It truly seems like it's been an eternity, even though it's only taken us about two months to get to this point.
And one week from today, with any luck, the sideshow in the 82nd District will finally be over, and somebody, anybody, other than Todd Courser will be your next state representative. Within the last few days, the cast of thousands running for the job had a few opportunities to respond to the concerns of their constituents, or in Courser's case, doubling down on blowing them off.
We'll start with one final debate recap: The Lapeer County Democrats had theirs on Thursday night, and I suppose I owe most of the hard-core party folk an apology here. It appeared in local Democratic circles that Margaret Guererro-DeLuca, who lost to Todd Courser last year in the general election, was already anointed the chosen one by those most active in the party at the county level, seemingly ignoring the fact that two other candidates also declared for the primary.
After watching Eric Johnson and R.D. Bohm in action, I now see exactly why that was.
As it turns out, Johnson, a mortgage lender who turned out to expend quite a few words while saying very little, probably made a wise decision in skipping every debate before this one; and Bohm, a hardhat-wearing 81-year old retiree who's as close to the real-life version of Abe Simpson as one can get, showed why he hasn't been taken particularly seriously by, well, anybody.
When asked what would be the first bill they'd introduce, DeLuca said she'd repeal the pension tax, Johnson said he'd repeal right-to-work after spending most of his response time defending himself against a statement he gave to the County Press that he ran as a Democrat because it would be easier to win the primary, and Bohm said he'd restore weigh stations and weight limits on trucks, which would be a recurring theme of his throughout the night. Next, the candidates were asked what changes they'd make to the state's tax code. Johnson joined DeLuca in wanting to repeal the pension tax, Bohm responded that he'd restore the Michigan Business Tax, while DeLuca wants to implement a graduated income tax.
And one week from today, with any luck, the sideshow in the 82nd District will finally be over, and somebody, anybody, other than Todd Courser will be your next state representative. Within the last few days, the cast of thousands running for the job had a few opportunities to respond to the concerns of their constituents, or in Courser's case, doubling down on blowing them off.
We'll start with one final debate recap: The Lapeer County Democrats had theirs on Thursday night, and I suppose I owe most of the hard-core party folk an apology here. It appeared in local Democratic circles that Margaret Guererro-DeLuca, who lost to Todd Courser last year in the general election, was already anointed the chosen one by those most active in the party at the county level, seemingly ignoring the fact that two other candidates also declared for the primary.
After watching Eric Johnson and R.D. Bohm in action, I now see exactly why that was.
As it turns out, Johnson, a mortgage lender who turned out to expend quite a few words while saying very little, probably made a wise decision in skipping every debate before this one; and Bohm, a hardhat-wearing 81-year old retiree who's as close to the real-life version of Abe Simpson as one can get, showed why he hasn't been taken particularly seriously by, well, anybody.
When asked what would be the first bill they'd introduce, DeLuca said she'd repeal the pension tax, Johnson said he'd repeal right-to-work after spending most of his response time defending himself against a statement he gave to the County Press that he ran as a Democrat because it would be easier to win the primary, and Bohm said he'd restore weigh stations and weight limits on trucks, which would be a recurring theme of his throughout the night. Next, the candidates were asked what changes they'd make to the state's tax code. Johnson joined DeLuca in wanting to repeal the pension tax, Bohm responded that he'd restore the Michigan Business Tax, while DeLuca wants to implement a graduated income tax.
The next question asked which issues the candidates could find common ground on with Republicans, and on which issues they'd be unwilling to compromise on. Bohm declared there is absolutely no common ground or compromise to be had. "I don't think I could find any common ground with them unless they're resigning!" DeLuca responded that compromise could be had through discussion, facts and data, but no particular specifics were given to the question posed. Johnson went on a tangent about economic growth, but didn't answer the question.
The topic then turned to working with local municipalities to bring jobs to Lapeer County. DeLuca emphasized talking to each municipality and local board to find out their needs, citing examples from her time as mayor of Imlay City. Johnson vowed to hold town hall meetings, then went on a tangent about I-69 and attracting youth and keeping them in Lapeer. Bohm went on a different tangent about 69 and extending the freeway to the Thumb, a priority for... well, Bohm and literally nobody else.
Last week's roads bill passed by the state House was then brought up, and the candidates were asked if they'd have voted for the bill, and if not, what solution they'd propose instead. Johnson again avoided the question, only mentioning in his rebuttal that a more permanent solution is needed. Bohm would vote down any bill that didn't make up for costs associated with truck weight limits, audit the Catastrophic Accident Fund, and make 69 a toll road, which isn't necessarily legal in Michigan. Deluca would vote no on the bill proposed, citing the outrageous registration fee increase, the fact that said money would be coming from somewhere in the general fund, and posing an interesting question herself: why is it going to take until 2020 for the money raised to actually go to the roads? Never one to leave time on the clock, Bohm then took the last 20 seconds of DeLuca's rebuttal!
