Upton Abuses Franking

Congressman Upton has sent out a mailing bragging about his A rating from the NRA. The mailing was paid for by the taxpayers.

Congressman Fred Upton's taxpayer-funded mailer highlighting NRA voting record draws criticism as waste

The practice of using taxpayer dollars to send out mail to a congressman's constituents is called franking. Some franking is genuine information, but a lot of it is campaign literature in disguise. They can't say "Vote for me!", but it has the same look and feel of campaign lit.

Franking may have had a legitimate purpose at one time, but there is no need for it in the age of email and the internet. It has long been one of the advantages that incumbents use to stay in office. Franking should be abolished.

By the way, Upton was hardly pro-gun in the 80s and 90s. He voted for the Brady Bill and responded to a survey saying he opposed concealed carry. Back then the NRA gave him a C. In 2002, Dale Shugars ran against Upton and received the NRA endorsement. Since then, Upton has voted pro-gun, but has never actively advocated gun rights.

UPDATE:
Democrat Mike O'Brien calls on Congressman Fred Upton to pay back money used for mailers promoting his 2nd Amendment record
Jack Hoogendyk questions Congressman Fred Upton's use of taxpayer money for mailers
Americans for Limited Government questions Congressman Fred Upton mailer in letter to House Ethics committee

2012 May Michigan Republican Convention

Republican Michigander gives a good summary:

2012 May Michigan Republican Convention

State rep. Dave Agema, who often vied for the title of the most conservative member of the state house, defeated Saul Anuzis to be national committeeman. Agema had significant Tea Party support. He also was supported by the Yob faction of the state GOP, which has long battled with Saul. They seek to control the GOP apparatus for their own ends. For example, see:

Political Extortion

Saul has done both good and bad things over the years. Hopefully he can put his talents to work for the Romney campaign.

Former Secretary of State Terri Land defeated state rep. Holly Hughes for national committeewoman. Both have fairly moderate records.

Ron Paul reportedly won 6-8 delegates, with Romney winning the rest. In the 6th district, the Romney slate won rather easily, though there are claims that one of the members of that slate is a Paul delegate.

Paul backers pick up delegate slots to GOP convention; negate Romney sweep

"This is fantastic," de Angeli said. He counts Paul backers earning voting delegate slots in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 9th Congressional districts. In the 6th District, which includes southwest Michigan: "They didn't realize the slate they elected had a Ron Paul supporter," de Angeli said. "Oops."

State party rules kept some Paul supporters out of this weekend's state convention because of preference shown to precinct delegates elected in 2010, de Angeli said.

"If we can win delegates out of Michigan, we can win delegates anywhere," he said.

Saul Anuzis, Michigan's Republican National Committeeman who lost his bid for re-election Saturday to state Rep. Dave Agema, disputes Paul picked up a delegate in the 6th District believing the total Paul count is six delegates.

2012 Kalamazoo County Commission Election Preview

This post was last updated August 8, 2012.

Republicans won a 10-7 majority on the Kalamazoo County Commission in 2010. Redistricting will shrink the commission to 11 seats, changing the district boundaries. The new map is likely to yield a 7-4 Republican majority. Incumbents are marked below with asterisks. The following post has detailed descriptions of the districts and their political leanings.

Kalamazoo County Commission Districts.


District 1 [N Kalamazoo] Safe Democrat
Democrats: Carolyn Alford*
Republicans: Al Thompson
Incumbents Alford defeated fellow incumbent Barnard and newcomer Worden in the minority-majority district. Alford has held office since 2006, Barnard since 2002.

District 2 [SE Kalamazoo] Safe Democrat
Democrats: David Buskirk*
Republicans: none
Jack Urban deferred to fellow incumbent David Buskirk, who is unopposed. Buskirk is the board vice-chairman and has had this seat since 1992.

District 3 [SW Kalamazoo] Safe Democrat
Democrats: John Taylor*
Republicans: Tony Dugal
Taylor, who was first elected in 2002 by 13 votes, is safe here.

District 4 [Kalamazoo Twp, Parchment] Safe Democrat
Democrats: Michael Seals*
Republicans: Dennis Weber
Seals, who defeated fellow democrat Franklin Thompson in 2010, is safe.

District 5 [Alamo, N Oshtemo, NW Kalamazoo Twp] Leans Republican
Democrats: Julie Rogers
Republicans: David Worthams
This open seat is about 55% Republican. Both Worthams and Rogers have lost two previous close races, but did better than expected.

District 6 [Cooper, Richland, Ross] Safe Republican
Democrats: Tom Novak
Republicans: Jeff Heppler*
Heppler has been on the board since 2002. Pominville was appointed in 2012 to replace Deb Buchholtz, who resigned. Heppler defeated Pominville and newcomer Neal Turluck. Novak applied to the seat claiming to be an independent and received the votes of all the democrats.

District 7 [Comstock, Galesburg, Charleston, Climax, Wakeshma] Likely Republican
Democrats: Leroy Crabtree
Republicans: Roger Tuinier
Republican Ann Nieuwenhuis is running for Comstock Township Supervisor. Tuinier, who is a greenhouse owner, defeated Danielle Gray in the primary. Leroy Crabtree defeated Republican incumbent Joe VanBruggen 50.7-49.3 in 2006. He was defeated by Nieuwenhuis in 2008 54.5-45.5, and lost a rematch in 2010 61.9-38.1. The district adds four solidly Republican precincts.

District 8 [Pavillion, Brady, Schoolcraft, Prairie Ronde] Safe Republican
Democrats: none
Republicans: David Maturen*
Conservative John Gisler deferred to moderate board chairman David Maturen, who has been on the board since 2002.

District 9 [Texas, SE Oshtemo] Safe Republican
Democrats: Robert Kildea
Republicans: Brandt Iden*
Tim Rogowski deferred to Brandt Iden, who was elected in 2010. Rogowski is running for Texas Township Board.

District 10 [W Portage] Safe Republican
Democrats: Connor Farrell
Republicans: Phil Stinchcomb*
Conservative Republican Phil Stinchcomb defeated democrat Michael Quinn 56.4-43.6 in 2010. The district adds several Republican precincts. Stinchcomb defeated 21-year-old Charles Bogren in the primary.

District 11 [E Portage] Safe Republican
Democrats: Jamie Jager
Republicans: John Zull*
Zull has been on the board since 2000. Jager was nominated as a write-in.

Upton Opposes Export/Import Bank

Fred Upton voted against reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, which is essentially a vehicle for corporate welfare. This is interesting since most of the votes against were conservative Republicans, with establishment Republicans supporting it. The bill passed 330-93. What could be inclining Upton to vote conservative?

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 224

In Michigan, Amash, Huizinga, and Walberg also opposed the bill.

Mark Behnke Challenges Kate Segal

Mark Behnke, a former Mayor of Battle Creek, Calhoun County Commissioner, and current Battle Creek city commissioner will challenge democrat Kate Segal for the 62nd state house seat. The 62nd got more democrat in redistricting, adding Bedford. If any Republican can win it, it would be Behnke.

Mark Behnke challenges Kate Segal

Multiple Submission

The exact same letter from Chadwick Dillon was submitted to three different papers. The papers write the headlines, of course.

Upton addressing energy concerns with proactive measures (Letter)
Upton bullish on American energy
Upton: More American energy

As a WMU CR alum, I've learned quite a bit about the conservative movement and debating with the left. I've now taken that skill and now I'm contributing to Misfit Politics. If you'd like to see some of what I've been up to, head over here. Hopefully you'll be able to find some useful information when you run into a liberal.

Goodbye Lugar

Indiana Republicans tossed out longtime (36 year) senator Dick Lugar. Treasurer Richard Mourdock won by a huge 61%-39% margin. Lugar is an establishment Republican (ACU 77%) who has an F rating from the NRA. He is a foreign policy internationalist who loves the United Nations and the awful Law of the Sea Treaty.

Could another Republican incumbent lose just to the north in Michigan 6?

PS: North Carolina passed a marriage amendment 61%-39%.

Galesburg Rejects Millages

The Galesburg-Augusta school district has rejected two millages by an almost 2-1 margin. Gull Lake passed its millage.

http://www.electionmagic.com/results/mi/K39results/K3900101sum.htm

Borgfjord Challenges Balkema

Democrat Grace Borgfjord is challenging Republican Mary Balkema to be Kalamazoo County Treasurer. Balkema was first appointed in 2007 to replace the retiring Sharon Cubitt and was narrowly elected to a full term in 2008 in a bad year for Republicans.

