20th Senate District Update

The 20th district state senate race in Kalamazoo County and a small part of Van Buren promises one of the most interesting primary races in Michigan. The district is being vacated by Senator Tom George due to term limits.

Rep. Larry DeShazor fifth to seek George's Michigan Senate seat

About a week ago, state Rep. Larry Deshazor announced that he will seek the seat. He joins Rep. Tonya Scuitmaker and former Rep. Lorence Wenke, who have been running for several months. Deshazor was first elected to his current seat in 2008. His announcement surprised many local political observers.

The three candidates represent three distinct geographic areas. Ideologically, they are all somewhere between moderate and conservative, so it will be interesting to see how they position themselves.

Deshazor has allied himself with the Yob faction of the party. John Yob recently sent out a poll that his firm conducted on the race.

20th State Senate District:
Sample size 334
Larry DeShazor 180 53.89%
Tonya Schuitmaker 81 24.25%
Lorence Wenke 73 21.86%

Candidate polls should always be taken with a grain of salt. This poll is suspicious for several other reasons. The sample size is very small; 500 is considered the minimum for a respectable poll. The poll claims to survey "likely Republican Primary voters", but doesn't say how this is determined. It doesn't break down the results by state house district, which is particularly important in this race. It also did not allow for voters to say that they are undecided.

Still, it isn't surprising that Deshazor would have a lead based on name recognition. It remains to be seen how a campaign will play out.

This blog will have more in-depth coverage of this race at a later date.