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Adam Ford
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Go Patsy!!! lol
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060716/POLITICS/607160310/1022
Senate candidates vie for six seats opened by term limits
David Eggert / Associated Press
Key primary races in state Senate
State Senate districts that have key primary races:
DISTRICT 5
Democrats: Janet Badalow, Dearborn Heights; former state Rep. Derrick Hale, Detroit; Rep. Tupac Hunter, Detroit; former Rep. Triette Reeves, Detroit
DISTRICT 13
Republicans: State Rep. Shelley Goodman Taub, Bloomfield Hills; former Rep. John Pappageorge, Troy; Elizabeth Woolcock, Royal Oak
DISTRICT 27
Democrats: Former state Rep. Floyd Clack, Flint; former state Rep. Candace Curtis, Swartz Creek; Rep. John Gleason, Flushing; former Rep. Jack Minor, Flint; Patsy Lou Williamson, Flint; Carolyn Yuille, Lennon
Republicans: Adam Ford, Flint; Bob Longlois, Linden
DISTRICT 28
Republicans: Scott Harvey, Belmont; former state Rep. Mark Jansen, Grand Rapids; former Rep. James Koetje, Grandville; former Rep. Joanne Voorhees, Wyoming
DISTRICT 32
Democrats: Dave Adams, St. Charles; Aaron Dodak, Burt; state Rep. Carl Williams, Saginaw
LANSING, Mich. -- Just six seats in the state Senate are open because of term limits, but the challengers fighting to fill them have big legacies to follow.
Term-limited senators include powerful Republicans -- Majority Leader Ken Sikkema and Appropriations Chairwoman Shirley Johnson -- along with GOP counterparts who oversee university funding and health policy. Democratic Minority Leader Bob Emerson also is leaving. So is Democrat Burton Leland, a veteran of the Legislature since 1981.
That leaves nearly 30 contenders trying to take their places.
Most of those running for the Senate seats are current or former state representatives who face their own six-year limits on service in the state House. Senators can serve two terms for a total of eight years.
First-term incumbents are seeking to hold onto the 32 remaining Senate seats not affected by term limits. Only seven of them, five Democrats and two Republicans, face challenges in the primary.
Because many Senate districts drawn by the GOP-controlled Legislature in 2001 aren't likely to swing between Republicans and Democrats, senators in many areas who win their primaries are basically assured of winning the general election.
For example, six Democrats are battling for Emerson's seat in Democratic-leaning Genesee County, and the winner is almost certain to defeat one of two Republicans in November. Four Republicans are running for Sikkema's solidly GOP seat in Kent County, with the winner of that race a virtual shoo-in for victory in November.
The primary could be crucial in swing districts, however, where voters may favor more moderate candidates in the general election. The biggest GOP race is the 13th Senate District in southeastern Oakland County, now held by Johnson.
The traditional GOP stronghold has been trending Democratic and could be key for Democrats trying to win back control of the Senate, where Republicans have held a majority since 1983.
GOP strategists favor former Republican state Rep. John Pappageorge to defeat current GOP Rep. Shelley Taub and another less-known candidate.
Pappageorge unsuccessfully ran for U.S. House three times in the 1990s before serving in the state House, and is thought to have more name recognition and a better chance of winning the November race against Democrat Andy Levin. Levin, though a newcomer to politics, has name recognition because he's the son of U.S. Rep. Sander Levin of Royal Oak and nephew of U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Detroit.
"Let's face it: A lot of races are won and lost based on name ID," said Ari Adler, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, who chairs the Senate Republican Campaign Committee.
One thing aiding Pappageorge is that when was in the state House, he represented an area that makes up more of the 13th District than Taub now serves, Adler said. That could help when voters step inside the voting booth, Adler added.
Another important race is the 32nd District in Saginaw and Gratiot counties, where Republican Mike Goschka has represented a Democratic-leaning area for nearly eight years but is leaving because of term limits. Three Democrats, including Rep. Carl Williams, will square off in August for a November run against Republican Rep. Roger Kahn.
"That's the big primary on our side," said Ken Brock, a Democratic strategist and chief of staff for Sen. Mark Schauer, head of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. "It sets up what will be a serious general election campaign as well."
The Democratic race should come down to Williams and Aaron Dodak, son of former House Speaker Lewis Dodak, whose legislative career ended when Goschka won Lewis Dodak's House seat in 1992. The district is probably a must-have if Democrats are to take enough seats to win a majority in the Senate.
Republicans now have a 22-16 edge.
Though many Republicans are openly backing one candidate, Pappageorge, in the Oakland County race, the Democratic Party isn't publicly taking sides in the 32nd, giving equal resources to Williams and Dodak.
The primary doesn't figure to be as crucial in other battleground districts targeted by both parties because the opponents already are set for November, or because heavy favorites don't face serious competition. |
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Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:54 am |
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Adam
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| lol You guys are funny. Who cares about important issues like jobs crime or education. Let's focus on how the guys name is spelled. Our district is a disaster and is getting worse. If you don't believe me open your eyes and start talking to young people who are trying to get jobs in our district. Not everybody can be a governement employee. With people who have real jobs moving away we won't be able to pay for things like an Ombudsman, police and teachers. |
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Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:51 pm |
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Biggie9
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quote:
Adam schreef:
lol You guys are funny. Who cares about important issues like jobs crime or education. Let's focus on how the guys name is spelled. Our district is a disaster and is getting worse. If you don't believe me open your eyes and start talking to young people who are trying to get jobs in our district. Not everybody can be a governement employee. With people who have real jobs moving away we won't be able to pay for things like an Ombudsman, police and teachers.
I hear you and believe you are 100% spot on Adam.
With an eroding tax base even government jobs will be scarcer than hen's teeth. There is a diminishing return on raising taxes in order to grow government or provide for more wealth re-distribution. Frankly, Michogan's economy is is such a dumper, I can't imagine what taxes anyone would want to raise in order to grow government without just the opposite effect. |
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Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:19 pm |
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