Democrat Grace Borgfjord to run against incumbent Mary Balkema for Kalamazoo County Treasurer

Borgfjord holds two elected offices. As a member of the Mattawan School Board, Borgfjord twice voted for massive tax increases that were rejected by Mattawan voters.

In 2006, she ran a Republican for Oshtemo township board, narrowly losing to Jim Grace in the primary. Two years later, she ran as a democrat, winning in the 2008 wave. Clearly, she was misrepresenting herself when she first ran.

She was involved in a controversy over benefits received by the part-time township trustees.

It is likely that opposition to Balkema will stem more from the principled stand she took against the Kalamazoo discrimination ordinance than anything she has done as treasurer.

Borgfjord has almost no relevant experience and should not be trusted with Kalamazoo County's money.

NRA Alert

It's about time. There is no excuse for the Republicans in Lansing not to have passed this already.

Michigan House Committee to Consider Repeal of Handgun Permit-to-Purchase and Registration

The Michigan House Judiciary Committee will have a hearing on Thursday, May 17, to review an important and long-overdue bill that would eliminate the state handgun “permit-to-purchase” and registration requirements. This committee will hear House Bill 5225 and consider this proposed amendment language that will be used as a substitute for HB 5225 when this hearing takes place.

HB 5225, introduced by state Representative Paul Opsommer (R-93), would abolish the bureaucratic “permit-to-purchase” handguns which became obsolete when the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) went into effect in 1998. Under the current state system, gun buyers must apply with their local law enforcement agency and pass a written test before being authorized to buy a handgun. This “permit” is valid for only one gun and it expires after ten days. Since 1998, federal law has required a national criminal records check for the purchase of any firearm from any gun dealer in every state. Some of the key points of the proposed amendment to HB 5225 are:

Repeal the state requirement for someone to ask for police permission to purchase a firearm by traveling to a local police station and obtaining a permit to purchase.

Repeal the requirement to register a completely legally purchased and owned firearm by a law-abiding citizen to be registered with the government through the police.

Adopt the use of the federally-funded National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Default to the federal standard of prohibited persons and each purchase would still require a background check.

Cut Michigan’s costs by using the federally-administered instant background check system and eliminate wasted man-hours of tracking lawful gun owners in Michigan.

The NRA has been working diligently to repeal this antiquated, costly and unnecessary obstacle for gun owners and has coordinated with several state Representatives to produce new language for HB 5225. Two companion bills are also moving through the House: House Bill 5498, sponsored by state Representative Richard LeBlanc (D-18), and House Bill 5499, sponsored by state Representative Ray Franz (R-101).

Please contact members of the state House Judiciary Committee and respectfully urge them to support HB 5225. Committee member contact information is provided here.

Main Street Advocacy Smears Jack

One of the groups sending out mailers attacking Jack Hoogendyk is Main Street Advocacy. This is a self-consciously moderate Republican group.

Their mailing to the 6th district said:

Jack Hoogendyk's Record:
Higher taxes, More spending

Politicians like Jack Hoogendyk keep raising our taxes to pay for more government spending, leaving us broke. Jack Hoogendyk is running for Congress claiming to be a fiscal conservative, but his rhetoric just doesn't match his record.

as a county commissioner, Jack Hoogendyk voted to raise spending on both budgets he voted on.

Hoogendyk twice voted to block property tax rollbacks that had been promised, and even voted to raise the hotel/motel tax to pay for more spending.

Vote Against Higher Taxes and More Spending.
Vote Against Jack Hoogendyk for Congress.

The record is clear: Jack Hoogendyk voted for higher taxes and more spending, leaving taxpayers with a lot less money in their wallets.

They are obviously getting their talking points straight from the Upton campaign. Fred Upton was a cofounder of the Republican Main Street Partnership.

Main Street Advocacy ran into some campaign finance trouble in Montana back in 2010. They had received $10,000 in funding from the Marxist Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Advocacy group refunds $10,000 to union, files with state
Information about Main Street Advocacy
‘Rational conservatives’ group halts campaign in Montana

Previous:
Upton Smears Jack (Part 3)
Upton Smears Jack (Part 2)
Upton Smears Jack
Jack's Response to Upton Mailer

Kalamazoo Immigration Protest

A group of Kalamazoo high school students staged a walkout on Mayday, the international communist holiday to protest against enforcement of immigration laws.

Immigration concerns prompt Kalamazoo high school students to cut class and protest (video)
Kalamazoo high school walkout shines light on immigration reform

This quote was particularly juicy.

“The laws being created in Arizona — SB 1070 — are making us live in fear. We don’t know if our parents will be here when we come home from school. We drop out because what is the point if we are not guaranteed to be here,” said Leal, whose parents came to the United States from Mexico.

This is Michigan, not Arizona. And if you worry that your parents might be arrested, TELL THEM TO STOP BREAKING THE LAW.

Leave and don't come back.

Previous: Illegal Immigrants are Criminals

Obstructing Traffic in Oshtemo

The leadership of Oshtemo Township has some strange ideas about traffic. Supervisor Elizabeth Heiny-Cogswell recently asserted that MDOT was conducting a study to eliminate left turns at the west entrance to Meijer. MDOT is denying this.

MDOT says it has made no recommendation for changes to Oshtemo Meijer east entry
MDOT recommends changes to Oshtemo Meijer east entry

There is no good reason to eliminate left turns. As MDOT points out, it is not a dangerous intersection. Sometimes you have to wait a while turning left onto West Main, but restricting left turns would force everyone onto 9th Street, which would take even longer.

This is part of a larger pattern. Since Heiney-Cogswell was elected, many new stoplights of dubious necessity have been added around Oshtemo. One particularly unnecessary light is at Stadium Drive and Venture Park. Venture has little traffic after 5, and left turners can always go to 11th street, so this light isn't necessary. It may well contribute to accidents rather than prevent them.

Another conundrum is the light at the railroad tracks on Drake Road on the boundary of Oshtemo and Kalamazoo. As I have written before, it occasionally turns red for no apparent reason.

Gisler Defers to Maturen

Too bad, as Gisler is one of the better commissioners. Maturen is a moderate. The new district contains all of Maturen's current district but only half of Gisler's.

Kalamazoo County Commissioner John Gisler not to seek reelection

Boo Hoo Hoo

Teaching assistants share woes with Western Michigan University Board of Trustees

If you don't like working here, you don't have to.

New Democrat for Congress

The democrats' new candidate for Congress is Mike O'Brien, a former Marine, farmer, and businessman. He is a political unknown, though his resume sounds decent. Democrats seem to be trying the strategy of running former members of the military, which has had mixes success elsewhere. John Waltz, who dropped out due to health problems, also is a former member of the military.

Democrats have ex-Marine Mike O'Brien as candidate for Congress

Republican Sheriff Candidates

There are now two Republican candidates for Kalamazoo County Sheriff. Ward Lawrence, a sergeant in the Sheriff's office joins retired police officer Bruce Labrie in seeking the nomination. Lawrence is endorsed by Tom Edmonds and Michael Anderson, the last two Republican sheriffs. LaBrie has been running since November. The winner will face democrat incumbent Richard Fuller, who defeated Anderson in 2008.

Ward Lawrence, Kalamazoo County sergeant, announces bid for sheriff
Retired police officer announces candidacy for Kalamazoo County sheriff

Upton Trolls on Mlive.com

Articles on Mlive.com covering the 6th district congressional race between Congressman Fred Upton and Jack Hoogendyk often see comments attacking Jack and praising Fred Upton. Are these comments by normal readers, or are they actually written by people associated with Upton's campaign? Let's examine some of the commenters.

