise to be more available and accountable elected official. I do believe we need to change atmosphere in Lansing. 6 years for life benefits is ridiculous (life benefits) Pay for actual days work. Shows who committed to the state.

Informed voters are the best voters

Informed voters are the best voters, and here are two events to help voters be more informed in their decisions.

The first is run by the TAR's (Teenage Republicans). This is July 11th. It's a candidate forum for candidates from the 47th and 66th district. Confirmed candidates there are Charlie Aberasturi, Cindy Denby, and Frank Portelli in the 47th District, and Bill Rogers and Jason Corosanite from the 66th District.

Admission is $5. The money goes to a non political account.

The event is at the Michigan Group Building
6870 Grand River Ave. (Between Hughes/Door Roads and Hacker Road)
Brighton, MI 48114

The other event is on July 17th and run by the Pinckney area Chamber of Commerce. They will have a meet the candidates event as well. That is at 6 p.m. July 17 and will be at Hamburg Township Hall which is at 10405 Merrill Road, South of M-36. I do not know which candidates will be there, but I'm sure the Hamburg candidates will be.

Another candidate in the 66th?

The Democrats had their county event with UAW boss Ron Gettelfinger. Did they have the illegal 50-50 drawing there? I didn't want to pay $60 to find out. If they did and if anyone has a picture, let me know.

There was an interesting blurb from the Ann Arbor news at the end of the article.

Anderson is the Democratic candidate for the 66th District state House, a seat being vacated by Republican Chris Ward because of term limitations.
"The most important thing is the Michigan economy,'' Anderson said. "We need jobs and job training. We have to consider all the people of Michigan.''

The Anderson mentioned would be Donna Anderson, who ran against Valde Garcia in 2004. That election was the closest of the three district based state races in Livingston County, but most of that was due to narrow losses in parts of Ingham and Shiawassee County, also in that district. Valde won the Livingston portion by 18,000 votes and took every precinct, including the five/six or so that often go for a democrat. Now, keep in the mind that this will be an open district this year. I do take all races seriously. No district is truely safe, although I don't think we'll lose this one unless we God forbid get a Don Sherwood type of situation which I don't expect at all from Bill or Jason.

I did catch Anderson in a debate back in 06. She is very liberal and out of the mainstream on most issues in this county. However, she has one thing I think that is going for her and that is that she did not give a lot of what I call politispeak (or double talk, smoke and mirrors). That is something I do respect.

Another candidate has filed earlier, Tommy Crawford. There probably will be a primary then in both parties for this seat. They are rare among the democrats around here, but do happen. There was one for a county commission seat in 06 and for the open special election for what was Mike Rogers then state senate district eventually won by Valde Garcia.

Jason Corosanite and Bill Rogers are both filed on the GOP site for this district. This will be the first primary race of any sort in the 66th since Judie Scranton edged Steve Williams in the 2000 primary. That primary was based more on social issues. I expect this one to be more on economic issues, but we'll see.

State House Preview - Livingston County

Recently we had the big announcements of Steve Williams dropping out of the race with Bill Rogers jumping in. That leads to this.

Our two state house seats will be open. Chris Ward and Joe Hune are term limited out. Valde Garcia in the state senate is also term limited out, but state senate seats are only open in gubenatorial election years.

The 47th District is Joe Hune's district. The 66th District is Chris Ward's district. The 47th has been competitive in the past during the primary while the 66th has not had a primary under its current boundaries (02-onward). Joe won by 2 votes in the 02 primary.

Some nickname the 47th the "Howell" district and the 66th the "Brighton" district, but it's not that simple. Some with Brighton addresses live in the 47th and a lot of people with Howell addresses live in the 66th. That's due the rather crazy shape of the districts. The 47th is shaped almost like a "C" with the rest of the county in the 66th District.

In the 47th we have:
Conway Township (North of Fowlerville)
Handy Township (including Fowlerville)
Iosco Township (between Fowlerville and Gregory)
Conhoctah Township (between Howell and Byron)
Howell Township
City of Howell
Unadilla Township (including Gregory)
Putnam Township (including Pinckney and Hell)
Hamburg Township (all of it - Brighton, Lakeland, Pinckney, and Hamburg portions)
Tyrone Township (near Fenton)
Deerfield Township (near Argentine)
and Hartland Township

In the 66th we have
City of Brighton
Brighton Township
Green Oak Township (Between Brighton and South Lyon)
Genoa Township (Between Howell and Brighton)
Marion Township (Between Howell and Pinckney)
and Oceola Township (Between Howell and Hartland)
The 66th also covers Milford Township in Oakland County

From a partisan standpoint, both districts have some competitive areas (Putnam Twp, Unadilla, City of Brighton, City of Howell, a couple of precincts in Hamburg and Green Oak) but are solidly republican districts. Bush won over 60% in both of them. The real competition is in the primary barring a Don Sherwood style of disaster.

