On Tuesday, Lapeer County voters will head to the polls to determine, among other things, who will next represent them in Lansing. And while I'm somewhat sad for the loss of the seemingly endless source of material that was Todd Courser's political career, somebody has to do the job he was voted in to do. And unless it's the independent that already announced a campaign, it will be one of these 14 folks:
(Note: the links in this next section are to the Facebook pages of each candidate's campaign. I felt this would serve as the easiest method for those who wish to get in direct contact with the candidates. The exceptions: Howell and Dewilde's personal profiles are listed, as they appear to be using them in lieu of a campaign page; Johnson has no link, as he doesn't even appear to have a Facebook account or website; and Bohm has no link, as I'm fairly certain he views the internet as some sort of sorcery.)
Russell Adams- One of three candidates running with zero experience as a politician or business owner, nor any political endorsement. Surprisingly independent for being a Republican in Lapeer County. VOTE IF: Being a "political outsider" is something that's important to you, and you're absolutely serious about this.
R.D. Bohm- Has about as much contempt for Republicans and stories with a point as Courser does to Democrats and... well, most Republicans. VOTE IF: Freeways to nowhere and bases on the moon are your thing; wearing an onion on your belt was the style back in your day.
Todd Courser- Because why wouldn't you run for the same office you just resigned from, a week after you resigned from it? VOTE IF: You wish to finally destroy my faith in my fellow man.
Jake Davison- If you like your politicians experienced, but with the appearance of a high school senior, Jake's your guy. Would like you to know that he is, indeed, King Shit. Would also like you to know that you won't have to worry about him wasting your money covering up a sex scandal, mostly because he's currently single. (Ladies.) Despite being the youngest candidate, actually has the most Lansing experience of anybody running, as a former employee of longtime state rep/senator Jud Gilbert. VOTE IF: You want your experienced politicians to have said experience in the actual office they're running for; you wanna hear him sing "Roundabout" by Yes at his victory celebration. (And trust me, you want this.)
Margaret Guererro DeLuca- Former Imlay City mayor, lost to Courser last time around. Can quote seemingly endless statistics, facts and data to back up her platform, and is not afraid to let you know it. VOTE IF: You're one of maybe five supporters of hers that somehow doesn't think she has the Dem nomination locked up already.
James DeWilde- Also looking to change his party from within, but moving in the opposite direction as the incumbent. Easily the most socially liberal of the Republican candidates, yet fiscally conservative, and one of the few with a background in economic development. Truly a damn shame his campaign got so little traction behind it; he'd have made a fine candidate on either side of the political fence, in a far less crowded field. VOTE IF: You like your Republicans to be not-so-Republican.
Rick Guererro Jr.- Todd Courser Lite. Hasn't done much to downplay that association, either. VOTE IF: You, for some reason, want to vote for Todd Courser, but without all the adultery, fire and brimstone.
Gary Howell- Can't believe this shit. Is getting too old for this shit. Has had enough of this shit. At least that's the image he's projected so far, anyway. But for a guy who's claimed he won't run again after he serves this term, he sure has put a lot of time and money into mailers attacking Jan Peabody, accusing her of being funded by "liberal" billionaire Dick DeVos. If the man who brought you the world's largest somehow-legal pyramid scheme, a man further to the right than even the Koch brothers themselves, is a liberal, then what does that make me? Joseph Stalin? VOTE IF: You've had enough of this shit, but not enough not to support a guy who keeps perpetuating it.
Eric Johnson- He does exist! Johnson came out of hiding for Thursday's debate, just long enough to remind us that he told the County Press that he's running as a Democrat because it's an easier fight. Probably should have stayed in hiding. VOTE IF: ...you want to prove him right about that? I got nothin'.
Ian Kempf- Helped bring back the Eastern Michigan Fair from the brink; has been a county commissioner for a good decade and a half. The one front-runner that hasn't done any negative campaigning whatsoever. Easily the most difficult guy to make jokes about in this whole race. VOTE IF: You're looking for the closest thing to real experience short of actually being in Lansing, or a guy that can stand on his own merit without mudslinging; you want to ensure this blog goes dormant for a good long while.
Allan Landosky- Who? VOTE IF: Seriously, who?
Jan Peabody- If ever there were an establishment-approved Republican in this race, the chair of the Lapeer County Republican Party is it. And there's a reason she keeps getting hammered over the amount of contributions coming from outside lobbying groups. Would almost certainly de-friend me on Facebook if she read literally a single thing I've ever posted. VOTE IF: Communication skills aren't a high priority for you; you really don't care about how much of a role outside lobbyist money plays in local politics.