As of April 11, 2012, we have

westernright
First comment January 17, 2012
10 comments, all on the Upton/Jack race
Someone ripped of the name of this blog and is using it to attack Jack.

jmccordjr2
First comment January 12, 2012
15 comments, all on the Upton/Jack race

ChristieBush2016
First comment January 17, 2012
9 comments, all on Upton/Jack

kalamazoopatriot
First comment January 18, 2012
4 comments, all on Upton/Jack

kconservative
First comment January 17, 2012
5 comments, all attacking Jack

ajkazoo
First comment January 17, 2012
12 comments, all but one on Upton/Jack

CDillon
First comment January 17, 2012
6 comments, all but two on Upton/Jack

klp2013
First comment January 26, 2012
2 comments, both on Upton/Jack

andyh
First comment January 17, 2012
2 comments, both on Upton/Jack

Don Williams
First comment January 17, 2012
2 comments, both on Upton/Jack

PortagePatriot90
First comment January 17, 2012
2 comments, both on Upton/Jack

Amelia211329
First comment January 17, 2012
2 comments, both on Upton/Jack

On this article, the first five five commented at the times 1:05, 1:08, 1:15, 2:47, 2:55. On this one, several commented at 10:19, 10:31, 10:32, 10:35/37, 1:33, 6:18. On this one, they commented at 11:51, 11:56, 12:07, 12:21, 1:39.

All 12 profiles were created around the same time, nine on the same day, January 17. What's special about that day? Jack announced for Congress on January 17. All but two post pro-Upton and anti-Jack comments exclusively. Many of them use lines straight from Upton campaign literature. These comments are almost certainly posted by someone with the Upton campaign, whether it is one person using all the accounts or separate people. Note that not all pro-Upton/anti-Jack commenters are trolls, as the others post comments on a wide range of articles.

Fred Upton Not a Career Politician?

Congressman Fred Upton made a rather astounding claim on the radio today.

Southwest Michigan Politics: Congressman Fred Upton says he's not a career politician; Jack Hoogendyk gets endorsements

UPTON ON THE RADIO: Upton was on The Rocker Morning Show on WRKR-FM 107.7 today, and amid jesting with the hosts, talked about what's coming up in Washington D.C. for him and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which he chairs.

At the end of the interview, co-host Mike McKelly told Upton, “I don’t consider you a career politician.” Upton responded, "I'm not."

Upton, 58, served his first year in Congress in 1987 and has been in office for 25 years. Before that, he worked on the staff for U.S. Rep. David Stockman from 1976 to 1980 and was in the Office of Management and Budget from 1981 to 1985.

The Mlive commenters aren't buying it.

According to Wikipedia, the only work Upton has done that is even close to the private sector is writing for his college newspaper.

If Upton isn't a career politician, what is his career? Rich inheritor? OMB staffer on a really long break?

Worthams v. Rogers

The open 5th district seat on the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners has attracted two experienced candidates. David Worthams is running as a Republican, and Julie Rogers is running as a democrat.

David Worthams of Kalamazoo Township announces candidacy for the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners
Julie Rogers announces candidacy for the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners

Both candidates have lost two previous runs for office, though performing better than expected. Worthams lost bids for county commission in 2000 and 2003 (he got 45% in a special election). Rogers lost two bids for 61st district state rep. in 2006 and 2008, receiving 48% and 49% of the vote respectively in two good years for democrats.

The new 5th contains Alamo, Oshtemo 1,2,3,6,9 and Kalamazoo Township 3,6,9. It is normally about 55% Republican. Thus while the race may be competitive, Worthams starts with a definite advantage.

Previous:
Julie Rogers Already Wasted Your Money
Julie Rogers' Office for Nobody

Fire Rich Lowry

Shame on Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, for firing John Derbyshire. Derb wrote the following non-politically correct article below for Takimag. Ann Coulter was right when she called the editors of National Review "girly-boys".

The Talk: Nonblack Version

Herman Cain in MI-6

Herman Cain visited the district to support Jack Hoogendyk.

Herman Cain and Jack Hoogendyk make appearance in Benton Harbor (with video)
Jack Hoogendyk attacks Congressman Fred Upton's seniority in Congress at rally with Herman Cain

Wayne County Loses More Population

According to the latest census estimates, Wayne County lost about 19000 people from 2010 to 2011. That is more than a fifth of a state house seat. If this trend continues for the decade, Wayne will lose two more house seats, after losing almost three in the last decade.

Wayne County population loss continues as Oakland gains

Hutaree Militia Largely Exonerated

The "Hutaree militia" was largely exonerated this week after the judge in the case threw out all the conspiracy and terrorism charges against the group. Two members of the group subsequently pled guilty to some weapons charges.

Hutaree leader pleads guilty to weapons charge, calls himself 'patriot'

The case came down to the government trying to entrap the group with audio recordings. The group never hurt anyone, or tried to hurt anyone, or planned to hurt anyone. The jury agreed with the judges' assessment on this.

I suspected as much. Here's what I said in an earlier post.

----------------

Entrapment

It appears that the plot of the so-called 'Christian militia' group that is alleged to have plotted to kill police officers was more-or-less created by the government. It is far from clear that anything would have ever happened if the government hadn't provoked them into (allegedly) committing a crime.

Feds infiltrated militia group

Fink Out

Republican Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Fink will not seek reelection. Assistant county prosecutor Scott Pierangeli is likely to be the Republican nominee. He is also a member of the Portage Library Board. It isn't known whom the democrats might nominate.

Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Fink to retire, says he will not seek re-election in November

UPDATE: Pierangeli is in.

Scott Pierangeli announces candidacy for Kalamazoo County prosecutor

Upton Smears Jack (Part 3)

The third mailing from Congressman Fred Upton smearing Jack Hoogendyk focuses on Jack supporting a tax cut for movie production. According to Upton, that means Jack is "rolling out the red carpet for Hollywood fat cats." Once again, Upton fails to mention that the bill in question passed the legislature UNANIMOUSLY.

----------------

Reality: Here Upton is attacking Jack for cutting taxes! Here is the Mackinac Center description:

1) 2005 House Bill 5206 (Movie production tax breaks ) by admin on January 1, 2001
Introduced in the House on September 21, 2005, to authorize Single Business Tax (SBT) credit equal to 130 percent of the costs incurred by a motion picture production company that spends at least $250,000 making a movie in Michigan. The company could sell the amount of the credit that exceeds its tax liability, or could carry that forward to a future tax year

This bill was introduced by REPUBLICAN Fulton Sheen (along with Jack, one of the most conservative members of the legislature). It was passed UNANIMOUSLY 103-0.

2005 House Bill 5206: Movie production tax breaks
2005 House Bill 5206: Movie production tax breaks (House Roll Call 576)
House Journal 11/8/05

-------------------

At least one letter-writer understands the issue.

Upton criticism of Hoogendyk was misleading

Editor,

I am writing today, to set the record straight on a flier sent out by Congressman Fred Upton accusing his opponent, Jack Hoogendyk, of giving tax breaks to "Hollywood Fat Cats."

Let's look at the real record. Upton cites roll call vote 576 in 2005, House Bill 5206: Tax credits for film production. It passed 103 to 0 in the House on Nov. 8, 2005. Upton then mentions roll call vote 146 of 2008, House Bill 5841: Tax credits for film producers. It passed 108 to 0 in the House on March 12, 2008. Both bills were supported by our own state Rep. John Proos.

Now let's look at the benefits of this legislation. It was reported in February 2011 that a "research study conducted by respected international accounting firm Ernst & Young already shows a positive Return on Investment (ROI) from Michigan's film production tax credit."

Larry Alexander, president and CEO of the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau said, "When the final report was presented to us last week, we were delighted to learn that this fast growing new industry had already created 3,860 full time equivalent jobs for Michigan residents in 2010, at an average salary of $53,700 per year, and generated an estimated impact on statewide sales of $503 million in 2010 alone ... or $5.94 per dollar of net credit cost."

I want to thank reps. John Proos and Jack Hoogendyk for their vision and leadership in bringing jobs to Michigan.

Michael Emlong

St. Joseph

I'm not a big fan of 'targeted' tax breaks, and neither is Jack. Broad-based tax cuts are much better. But rank-and-file members can't choose their preferred tax policy, they have to vote yes or no on the bills as presented.

Fred Upton has attacked every Republican member of the state house. He should be ashamed of his dishonest attacks. Besides, what's wrong with fat cats?



Previous:
Upton Smears Jack (Part 2)
Upton Smears Jack
Jack's Response to Upton Mailer

Gun Bills in Michigan

A couple bills to expand gun rights have been introduced in Lansing.

Michigan House Judiciary Committee to Consider Repeal of Handgun Permit-to-Purchase and Registration

One bill, introduced by Paul Opsommer, would finally end Michigan's handgun registration. This is long overdue, as only six states require any form of gun registration, and the other five are all more liberal than Michigan. See the map below.