In the 47th, there is mostly rumors. I think the frontrunner, if she runs, would be Cindy Denby. Cindy is the Handy Township supervisor. She's also Joe Hune's Chief of Staff up in Lansing. The reason I'd consider her the frontrunner (if she runs) is because of the experience factor, geography factor, and the fact that Joe's been a solid less government conservative. Joe didn't vote for either the tax increases, tax shifts, or the fee increases when 15 republicans including a former speaker caved to Granholm. As far as the geography factor, that worked to Joe's advantage. The Fowlerville candidate had an extremely high turnout, great organization, and got 3-1+ margins in his area - and he wasn't the only candidate to campaign out there. Joe then did well enough in Hamburg and Putnam to win.

I've heard for a couple of years that that county commissioners Don Parker and Dave Domas are considering a run. Both candidates have won tough primaries in the past and can not be counted out. Domas also was a state rep candidate in 02. If they run, I expect them to be serious candidates.

In the 66th, we have two public announcements so far. County commissioner and businessman Bill Rogers (Mike's Brother) and Chiropractor and businessman Jason Corosanite. Bill Rogers has only been in one semi-competitive race from which I can remember. That was in 02 against Democrat Irene Cahill. The final numbers wern't close, but Cahill worked hard enough to place a scare in some GOP circles. I doubt Bill forgot that, and I don't expect him to take the primary lightly. As this is my district, I'm looking to see what Bill and Jason plan on doing if they are elected. I'm particulary interested in their tax views and budgetary reforms. I've heard rumors of one, maybe two more candidates considering a run there.

Assuming Bill Rogers stays in, that also opens up a county commissioner seat, District 7. I've heard a rumor of a well known individual who might run, but I haven't confirmed one way or the other. District 7, Bill's current district, covers all of the City of Brighton, Southeastern Genoa Township (Brighton area), and Northwestern Genoa Township (Howell area). While the city of Brighton can be competitive, the parts of Genoa in this district are some of the most republican areas in the country (70%+), let alone county.

The only way I see any of these three seats being competitive outside of the party is if the candidates turn out to be real bums. I don't take anything for granted, as incumbent Don Sherwood lost a 60% Bush district by 6% due to being a piece of trash.

Another candidate announces for 66th District

Jason Corosanite is the second candidate to formally announce. Steve Williams was the first, although I'm not sure if Steve will be running.

From the Argus:

Jason Corosanite, a 32-year-
old chiropractor living in Genoa Township, made the rounds at Tuesday's annual Republican dinner promoting his candidacy for the seat.

In an interview Wednesday, he said some of his main issues are reducing the tax and regulatory burden, turning Michigan into a right-to-work state and eliminating mandatory union membership, and taking measures to lower the number of abortions in the state by promoting adoption.

"I'm kind of fed up with the situation in the economy," he said. "And our family values need to be protected."

I met Jason a couple of times. He seems like a nice guy. He has a business background which is sorely lacking in today's government. He's said the right things so far at the GOP meetings, but I'm interested to see some of the details in his plans as the campaign goes on.

The economy certainly has a bad back. Will a chiropractor be the answer for it? I'm waiting and seeing.

First announced candidate for one of Livingston County's state house seats

From the Argus

County Commissioner Steve Williams announced his candidacy for the state House of Representatives on Friday.

Williams, who represents Putnam Township and parts of Marion, Genoa and Hamburg townships on the county board, will run in 2008 for the seat in Lansing currently held by Rep. Chris Ward, R-Brighton. Ward won't be able to run again because of term limits.

Williams ran for the seat in 2002, but dropped out in the primary because he was mobilized into the armed forces.

He emphasized his ability to solve problems and work together with other lawmakers.

"I'm a conservative, pro-life, pro-defense, pro-Second Amendment candidate," he said. "But I recognize there is a need for services."

This is an open seat and also my district (66th). This district covers most of the Brighton area and two 1/2 municipalities of the Howell Area. Brighton City/Township, Green Oak, Genoa Township, Marion Township (Steve's home), and Oceola Township. The rest of the county is in Joe Hune's district (47th), which is also an open seat in 2008. Milford Township in Oakland County is also in the 66th District. There are plenty of rumored candidates for both districts, and Steve was one of the most mentioned.

Steve's a strong candidate and made a smart decision by announcing this early. He nearly beat then-incumbent Judie Scranton back in 2000 almost solely on the life issue. He ran again for 2002, but dropped out after 9/11 as he was a reservist called up for active duty. He has a track record and has walked the walk on the 2nd Amendment and life issues.

Steve's a good guy, although I am not making any endorsements for this race at this time. He's one candidate I will consider voting for when the time comes. However, the primary is still 15 months away and I'd like to see who else is running before jumping into the fire.