Two days before the primary, and the races are looking as nasty as ever.
And your not-so-humble correspondent is still attempting to make sense of it all, which is a proposition easier said than done. There's much to hit on here, so we're gonna go with bullet-points for this one.
- Todd Courser Speaks! Everybody's favorite political disgrace has crawled back out from the rock he'd been hiding under since announcing his run for prosecutor. In a far-too-long video posted this week, Courser rambled at length about several topics, from how he's the real victim here, to the prosecutor's race (Turkelson is corrupt, Sharkey's a social liberal, I'm the real victim here), to the "wombats" working for him in Lansing, back to how he's the real victim here. And the irony of Courser accusing Turkelson of wasting taxpayer money after racking up
a significant tab for the county in his own right is not lost on us. - The Endorsements Are In! I can't say I've been overly impressed with the editorial judgement of the County Press during this election season; while there are some damn fine reporters doing their best to be fair throughout the process, the judgement of the higher-ups has been a bit lacking. For starters: there's a race for Congress ongoing, one where there's a good possibility that it will be decided in the primary, and they've all but completely ignored it, focusing all their attention on the sheriff and prosecutor's races. Thankfully, the Times-Herald in Port Huron is doing the job for them, hosting one final debate tonight, to be live-streamed on their website.
Then, there's their not-at-all-surprising endorsement of Tim Turkelson, coming a week after they basically let McLaren run a full-page Turkelson ad in the back of the LA View. They also endorsed Scott McKenna, whose sticker is prominently featured on the front of today's paper. (EDIT: In the interest of fairness, Dave Eady's sticker ran on Thursday's LA View. And with McKenna, it's entirely possible that the ceaseless smears on him played a factor, along with Ron Kalanquin's refusal to repudiate them.) But in the case of the prosecutor and other recent races, the bizarre double-endorsement in the last state rep primary being a notable example, it seems rather obvious at this point just who the paper is in bed with, and it's hard not to feel bad for the hard-working reporters over there that have to be associated with it. - The corruption of the Corruption Page. Leave it to everyone's favorite online smear merchants to get away from the issues and into candidates' bedrooms, as several posts in recent days have flat-out accused the current prosecutor of having affairs with multiple women. Of course, the geniuses running that page also think Phil Foley personally writes the editorials for the paper, despite not being an editor, so take them with a grain of salt. But this is really what it's come to? "We're not saying Turkelson is sleeping with his secretary, but we're not not saying it either"? Is that all the burden of proof I need to post things now, too? So I could totally say something like, "I'm not saying the Lapeer County Corruption Page is run in part by a former courthouse employee, with very close ties to a former challenger to Kalanquin, and also has a personal vendetta against Scott McKenna rooted in a kids' sports team he coached, but I'm not not saying it either." Did I do that right?
- On to the actual voter's guide... we'll start with the prosecutor's race, which as pointed out prior, has essentially become a referendum on the Byron Konschuh trial. Because, if we're to be entirely honest here, what else is there to really campaign on? The winner will face Democrat Phillip Fulks in November.
Tim Turkelson- The incumbent. Made a few enemies in the courthouse by bringing Konschuh's misuse of funds to the attention of the state attorney general. Made even more by directly violating a judge's orders in another case, and more still by seemingly letting Matt Wandrie off the hook for his drunken hit-and-run incident. VOTE IF: You're one of those crazy people that believe that nobody should be above the law... except the top lawyer in town.
Mike Sharkey- Judge Konschuh's defense attorney, so it should be self-evident why he's running. To their credit, Team Sharkey did finally denounce the "Corruption" page when I spoke with them the other day, making it clear that there is no bad blood between Sharkey and primary target Scott McKenna. VOTE IF: You're one of those crazy people that believe nobody should be above the law... except the top judge in town.
Todd Courser- LOL. VOTE IF: You're one of those crazy people that believe nobody should be above the law... except former state representatives. - On to the Sheriff race, which will be decided in the primary.
Ron Kalanquin- The incumbent and very public face of the department, perhaps a bit too public at times, depending on who you ask. Much as in the last election, waited until the absolute last minute to declare his candidacy, despite voicing support to other candidates. His campaign and supporters have engaged in one of the worst smear campaigns in recent memory, throwing a litany of accusations against McKenna, most of them baseless at best and defamatory at worst. VOTE IF: You like your sheriff to have plenty of politician in him.
Scott McKenna- Formerly the chief of police in Mt. Morris, and currently on the receiving end of some of the worst smear attacks seen in this county since Todd Courser's first race for state rep. Has the support of a surprising number of employees of the sheriff's department, which should say something about the man in office currently. Admittedly, though, there are a few black marks on his time in Mt. Morris, with millages being passed but not being enough to prevent officer layoffs. VOTE IF: Relentless negativity towards (and occasionally from) a candidate won't dissuade you from voting for them.