Gun Registration by State Map

The other bill, introduced by Mike Green, would reform Michigan's concealed carry law.

Sweeping changes proposed for Michigan concealed handgun law

Here is a list of the changes, along with my comments.

-------------------

PROPOSED CHANGES TO MICHIGAN’S CONCEALED HANDGUN LAW
The proposed overhaul of Michigan’s concealed weapons law would:
• Establish a “shall issue” exemption allowing highly trained permit holders to carry guns in pistol-free zones. An extra nine hours of training and 162 more rounds fired at the range would be required beyond current basic requirements. [There shouldn't be any 'two-tiered' system. Just eliminate the ban without any extra requirements.]
• Require firing-range time for basic applicants include 98 rounds, as opposed to 30 now. [More regulation. Bad.]
• Eliminate county gun boards, now comprised of state police, sheriffs, clerks and prosecutors or firearms instructors. [Good. Gun boards are a useless holdover from the 'may issue' days.]
• Shift permit approvals to sheriffs, whose departments already handle background checks. County clerks would still process applications. [Good. This is the best place for permits, as long as government continues to mandate them.]
• Require licenses be approved within 45 days or a temporary license must be issued. [Good.]
• Counties could no longer charge extra money beyond the $105 application fee for taking photos, laminating, and other add-ons. [Good.]
• Applicants who unsuccessfully appeal a denial in court would no longer be forced to pay the county’s court and attorney costs. [Good?]
• Courts could award increased financial penalties to those who successfully appeal. [Good.]
• Renewal notices must be sent three to six months before expiration, to avoid unintentional lapses. [Good.]

----------------------

This seems to be a mostly good bill, which hopefully can be improved.

Rally for Religious Freedom

Good for Americans who stand up against Obama's anti-freedom mandate.

Group rallies in Bronson Park 'in defense of religious freedom', in protest of contraception mandate

Urban Defers to Buskirk

Democrat county commissioner Jack Urban will not run for reelection, deferring to fellow democrat David Buskirk, who has been on the board for 20 years. Urban has been on the board since 2006. They were placed in the same district when redistricting reduced the number of county commissioners. Urban hints that he may seek another office, though what that could be isn't clear.

Kalamazoo County Commissioner Jack Urban not seeking reelection

Rogowski Defers to Iden

County commissioner Tim Rogowski will not run for reelection. He was put in the same district as fellow Republican Brandt Iden after redistricting reduced the number of commissioners. Rogowski is considering running for the Texas Township Board.

Kalamazoo County Commissioner Tim Rogowski won't seek reelection

Upton Smears Jack (Part 2)

Congressman Fred Upton sent out a second mailer smearing Jack Hoogendyk. The second mailer basically repeat the claims of the first one.

One side contrasts two quotes from Jack, the first of which says "I have never voted for a tax increase and never will." The context of the quote is referring to Jack's six years in the legislature, and is true. The second refers to Jack supporting a small tax increase (which was approved by taxpayers) to pay for a new juvenile home while Jack was on the county commission. Context is key.

The other side repeats the same four misleading claims as the first mailing.

The mailer concludes with the line "He will say anything to get elected."

Actually, it appears that Upton will say anything. Rather than defend his own record, it appears that Upton's strategy is to bury Jack in mud. Enough voters won't be able to distinguish between the truth that Upton is a big spender and Upton's false claims that Jack has done the same thing.

This strategy depends on being able to outspend Jack thanks to raising big money from big businesses eager to have a friend as the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. If Club for Growth and other conservative groups spend money on this race, though, Upton's strategy may not work this time.

Jack's website: http://www.jackformichigan.com/

Previous:
Upton Smears Jack
Jack's Response to Upton Mailer

Legalize Stun Guns

The Bay City stun gun case is being argued before the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Sparks fly between Bay County attorneys in Court of Appeals stun gun case

Ann Nieuwenhuis to run for Comstock Supervisor

Kalamazoo County Commissioner Ann Nieuwenhuis will run for Comstock Supervisor following the announcement that democrat incumbent Tim Hudson will not seek reelection.

Kalamazoo County Commissioner Ann Nieuwenhuis to seek Comstock Township supervisor job
Comstock Supervisor Tim Hudson won't seek re-election

Niuwenhuis is a moderate Republican who was first elected in 2008, beating incumbent democrat Leroy Crabtree. She was reelected in 2010.

There is no indication which democrat will run for Comstock Supervisor. It is also unknown who will run for the county commission seat Niuewenhuis is vacating. The seat was made more Republican in redistricting. Hopefully, it will go to a more conservative candidate.

End the Fed

End the Fed
by Congressman Ron Paul

In this slim volume, Congressman Ron Paul lays out the basics of his opposition to the Federal Reserve and his beliefs about monetary policy. Paul is an adherent of the Austrian school of economics, led by the brilliant economists Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard.

The Austrian theory of the business cycle holds that government expansion of the money supply misleads investors into believing there is more capital available than there really is, hence leading to a boom of new projects which later have to be abandoned, causing a bust. Austrians successfully predicted both the Great Depression and the housing bubble/2008 financial crisis, which many other economists failed to foresee. Paul argues convincingly that the Fed is immoral, unconstitutional, and detrimental to average Americans.

Some of the most interesting parts of the book deal with Paul's early years and interactions with Fed chairmen Greenspan and Bernanke. This book doesn't go terribly deep into economics, but it is a good introduction to the issue of the Federal Reserve.

Jack's Response to Upton Mailer

Jack Hoogendyk has sent a response to the Upton mailing that I deconstructed here.

------------------------

Fellow Patriots,

I am sure by now you received that beautiful mailer from Congressman Fred Upton with my handsome face all over it. While I appreciate him mentioning my name nine times in his mailer, I must point out that he offered some mis-characterizations and outright falsehoods in his mailer.

He mentions that I voted for a “billion dollar stimulus.” He is talking about the 21st Century Jobs Fund. The only problem is, I voted against that package. I even submitted for the record a statement that said we should give immediate tax relief to working families and businesses, not give the money to an appointed board to decide where to spend it.

He says I gave special tax breaks to Hollywood fat cats. What he is talking about is tax breaks to bring the film industry to Michigan and create jobs for thousands of people. An Ernst & Young audit showed that the $85 million in tax cuts in 2010 produced $500 million in new economic activity and over 3,800 new jobs!

He says I voted six times for revenue enhancements. Yes, I voted to withhold income tax from the Detroit casino winnings of non-residents who come to Michigan. Michigan residents pay taxes on their casino winnings, why shouldn’t non-residents?

He says I voted for higher taxes on gasoline. I actually voted to extend a tax on gas at a lower rate of ¾ of one cent per gallon to pay for environmental cleanup of leaky underground tanks. Is Mr. Upton opposed to environmental cleanup?

One thing is obvious, five months from Election Day. Mr. Upton is worried about me. He is already attacking my well-known conservative record. But, try as he may, he cannot disparage my record in Lansing of over 70 votes against tax increases on the individuals and businesses of Michigan and 300 plus votes for tax relief and tax reductions.

I hope Mr. Upton will be willing to have face-to-face debates soon so we can honestly discuss the issues that really matter to Michigan voters; the massive size of government, the unbridled power of Congress and the unchecked spending of your tax dollars in Washington.

I need your help to build a winning campaign and expose the truth about Fred Upton and his 25 years of voting for big government, big spending and taxes. He can’t remake his own record, so he is going to spend his campaign war chest to try to pull me into the mud. I will not let this happen. My conservative record is part of my DNA. Please make a contribution to support my campaign today and make sure we can run a winning campaign on the issues and the truth. Please go to http://www.JackforMichigan.com and make your contribution now. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Jack Hoogendyk

Upton Smears Jack

UPDATE: Jack's Response to Upton Mailer

Congressman Fred Upton must be worried about being challenged by Jack Hoogendyk. He sent out a mailing smearing Jack's supposed record of "Higher Taxes and Increased Spending" (repeating this phrase three times). The piece is a two page, color, glossy piece complete with dramatic headlines and black-and-white, sinister-looking photos of Jack.

