On this week's Talking Michigan Politics podcast, recorded at Rocky's in Grand Rapids, Jeff and Ed discuss:
1. The race for governor. The Democratic field is growing. Former Genesee County Treasurer Dan Kildee filed to explore a run and long-exploring candidate Andy Dillon, state House speaker, made his run official Monday. Do Kildee and Lansing Mayor Verg Bernero split the labor base and help Dillon? How does Dillon's pro-life status factor in the primary?
On the GOP side, the campaign of Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder has filed two complaints with the Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and Attorney General Mike Cox alleging that groups behind a series of attack ads are violating Michigan’s campaign finance law. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra was noted in the Washington Post's Fix column today in an analysis that Texas voters rejection of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson in the gubernatorial race revealed a more vitriolic anti-Washington mood.
2. Grand Rapids Congressional race. Before a crowd of about 200 people, Steve Heacock formally announced his Republican candidacy for the seat being vacated by veteran U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers. Already in the race are first-term state Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, and term-limited state Sen. Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood.
Do Heacock and Hardiman carve up more moderate elements of the party while Amash, an ardent small-government proponent, appeals to the fiscal conservatives?
3. Employee givebacks. The state Senate failed Wednesday to muster the votes to block 3-percent pay raises for state employees. The same day the anti-teachers union Education Action Group criticized Grand Rapids school officials for agreeing to hear from Michigan State University economist Charles Ballard, who conducted a study in the fall that concluded Michigan state employees are not overpaid.
Conversation starters:
• Ed on National Talk in the Third Person Day. Think Bob Dole.
• Jeff on an organization that pushes for alternatives to incarceration held out Michigan, which has seen lower prison populations and lower violent crime, as one of four models in the country.
Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth says judges are very judicious in sending felons to prison, only two in 10, compared to national average of four of 10. It comes as the state decides whether to reinstate good time for prisons to lower prison population and save millions.