Next came the issues of repealing prevailing wage and raising minimum wage- Bohm came out against eliminating prevailing wage and for raising minimum wage. DeLuca called out Republicans for not even knowing what the minimum wage is when asked at the first debate, went on to explain that the current minimum wage law doesn't do enough for tipped workers, and went on to oppose repealing prevailing wage. Johnson... apparently supports minimum wage, for whatever that's worth, and stands against repealing prevailing wage. It's not exactly difficult to conclude that there's only one serious contender on the Democratic side that stands any chance in the general election. Only DeLuca even managed to answer the actual questions posed, with much incoherent rambling on one side and off-topic rambling on the other.
The County Press then ran a questionnaire with all 14 candidates in Sunday's paper. Not much here that's particularly enlightening, unless you really enjoy platitudes about working across the aisle, less regulations, and more liberty, but a few bullet-points, if I may:
-Bohm continued to throw red meat to the Democratic base, doubling down on his "no compromise with Republicans, ever" policy and calling for I-69 to be tied into Van Dyke, despite the fact that it's... been... tied to Van Dyke for decades. And once again, a call that nobody asked for to build a freeway to the thumb, as Van Dyke isn't good enough because reasons.
-Courser, to nobody's surprise, remains as defiant as ever, denying any and all wrongdoing while attacking "progressive leadership" in Lansing, despite clearly not knowing what the word 'progressive' means. He sent out yet another bizarre manifesto this week, trumpeting his nonexistent accomplishments from his time in Lansing and once again whining about being bullied by the 'establishment,' while blasting the hell out of Jan Peabody, Ian Kempf, Jake Davison and Gary Howell as "good Republican Party hacks," then went on to single out Peabody and tear her a new one over her backers at the Great Lakes Education Project and accuse her of administering abortion-inducing medications. Regardless of where you stand on those issues or on any candidate, the personal attacks on the part of the incumbent representative are uncalled for, though not at all surprising. Davison, Kempf, Howell and even Peabody are decent, hardworking and honest people, who deserve far better that the slime being thrown by a lowlife like Courser.
From there, there isn't anything particularly noteworthy. The County Press asked four fairly vague questions, all of which have been answered several times already in much further depth: what made them decide to run, how they would work with fellow lawmakers to get things done, how they would work to reduce unemployment, and why they are uniquely qualified for the office.
Barring a final outburst of crazy from Todd, I'll have one last round-up of all the candidates later this week, along with a note or two on the city commissioner's race (yes, there are other things on the ballot in November!), and then maybe we'll finally be done with all of this, if we're lucky.
The County Press then ran a questionnaire with all 14 candidates in Sunday's paper. Not much here that's particularly enlightening, unless you really enjoy platitudes about working across the aisle, less regulations, and more liberty, but a few bullet-points, if I may:
-Bohm continued to throw red meat to the Democratic base, doubling down on his "no compromise with Republicans, ever" policy and calling for I-69 to be tied into Van Dyke, despite the fact that it's... been... tied to Van Dyke for decades. And once again, a call that nobody asked for to build a freeway to the thumb, as Van Dyke isn't good enough because reasons.
-Courser, to nobody's surprise, remains as defiant as ever, denying any and all wrongdoing while attacking "progressive leadership" in Lansing, despite clearly not knowing what the word 'progressive' means. He sent out yet another bizarre manifesto this week, trumpeting his nonexistent accomplishments from his time in Lansing and once again whining about being bullied by the 'establishment,' while blasting the hell out of Jan Peabody, Ian Kempf, Jake Davison and Gary Howell as "good Republican Party hacks," then went on to single out Peabody and tear her a new one over her backers at the Great Lakes Education Project and accuse her of administering abortion-inducing medications. Regardless of where you stand on those issues or on any candidate, the personal attacks on the part of the incumbent representative are uncalled for, though not at all surprising. Davison, Kempf, Howell and even Peabody are decent, hardworking and honest people, who deserve far better that the slime being thrown by a lowlife like Courser.
From there, there isn't anything particularly noteworthy. The County Press asked four fairly vague questions, all of which have been answered several times already in much further depth: what made them decide to run, how they would work with fellow lawmakers to get things done, how they would work to reduce unemployment, and why they are uniquely qualified for the office.
Barring a final outburst of crazy from Todd, I'll have one last round-up of all the candidates later this week, along with a note or two on the city commissioner's race (yes, there are other things on the ballot in November!), and then maybe we'll finally be done with all of this, if we're lucky.
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