The piece attacks four items from Jack's record. It repeats the claims twice in detail and summarizes them yet again. These criticisms must be very important to Congressman Upton for him to emphasize them such. Lest you think that he is just making them up, there are citations in tiny print to various votes. Of course, 99.99% of people who get this mailing won't look up the citations, and it isn't easy to do so even if you want to. But I did! Let's look at them...

1. Upton Claim: "Voted for Granholm's billion dollar stimulus - to allow a government board to handout tax dollars to individual businesses and projects"

Reality: This refers to House Bill 5047 to create a "21st Century Jobs Fund". Here is a description from the Mackinac Center:

Introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R) on July 6, 2005, to establish a government “Jobs for Michigan Investment Fund” to provide grants, loans, and various subsidies to public entities and private businesses engaged in the research, development, marketing and commercialization of various “competitive edge” technologies identified by the state. A "Strategic Economic Investment Board” composed of government officials and representatives of the types of organizations likely to receive funding under the program would allocate the money. The money for the grants, loans and subsidies would come from the sale or “securitization” of the revenue stream from the 1998 tobacco company lawsuit, proposed by House Bill 5048. This is a House response to Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s $2 billion "Jobs for Michigan" debt proposal, and the Senate’s similar $1 billion debt proposal. See also House Bill 5005, another subsidy proposal that would rely on selling the tobacco revenue stream.

This bill was introduced by REPUBLICAN Bill Huizinga, then a state representative and now the Congressman for the neighboring 2nd district. The vote on this bill was 103-1, with all but one Republican voting for it. These include Rep. John Proos, former Upton staffer and presumed to be Upton's preferred successor.

2005 House Bill 5047: Create "21st Century Jobs Fund"
2005 House Bill 5047: Create "21st Century Jobs Fund" (House Roll Call 467)
No. 82 STATE OF MICHIGAN
JOURNAL OF THE House of Representatives
93rd Legislature REGULAR SESSION OF 2005

2. Upton Claim: "Voted to give special tax breaks to Hollywood fat cats while Michigan families and small businesses had to pay full tax rates"

Reality: Here Upton is attacking Jack for cutting taxes! Here is the Mackinac Center description:

1) 2005 House Bill 5206 (Movie production tax breaks ) by admin on January 1, 2001
Introduced in the House on September 21, 2005, to authorize Single Business Tax (SBT) credit equal to 130 percent of the costs incurred by a motion picture production company that spends at least $250,000 making a movie in Michigan. The company could sell the amount of the credit that exceeds its tax liability, or could carry that forward to a future tax year

This bill was introduced by REPUBLICAN Fulton Sheen (along with Jack, one of the most conservative members of the legislature). It was passed UNANIMOUSLY 103-0.

2005 House Bill 5206: Movie production tax breaks
2005 House Bill 5206: Movie production tax breaks (House Roll Call 576)
House Journal 11/8/05

3. Upton Claim: "Voted six times for Governor Granholm's revenue enhancements and for higher taxes on gasoline"

Reality: This refers to six votes from the 2003-4 session. Each of the amendments in question was supported by the vast majority of Republicans in the state house.

Rollcall 109: Passed 101-5. http://michiganvotes.org/2003-HB-4558
Rollcall 110: Passed 101-4. http://michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=74154
Rollcall 111: Passed 103-2. http://michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=74155
Rollcall 113: Passed 101-4. http://michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=74160
Rollcall 302: Passed 97-7. http://michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=82530
Rollcall 303: Passed 106-0. http://michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=82534
Rollcall 705: Passed 87-13. http://michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=126029

The last one did not raise taxes, contrary to Upton's claim, but extended an existing tax.

4. Upton Claim: "Voted twice for higher property taxes and for higher motel taxes"

Reality: The reference goes the the subscription-only site MIRS. This story was almost certainly fed to MIRS by Upton's campaign. It refers to Jack's time on the Kalamazoo County Commission, 2000-2002. Notably, the supposed "tax increase" did not actually increase taxes, it extended an existing tax that would otherwise have expired.

And Hoogendyk voted twice -- once in October 2001 and once in December 2002 -- to override a triggered rollback of property taxes, which meant residents didn't get a tax cut they were supposed to under the Headlee amendment.

...

Hoogendyk told MIRS he also recalls voting as a county commissioner for a slight tax increase on the hotel/motel tax to fund the construction of juvenile home, which
he thought was an "important project."

The juvenile home was supported unanimously by the County Commission and was endorsed by both the Kalamazoo Republican and democrat parties. Is Upton against it?

Will Jack Hoogendyk's votes to increase spending and raise taxes be issues in his race against U.S. Rep. Fred Upton? (video)

Notably, Upton never actually says that he disagrees with any of Jack's votes. I doubt that Upton would have voted the other way on any of them. It is incredibly dishonest of him to attack Jack's record in this fashion.

Previous:
Fred Upton: 64% Conservative in 2011
Fred Upton's Ten Worst Votes

"Stimulus" - Club for Growth Ad

Fred Upton: 64% Conservative in 2011

Surprisingly, Congressman Fred Upton's conservative rating from the American Conservative Union plummeted to 64% in 2011. Here are the bills on which Upton voted the wrong way, according to ACU. Time to nominate Jack!

---------------------

1. Legal Services Corporation. HR 1 (Roll Call 54)
The House defeated an amendment to the 2011 appropriations bill that would have struck all funding for the Legal Services Corporation from the budget bill. ACU has always opposed this wasteful program which has been used primarily to expand the welfare state and was found by a GAO study to be rife with waste, fraud and abuse and supported this amendment. The amendment failed February 16, 2011 by a vote of 171-259.

7. Davis-Bacon Wage Rate Requirements. HR 1 (Roll Call 144)
The House defeated an amendment to the 2011 appropriations bill barring the use of funds to enforce the Davis-Bacon Act. This requires federal projects to pay workers the “prevailing” wage, usually union rage rates which are often well above the local market rate. This adds billions of dollars in cost to federal programs and adds to the deficit. ACU opposes this federal mandate and supports this amendment. The amendment failed on February 19, 2011 by a vote of 189-233.

11. Conservative Budget. H Con Res 34 (Roll Call 275)
The House defeated a conservative alternative to the budget that would freeze total discretionary spending at 2008 levels beginning in 2013 and balanced the budget within ten years. The bill cut mandatory spending by $1.9 trillion over 10 years. The bill assumed the repeal of the Obama health care bill and a gradual increase in the retirement age for Social Security and Medicare. ACU supports this alternative as a reasonable attempt to eliminate our annual deficits. The amendment failed on April 15, 2011 by a vote of 119-136. 172 Democrats voted “Present” even though they opposed the bill and their votes are rated in opposition.

16. Foreign Agricultural Service. HR 2112 (Roll Call 432)
The House rejected an amendment to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill to eliminate the Foreign Agricultural Service. This agency uses taxpayer money to fund 98 offices around the world to help find export opportunities for large corporations. ACU opposes this wasteful spending when our national debt stands at $15 trillion and supported this amendment. The amendment was defeated on June 15, 2011 by a vote of 99-324.

20. Vehicle Subsidies. HR 2354 (Roll Call 580)
The House rejected an amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would eliminate funding for the Advanced Manufacturing Loan Program and apply the funds saved to the federal deficit. This program gives taxpayer money to manufacturers who work on vehicle programs favored by the government. ACU opposes government programs that pick winners and losers in the marketplace and supported this amendment. The amendment failed on July 14, 2011 by a vote of 114-309.

21. Spending increase. HR 2354 (Roll Call 586)
The House passed an amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill increasing spending on renewable energy and energy efficiency programs by $10 million. These programs had received massive increases in the 2009 budget and the Obama stimulus program. ACU opposes these attempts to reverse modest spending cuts and opposed this amendment. Nevertheless, the House passed the amendment on July 15, 2011 by a vote of 212-210.

23. Endangered Species Act. HR 2584 (Roll Call 652)
The House rejected an amendment to eliminate a provision in the Interior Appropriations Bill that would place a moratorium on new listings under the Endangered Species Act. ACU supports a moratorium on a program that has been used as a vehicle to stop development and harass private property owners and opposed this amendment. The amendment failed on July 28, 2011 by a vote of 181-240.