Dave Eady- Former sheriff's deputy, and current county commissioner. Has the endorsement of the Lapeer County Firefighters Association and fellow commissioner (and friend of the blog) Ian Kempf, and has thus far avoided the mudslinging and borderline slander that this race has otherwise devolved into. Finally got to have a substantive discussion with him as well recently, and would not say so much as an unkind word about either of his opponents, despite the prompting of your humble correspondent, opting to focus primarily on a few things he felt that could be done to improve relations between police and the public. VOTE IF: You really just want all the attacks and bickering to be over already. - Moving on, there's a race for the 10th District Congressional seat vacated by Candice Miller. The winner will face Democrat Frank Accavitti Jr. and Libertarian Lisa Lane Gioia in November.
Tony Forlini- Current state representative in a district that is fairly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. As a certified financial planner and member of the House Appropriations Committee, has made much of his ability to balance a budget, and is easily the candidate most likely to appeal to non-Republicans in the general. But in a district that is heavily Republican outside of southern Macomb County, that may not much matter in the primary. VOTE IF: The ability to manage a budget is an important quality in the people you elect to manage a budget.
Paul Mitchell- The self-proclaimed "solutions" candidate, but his solutions don't seem much more workable than those of his competition. Spent a great deal in the effort to vote down the roads bill boondoggle known as Proposal 1. Moved to the district to spend a great deal to run for Congress again after losing a previous congressional bid in the 4th District. Will no doubt try to spend a great deal again elsewhere if he fails this time around. At least he makes some quality hair care products. VOTE IF: You believe you really can put a price on representation in Washington, and it just happens to fall in the $5-6 million range.
Phil Pavlov- Current State Senator for a district that includes St. Clair County, and formerly included Lapeer County as well. Given his unresponsiveness to his constituents and dismissive attitude towards pretty much everybody that doesn't toe his party line, the redistricting that changed that was no great loss for Lapeer. VOTE IF: You don't much like hearing from your congressman.
Alan Sanborn- Former State Senator, Sanborn doesn't deviate much from the party line. An unapologetic conservative fiscally and socially, he's the only candidate whose issues page on his website still devotes time to railing against same-sex marriage. I really hoped we'd moved beyond this. VOTE IF: You like your Republican politicians with a healthy dose of red-meat rhetoric.
David VanAssche- Another political newcomer, this one in his first-ever run for office, but without the pocketbook of Paul Mitchell. Spent most of his career in military service, and as he likes to point out, despite being a political newbie, he has more experience in Washington than any candidate in the field. If there's any one candidate qualified to speak on matters of national security, it's him. VOTE IF: You like your public servants to actually understand what the whole "public servant" thing means.
- As for our own endorsements... In all good conscience, I can't endorse anybody for prosecutor. Turkelson and Courser are clearly unfit to hold the job, and Sharkey doesn't engender much confidence either. Turkelson is still in the midst of his own contempt of court case for having refused a judge's order to return property that lawfully belonged to a former defendant that he attempted to prosecute; Sharkey and his team still don't understand the difference between not guilty and a plea deal; and Todd Courser may yet lose his own law license, pending the charges against him. None of these men should be allowed near this position, and knowing nothing of the Democratic challenger, I would still submit that he could not possibly be any worse in office.
In the sheriff's race, only one candidate has managed to avoid the ridiculous amount of mudslinging going on, and has remained focused on what he would do were he to win the election. That candidate is county commissioner Dave Eady, and he's absolutely got our endorsement. There's still too many legitimate red flags with Scott McKenna's candidacy, and Ron Kalanquin has shown far too much willingness to get in the gutter with him this time around.
Finally, the race to replace Candice Miller... I've gone through hours of video of debates with the five Republicans chasing after this seat, talked to three of them, and been ignored by one and blocked by another. And while most of them have given the standard boilerplate answers one would expect from their party, a couple of them stand above the fray. Forlini has offered up some of the most sensible solutions for current economic woes. Kudos as well, for being the only candidate on either side willing to commit to supporting a Constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United case. (EDIT: Sanborn and VanAssche voiced their support for the same this evening, during the Times-Herald forum, which can be viewed here.)
One of the political newcomers stood out as well, but not the one you'd expect. VanAssche, a 27-year Air Force vet and former Chief Mission Director for Air Force One, for which he served under the current president. More than any of his opponents, VanAssche offered an honest assessment of the state's culpability in the Flint water crisis, and the federal government's responsibility in helping to fix it. His quote to the Detroit Free Press sums it up well: "Unfortunately, leaders in government continue to fail to understand the concept of service before self." - A few other races of note.... There's a countywide millage up for renewal for the Suncrest Medical Care Facility which should certainly be approved. There are a few races in Mayfield Township up for grabs as well; among them, friend of the blog Jake Davison is running for township treasurer, whom we endorse as well. As for countywide races, there's two road commission seats being contested, as well as the drain commissioner's seat.
- One more suggestion while we're at it... Can we make these sheriff and prosecutor's races non-partisan already? Contrary to popular belief, there is sometimes an actual contested Democratic (or third party) primary in this county, at which point your options are give up your right to vote your conscience in a legislative race, or give up your right to vote at all in a race like the one for sheriff, where there is literally no opposition party running. The idea that one should have to be a member of a particular party in order to have any say whatsoever in a general election is absurd.
A tall order indeed, in this election cycle.