Sharna Smith- Ran last year, played spoiler to ensure Courser's primary victory. Decent candidate who has served her township well in her current position, but nothing particularly makes her stand out from most of her competition. VOTE IF: ...I'm still trying to answer that from the last election.
Chris Tuski- Not much of note to differentiate him from the field, other than the endorsement of previous state rep Kevin Daley (supposedly in part to keep him from running against Daley for state Senate in the last election, but that's neither here nor there.) VOTE IF: You'd rather have had Kevin Daley serve a fourth term.
All jokes aside, there's several candidates I feel would absolutely be worthy of the job, and at this point, it seems that damn near every candidate has stood in my line of fire at one point or another, whether in-person or via Facebook. And except for the incumbent, every single one engaged me in conversation and attempted to answer the questions I had for them. In particular, Kempf and Davison have taken the most of my interrogation outside of the debates and managed to answer most of my questions in a satisfactory manner; Guererro and I sparred a bit on Facebook over my first debate recap, and Adams let me have it a bit as well! I've spoken in person with all of the above and DeLuca, DeWilde, Peabody, Bohm, and Johnson; other than Courser, all of them have been nothing but gracious and respectful to a guy that has been fairly blunt in sharing his opinions of them all!
I've held off on making endorsements on the Republican side so far in this campaign. The reason for this is fairly simple: as many of you know, I was involved in a primary campaign for this very race last year, for somebody I considered a good friend and a great supporter of my musical endeavors over the last few years. After the election, there was something of a falling out between us, and for this cycle, I'd like to avoid a repeat of that. That said, I did play a fundraiser in this cycle for Davison, whose father I consider a great friend and a stand-up guy. And while there are a few lesser-known candidates whose views align more with my own (in an alternate universe with a smaller field, Jim DeWilde would be getting my vote without a doubt), of the front-runners on the Republican side, Kempf and Davison are the best options to be had. Both have the political experience the job demands, and both have run clean campaigns without the all-too-typical mudslinging and endless bombardment of phone calls. As for the Democratic side, it's been fairly obvious to me for a while that DeLuca is the only logical choice for the nomination.
Then there's the Lapeer City Commissioner's race. Eight candidates are running for four spots: Mike Robinet and the oft-outspoken John Lyons are stepping down, while Catherine Bostick and A. Wayne Bennett are the incumbents running again. Despite the ubiquitous presence of "We Love Lapeer" signs around town (a campaign of his that never went any further than the actual signs), I can't, in good conscience, endorse a man who helped Courser to evade questioning for his actions and has continued to support him, nor a man who publicly referred to homosexuality as an "abomination" immediately following the Supreme Court ruling; as such, A. Wayne Bennett will not be getting my vote. Running against them are Glenn Alverson, Josh Atwood, Deb Marquardt, Mary Miracle, Erik Reinhardt, and Michael Stuart. Marquardt served admirably up until the last election, when a last-minute change of heart about running resulted in her name being left off the ballot. As far as the newcomers go, I've managed to find very little information on most of them, but Atwood has easily done the most campaigning of any candidate, made himself readily accessible to voters, and as a downtown business owner, has put his money where his mouth is. The man came into the most cynical group of people in Lapeer County (Lapeer Sound Off on Facebook) and was grilled about everything from his age, to his business experience, to, for some reason, his beard, and put a great deal of thought into his responses. As such, I have great confidence in his ability to work with residents and business owners alike and bring new ideas to the city commission, and I give him my full endorsement. (Plus, the beard is pretty sweet!)
If ever there were a silver lining to the dark cloud hanging over Lapeer County for the last year, it's the fact that having a national political scandal happening in your hometown does wonders for voter interest and engagement. I haven't seen this many people this invested in what their local elected officials are doing at any point in the 14 years I've lived in Lapeer; you'd be amazed how many couldn't tell you the name of the mayor of this city! (Uh... it's Bill something-or-other, isn't it?)
In keeping with that, if I can ask one thing of everybody reading here, it's this: Vote. And be informed. Read the write-ups of the debates that were held. Hell, watch the videos of the first two. See for yourself what all of the candidates stand for. I've even provided the links to the Facebook pages of each campaign so you can see what they believe in their own words, or pester them for yourselves and ask them whatever questions you feel haven't been satisfactorily answered yet. And if you really want to know the kind of man the incumbent is, read this and follow the links; there's 40 of them in that post alone, which link to either the man's own words, his own actions, or the many instances where the two wildly differ.
Finally, I leave you with this: if ever you should, for even a second, think to yourself that maybe, just maybe, this whole process has humbled our last representative in the slightest, that he might just feel some shame and remorse for what he's done to the people of Lapeer County, remember that the man himself asked us this a few days ago:
If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what does.
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