24. Debt Limit Increase. S 365. (Roll Call 690)
The House passed a bill that allowed a debt increase of up to $2.5 trillion with no spending reductions required in Fiscal Year 2012. The bill also set up a “supercommittee” of twelve members of Congress who were to meet in secret to negotiate a deficit reduction of $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The bill also requires a ”sequestration” or automatic reduction of $1.2 trillion in spending over 10 years if no other agreement is reached by 2013. ACU opposes automatic debt limit increases with no congressional action required and opposed this bill. The bill passed on August 1, 2011 by a vote of 269-161.

25. “Catch-All Appropriations. HR 2055 (Roll Call 941)
The House passed a year-end appropriations bill, known as the “Omnibus” bill that funded $915 billion dollars in one 2,300 page bill for Fiscal Year 2012 The bill avoided limits imposed in the debt-limit negotiations by labeling additional spending as “emergency spending” so the total spending for the year is an increase over Fiscal Year 2011. ACU opposes these massive bills that are written in secret and passed with no amendments allowed. Nevertheless the bill passed the House on December 16, 2011 by a vote of 296-121.

Previous: Fred Upton's Conservative Ratings

Santorum in Kalamazoo

Rick Santorum will speak at Heritage Christian Academy on Monday night

It's confirmed: Rick Santorum will speak Monday night at Heritage Christian Academy, 6312 Quail Run, in Kalamazoo.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and seating will be on a first-come basis. There will be no cost for the event.

Waltz Out

Democrat John Waltz has dropped out of the race for the 6th congressional district for health reasons. Democrats are looking for a new candidate.

6th District Democrats to look at candidates to run against Congressman Fred Upton after John Waltz dropped out
John Waltz's wife: 'There's no way for him to continue' race against Congressman Fred Upton
John Waltz dropping out of race against Congressman Fred Upton because of life-threatening illness

Michigan Redistricting: Court of Appeals

The Michigan legislature recently passed a redistricting plan for the Court of Appeals. This court is below the Michigan Supreme Court. It consists of 28 judges (2 currently vacant), which may soon be reduced to 24 under a bill to reduce the number of judges passed in Lansing. The court is split into four districts based in Detroit, Troy, Lansing, and Grand Rapids.

Here is the new district map.



This is the old map.



The Court of Appeals is quite a different problem from usual redistricting plans. Incumbents have a huge advantage and are almost always reelected uncontested. This is because non-incumbents must collect a huge number of signatures (5000, I think), while incumbents can run for reelection simply by filing an affidavit. Furthermore, incumbents are listed as judges on the ballot, giving an additional advantage. Hence the only contested races are for the occasional open seat.

While the court is officially nonpartisan, conservatives have a significant advantage on the Court of Appeals due to the long tenure (1990-2002) of Governor John Engler, who appointed many of the judges to fill vacancies. Hence the goal is to draw four districts that aren't heavily dem, account for population changes, and if possible keep current incumbents in their districts.

District 1: (Detroit) [Wayne, Monroe, Lenawee, Hillsdale, Branch, St. Joseph, Kalamazoo] Given the population loss in Detroit, this district needed to add people. It drops Calhoun and adds Branch, St. Joseph, and Kalamazoo. (Now I'm in a district with Detroit. Boo!)

District 2: (Troy) [Macomb, Oakland, Genesee] This district drops Schiawasee due to strong population growth in central Macomb County.

District 3: (Grand Rapids) [West Michigan, Washtenaw] Adds Mason, Oceana, and Montcalm from 4 and Calhoun from 1. Loses Branch, St. Joseph, and Kalamazoo to 1. Washtenaw is kept in the most Republican district, as putting in with Wayne might be enough to consistently elect democrats.

District 4: (Lansing) [Northern Michigan, Ingham, Livingston] Adds Schiawasee from 2, loses Mason, Oceana, and Montcalm to 3.

Overall, it appears to be a reasonable map.

Clearing the Drain Commission

Republican Kalamazoo County Commissioner Nasim Ansari will challenge democrat incumbent Drain Commissioner Patricia Crowley. Ansaii has been a commissioner for ten years representing northern Portage. Before that, he was on the Portage city councilman.

Kalamazoo County Commissioner Nasim Ansari to challenge Drain Commissioner Patricia Crowley

Ansari's district was cut in half in redistricting, and was placing in the same district as John Zull (not Phil Stinchcomb, as the article says, unless Ansari recently moved). Ansari is a tough campaigner who held a competitive district for a decade. (He may well have more name recognition than Crowley, who was swept in on the 2008 democrat wave.) That said, I suspect that this race will go to whichever party does better overall in 2012.

Dear Republican County Commissioners

Don't vote to raise taxes! Certainly not if you plan on getting reelected. And if you think something is a bad idea, then putting it on the ballot is also a bad idea.

Kalamazoo County commissioners still divided on tax to help homeless

No Comment

Kate Upton gets votes of encouragement for Sports Illustrated cover: From the comments
Kate Upton Links: A look at Southwest Michigan's cover girl

Bring Back Beck

WKZO has replaced Glenn Beck's radio show, which had aired 5-8PM with inferior programming.

Glenn Beck off the air at WKZO, replaced with local news hour

Write them to let know that they should bring Beck back: http://wkzo.com/contact-us/

In the mean time, you can hear Glenn Beck 27/7 here: http://www.glennbeck.com/publish/themes/glennbeck/live_player/

Racing Against Snow

Democrat County Commissioner Brian Johnson will challenge Republican County Clerk Tim Snow. Snow has been clerk for over a decade and has not faced a serious challenge in some time.

Kalamazoo County Commissioner Brian Johnson to challenge Tim Snow for county clerk

Johnson lives in the same county commission district as Michael Seals, and would otherwise have run against him. Johnson has been on the county commission for a total of over 14 years (1986-1992, 2003-present). He does not appear to be particularly qualified to be clerk.

Dale Pominville, America's Newest County Commissioner

The Kalamazoo County Commission selected Dale Pominville to replace Deb Buchholtz on the county commission. He is currently the Parchment School Board president. He is also a neighbor of Buchholtz. He appears to work at Metro Toyota. He claims to be a Republican, though it is not clear how active he has been.

Parchment School Board President Dale Pominville selected to replace Deb Buhholtz on Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners

The remainder of Deb's term lasts less than a year. Due to redistricting, he would run against Jeff Heppler if he runs for reelection.

Converted Electric Car

Converting a gas-powered car to an electric car is an interesting project. The one key fact that the article leaves out is that it cost $17,000, not including labor. Electric cars are not cost-competitive.

Western Michigan University physics professor converts 1992 Honda Civic into electric vehicle

Upton's 'Perfect' Record

Of course, the real issue is not whether you make every vote, it's how you vote.

Congressman Fred Upton posts perfect voting record for 2011

2012 Kalamazoo Primary Election Preview

This is a preview of elections in Michigan in 2012. It focuses on primary elections. This post was last updated on August 1, 2012.

While most of political coverage has focused on the 2012 presidential primary races, there will be many other races on the ballot. Here is an overview of the races relevant to Kalamazoo readers. More detailed profiles of some of the races will follow soon.
[List of Michigan Presidential Candidates]
[List of Primary Election Candidates]
[List of Kalamazoo County Candidates]

February 28: Presidential Primary
This was the date of Michigan's Presidential Primary. Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich battled for delegates, with Romney winning the popular vote but splitting the delegates evenly with Santorum. Romney is the presumptive nominee to face President Barack Obama and various third party candidates in November.

In other races, Democrat county commissioner Tim Greimel won the election to replace Tim Melton in district 29 (Pontiac). Republican County Commissioner Joseph Graves won the race to replace recalled state rep Paul Scott in District 51 (south Genesee).

May 8: School Elections
There were various school bond proposals on the ballot in "Kalamazoo, Gull Lake, Galesburg-Augusta, Allegan, Bangor, White Pigeon, Gobles, Paw Paw, Martin and Marcellus." The following article gives a good summary. Note that school board elections have been moved to November.
Absentee ballots now available for May 8 election; five Kalamazoo-area school districts voting on multi-million tax requests

November 6: General Election
President (Michigan)
Michigan leans slightly to the left in Presidential elections. This means that democrats need to win Michigan to win the White House, but Republicans don't. Michigan still has a bad economy thanks to eight years of democrat Governor Jennifer Granholm. Will this help Republicans in the presidential race? Perhaps.

August 7: Other Primaries
US Senate
Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow is seeking a third term. Four Republicans are seeking to replace her. They are
Clark Durant, businessman and former member of the state board of education (1994-98)
Gary Glenn, conservative activist supporting right-to-work and opposing 'gay rights', who announced that he has dropped out
Randy Hekman, former Kent county judge
Pete Hoekstra, former congressman who represented the 2nd district in West Michigan 1992-2010. He lost the Republican primary for governor in 2010
Businessman Peter Konetchy was disqualified for insufficient signatures.
Hoekstra is the favorite, leading in the polls and in fundraising. His main competitor is Durant.

US House of Representatives
Only one of Michigan's 14 congressional districts is likely to have a competitive general election. However, there are interesting primaries shaping up in the 6th, 13th and 14th districts. The following post examines the races in greater detail.
2012 Michigan Congressional Races

Michigan Supreme Court
Conservative Republican Steven Markman will likely seek reelection. Appointed Republican Brian Zhara will likely seek to fill the remainder of the term to which he was appointed. Democrat Marilyn Kelly has reached the age limit, so her seat will be open. Republicans Jane Markey and Colleen O'Connor are running. Republicans currently have a 4-3 majority on the court, so this election could result in anything from 5-2 D to 5-2 R. Democrats have endorsed Connie Kelley, Shelia Johnson and Bridget McCormack for the court.

Education Boards
Two seats on each of four boards will be up. Democrats endorsed candidates in March.

Michigan Board of Education
Republicans: Nancy Danhoff, Melanie Kurdys
Democrats: Lupe Ramos-Montigny, Michelle Fecteau

University of Michigan Board of Regents
Republicans: Ron Weiser, Rob Steele, Dan Horning
Democrats: Mark Bernstein, Shauna Ryder Diggs

Michigan State University Board of Trustees
Republicans: Anne Norlander, Jeff Sakwa, Melanie Foster
Democrats: Joel Ferguson, Brian Mosallam

Wayne State University Board of Governors
Republicans:
Democrats: Sandra Hughes O'Brien, Kim Trent

Ballot Proposals
Seven propositions have submitted signatures and may appear on the ballot, pending verification of signatures and legal challenges. See the following.
2012 Michigan Ballot Propositions

Michigan House of Representatives
All 110 seats in the Michigan state house will be up for election. Some members will be term-limited. Republicans currently have a 63-37 majority. The new redistricting plan helps Republicans some, but not as much as it could have. The following article summarizes all the races.
2012 Michigan State House Races

In the greater Kalamazoo area...

60th District (Kalamazoo city) Safe democrat
Democrat Sean McCann has an even safer district than before, and should have no trouble getting reelected. The Republican candidate is Michael Perrin.

61st District (Portage, Oshtemo) Safe Republican
Conservative Republican Margaret O'Brien will likely be reelected easily against democrat Michael Martin. The district became safer by losing western Kalamazoo Township to the 60th and adding Schoolcraft Township.

62nd District (Battle Creek, Albion) Leans democrat
Incumbent democrat Kate Segal will face Republican former Battle Creek mayor Mark Behnke. This district became more democrat with the addition of Bedford and Pennfield.

63rd District (E Kalamazoo, S Calhoun) Safe Republican
Republican Speaker Jase Bolger won't have trouble with reelection against democrat Bill Farmer in a district that drops Bedford and Pennfield and adds rural conservative townships in Calhoun.

66th District (Van Buren, Cooper) Safe Republican
Conservative Republican Aric Nesbitt should be safe against democrat Richard Rajkovich in a district that drops a small piece of Allegan and adds NW Kalamazoo.

Kalamazoo Countywide Offices
All six countywide offices are up for election. Republicans hold four of six offices.

Sheriff: Leans Democrat
Democrat Richard Fuller defeated Republican Michael Anderson in 2008. Republicans Bruce LaBrie and Ward Lawrence are running.

Prosecutor: Leans Republican
Incumbent Republican Jeff Fink will not seek reelection. Assistant prosecutor Scott Pierangeli, a member of the Portage Library Board, will run. The democrat candidate will be former assistant prosecutor Jeffrey Getting.

Clerk: Leans Republican
Incumbent moderate Republican Tim Snow will seek reelection. He will face leftist democrat County Commissioner Brian Johnson.

Treasurer: Leans Republican
Republican Mary Balkema, who was appointed to replace Sharon Cubitt in 2007, will seek reelection. Balkema barely defeated a token challenger in 2008. Her democrat opponent is Oshtemo Township Trustee and Mattawan School Board member Grace Borgfjord. It is possible that liberal billionaire Jon Stryker will fund Borgfjord this time due to Balkema's opposition to a 'gay rights' ordinance in Kalamazoo city in 2009.

Drain Commissioner: Tossup
The incumbent is democrat Patricia Crowley. In 2008, she defeated Republican Pat Crouse who was appointed to replace Bill French, who was convicted of a crime. She will face Republican County Commissioner Nasim Ansari, who had applied for the position in 2008.

Surveyor: Safe Republican
Incumbent Republican Bill Hahn is unopposed. The position is unpaid, and its holder must be a licenced surveyor.

Kalamazoo County Commission
Republicans have a 10-7 majority on the commission. Redistricting will shrink the commission to 11 seats, changing the district boundaries. The new map is likely to yield a 7-4 Republican majority, but district 5 will likely be competitive. The following post has detailed descriptions of the districts and their political leanings.
Kalamazoo County Commission Districts.

The following article has more detailed analysis of the county commission races.
2012 Kalamazoo County Commission Election Preview

Township Elections
There are plenty of contested township elections. Some are noteworthy.
Here's who is running in Kalamazoo County in August and November county and township elections
Several township supervisor positions in Kalamazoo County to be decided in August primary

Comstock Township: Incumbent democrat Supervisor Tim Hudson will not seek reelection. Moderate Republican County Commissioner Ann Nieuwenhuis will face trustee Randy Thompson. There will be a competitive race for the other township board positions.

Kalamazoo Township: Democrat incumbent Supervisor is Terri Mellinger, who has had trouble paying her taxes and has had health problems, is not seeking reelection. Two democrats, trustee Ron Reid and Michael Szekely are seeking the seat.  Four democrats and one Republican, Kathleen Doornbas, are seeking the four trustee positions currently held by democrats.

Oshtemo Township: The incumbent democrat Supervisor is Elizabeth Heiny-Cogswell. She will be challenged by former democrat county commissioner John Nieuwenhuis, running as a Republican. There are also four trustee positions up for election, two of which are currently held by appointee due to the resignations of Republican Jim Grace and democrat Scott McCormick. Seven Republicans and three democrats are running.

Texas Township: There is a conflict between Supervisor Dave Healy and the other members of the township board.  There are two slates of candidates competing in the Republican primary.  Healy is being challenged in the primary by Greg Pendowski. Conservative Erin Hoogendyk is among the four incumbent Republican trustees. The following post offers more details.
Trouble in Texas
Don't Mess With Texas Township

Judges
Incumbent judges J. Richardson Johnson, Pamela Lightvoet, Paul Bridenstine, and Curtis Bell are all unopposed.

School Boards
School board elections were moved to November by a recent bill. There is nothing to report on these elections yet.

2012 Michigan Congressional Races

Cross-posted at The Western Right, Right Michigan, and Red Racing Horses. This post was last updated on August 9.

Michigan will see a number of interesting congressional races in 2012.

Michigan will lose a congressional seat, going from 15 to 14. Redistricting changed the congressional map, particularly in eastern Michigan.


There are several articles that analyse the general political leanings of the new districts.
Michigan Redistricting: Congressional Map Passed
Republican Michigander Congressional District Profiles (Sidebar at right)

District 1 (Upper Peninsula, Northern Lower Peninsula) Likely Republican.
In 2010, Dr. Dan Benishek won an open seat vacated by democrat Rep. Bart Stupak against democrat state Rep. Gary McDowell 52-41. The new district gets more Republican, adding areas around Traverse City. Benishek has generally voted with the leadership, displeasing some of his former Tea Party supporters. McDowell is back for a rematch, but Benishek will be difficult to beat as an incumbent.

District 2 (Ottowa, Muskegon) Safe Republican.
Republican former state rep. Bill Huizinga won a close primary in 2010 to replace Pete Hoekstra, who was running for governor. Since then he has generally voted the party line. This remains the most Republican district in Michigan. There was talk that conservative state rep. Dave Agema might run, but he declined. Huizinga will run unopposed.

District 3 (Kent, Calhoun) Safe Republican.
Republican state rep. Justin Amash won the primary to replace moderate Republican Vern Ehlers, who retired rather than face a strong primary challenge. Amash is a libertarian in the mold of Rep. Ron Paul. He has stepped on some toes in Washington, most notably getting into a spat with the NRA over procedural objections to a gun rights bill. There were repeated rumors that someone would challenge Amash in the Republican primary, but nobody did. Amash remains the favorite. Moderate democrat former state rep. Steve Pestka defeated leftist Trevor Thomas for their nomination.

District 4 (central Michigan) Safe Republican.
Republican Dave Camp has been winning big margins in this district since 1990. He's now the Ways and Means Committee chairman and still going strong. Debra Freidell is the democrat candidate.

District 5 (Genesee, Saginaw, Bay) Safe democrat.
Democrat Dale Kildee, who has held this district since 1976, is finally retiring. His nephew, former Genesee Treasurer Dan Kildee, notable for his proposal to tear down sections of Flint, is running. This could have been an interesting race, but several other prominent democrats, including former Congressman James Barcia, State Senator John Gleason and state rep. Woodrow Stanley, considered running but declined. Former moderate democrat state rep. Jim Slezak won the Republican nomination over Tom Wassa.

District 6 (SW Michigan) Safe Republican.
Moderate Republican Fred Upton has won by wide margins since defeating conservative Mark Siljander in 1986. In 2010, former state rep. Jack Hoogendyk, running with Tea Party support got 43% in the Republican primary. The race received almost no outside attention and Jack raised only $60,000 in that race. Since then, Upton became Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and his record received more scrutiny from national conservatives. Upton defeated Hoogendyk 67-33 in a primary rematch.
In 2008 and 2010, Upton easily defeated leftist Kalamazoo city commissioner Don Cooney. In 2012, the democrat John Waltz, dropped out for health reasons. The democrats' new candidate is farmer Mike O'Brien.

District 7 (south-central Michigan) Safe Republican.
Republican Tim Walberg defeated liberal democrat Mark Schauer in a hard-fought race in 2010. This followed Schauer's defeat of Walberg in 2008, Walberg's defeat of RINO Joe Schwarz in 2006, and Schwarz's winning a divided Republican primary to replace Nick Smith in 2004. Redistricting removed Schauer's base of Calhoun county, and he is not running again. Walberg tends to be underestimated, but even in 2008, facing a strong opponent supported by Schwarz in the worst Republican year in memory, he only lost by 3%. Walberg defeated minor challenger Dan Davis, as Mike Stahly was disqualified.
Schwarz toyed with running as a democrat, but declined. Attorney Kurt Haskell, who seems to be a paleocon, won the democrat nomination over Jackson County democrat chairman Reuben Marquez. Walberg will never win the margins of Camp, Rogers, or Miller, but I suspect he will settle in and win 55-60%.

District 8 (Ingham, Livingston, N Oakland) Safe Republican.
Republican Mike Rogers has won big margins since 2000, and he should have no trouble with his new district. He defeated two minor primary challengers, Dan Hetrick and Vernon Molnar. Lance Enderle will be the democrat nominee, as Michael Magdich was disqualified.

District 9 (S Macomb, Royal Oak, Bloomfield) Safe democrat.
This is mostly the old 12th district of Sander Levin, though it also takes in part of Gary Peters' old 9th district. This district is less liberal without Southfield and Oak Park. Levin is more liberal than the district, but he is popular enough to win here as long as he wants. He will likely be succeeded by a less liberal Macomb county democrat. Republican Don Volaric, who lost to Levin in 2010, won the nomination over Greg Dildilian.

District 10 (N Macomb, the Thumb) Safe Republican.
Republican Candice Miller is highly popular in Macomb County and statewide, and that isn't going to change. Jerome George Quinn and Chuck Stadler will compete for the democrat nomination.

District 11 (NW Wayne, SW Oakland, Troy) Likely Republican.
Republican Thad McCotter saw the most improvement in his district, trading increasingly democrat suburbs of Detroit in Wayne County for Republican areas of Oakland County. But McCotter's staff committed fraud, leading to his being disqualified and dropping out. Tea Party Republican Kerry Bentivolio was the only Republican on the primary ballot. A coalition of establishment Republicans endorsed a write-in campaign by former state senator Nancy Cassis, but Bentivolio won 65-35. Democrat Canton Township Trustee Taj Syed defeated William Roberts, a "LaRouche democrat", for their party's nomination.

District 12 (Downriver, Ann Arbor) Safe democrat.
Democrat John Dingell, in Congress since Eisenhower's first term (really!), gets a new district that reunites his Downriver base. This successor of the old 15th district loses Monroe to Walberg. If Dingell ever leaves Congress, we could see an interesting Downriver versus Ann Arbor primary. Dingell defeated a minor primary challenger Daniel Marcin (check out his URL), a 26-year-old Ann Arbor grad student. Cynthia Kallgren won the Republican nomination over Karen Jacobsen.

District 13 (W Detroit, Westland) Safe democrat.
This district contains the bulk of John Conyers' base, although Republicans drew him out of the district. Conyers, in Congress since 1964, hadn't had a tough primary or general election since 1994. Conyers' image has been tarnished since his wife Monica, formerly Detroit city council president, pled guilty to bribery and is now serving time in federal prison. He was challenged in the democrat primary by state senator Glenn Anderson, whose base in the mostly white suburbs of Westland and Redford was moved from McCotter's district into the 13th; Senator Bert Johnson, who is a convicted felon since he robbed a country club at age 19; State Rep. Shanelle Jackson; and John Goci, as Godfrey Dillard was disqualified. Conyers won 55% to 18% for Anderson and 13% for Jackson. Harry Sawicki is the Republican candidate.

District 14 (E Detroit, Southfield, Farmington, Pontiac) Safe democrat.
This district had a very interesting primary. The majority of the district is the old 13th of democrat Hansen Clarke, who beat the scandal-plagued Carolyn Kilpatrick in 2010, though he was drawn out of the district. Congressman Gary Peters, whose old 9th district was split into four pieces, ran here. This was the best of several bad options for him. Also running were Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence, former state rep. Mary Waters, who has pled guilty to filing a false tax return, and Bob Costello. Peters did very well in endorsements and fundraising, and he won this majority black district 47-35-13 over Clarke and Lawrence. John Hauler is the Republican candidate.

Allegan Surrenders to Terrorists

Allegan police chief Rick Hoyer shut down an event where Kamal Seleem was to speak on the threat of radical Islam. This is an attack on the First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of association. This was due to a rumor of a bounty on his head (which seems dubious). It's a shame that the police chief would surrender to the threats (real or imagined) of terrorists rather than stand up to them.

Allegan High School event canceled after police learn of 'bounty' on speaker Kamal Saleem's head

Impeach Obama!

Three years down, hopefully no more than one to go.

Jack Announces

Jack Hoogendyk has announced a second challenge to Congressman Fred Upton.

Jack Hoogendyk to challenge U.S. Rep. Fred Upton again for seat in Congress
Jack Hoogendyk announces bid for Congress at Kalamazoo event
Congressman Fred Upton responds to Jack Hoogendyk entering the Republican primary for the House

Retiring POLITICAL UPDATES

Due to time constraints, I have decided to cease my weekly POLITICAL UPDATES. We had a good run, dating back to summer 2005. Unfortunately, I can't keep up the same schedule any longer. Readers can find good conservative articles by visiting the websites frequently linked to, and reading frequent authors such as Steve Sailer, Gary North, Thomas Sowell, Ann Coulter, and Phyllis Schlafly.

Thank you.
-Conservative First

Enough

POLITICAL UPDATE--Immigration

This update focuses on immigration.

Victor Davis Hanson: Vandalized Valley
James Fulford: Republican Legislators And The US Chamber Of Commerce Collude On Increasing Legal Immigration During Great Recession
Steve Sailer: Import Teachers Who Can’t Speak English—Alienate Reagan Democrats
James Fulford: So Why Doesn’t The “Broken Windows” Theory Apply To Illegal Aliens?
Washington Watcher: The Achievements Of Russell Pearce—Arizona’s Patriotic Immigration Reform Champion is Down But Not Out!

For more on immigration, see VDARE.com.