Michigan State Legislature Project # 2
Hello everyone, we have a few updates coming up and some of the races detailed last time now have primaries. Right now we have updates on 3 State Senate seats and 3 State House seats. Anyone who is interested in a particular State Legislative race for Michigan, just include it in your comment and I’ll try to cover it in issue #3
State Senate District #6 (City of Taylor, City of Romulus, Van Buren Township, Sumpter Township, Huron Township, Brownstown Township, Westland,most of City of Wayne)
Incumbent: Hoon-Young Hopgood (D, not eligible to run for re-election)
Dems Running: State Representative Robert Kosowski (term-limited, his district covers Wayne & Westland), does not appear to have a campaign website
Potential Dems: State Representative Erika Geiss (Elected 2014, eligible for re-election to the state House, her seats covers Taylor, Romulous, and a tiny portion of Van Buren Township), former State Representative Doug Geiss (husband to Erika, held the seat from 2008-2014), essentially the entire municipal Governments of Westland, Romulous, Van Buren Township, Taylor, Wayne, and Brownstown Township are all Dem so any number of them could conceivably run.
This is a very Democratic district (part of the 3rd worst gerrymander in the country) so I doubt a Republican actually even files let alone wins. This will likely be down to one of the current or previous State Representatives for Taylor or Westland as they are the two largest areas in the State Senate district
State Senate District #7 (Canton, Plymouth Township, City of Livonia, City of Plymouth, City & Township of Northville, City of Livonia, portion of city of Wayne)
Incumbent: Patrick Colbeck (R, not eligible to run again, running for Governor)
Democrats Running: Psychiatrist Ghulam Qadir (http://drqadir.com/), Teacher/Small Business Owner/Casting Agent Dayna Polehanki (http://daynaforsenate.com), Facebook: (https://www.facebook.com/DaynaForSenate/) and IMDB page (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0688954/).
Potential Republicans: State Representative Laura Cox, Plymouth Township Supervisor Kurt Heisse, and a number of politicians in the region
We have a primary here. In addition to the distinguished Dr. Qadir (who’s campaigned with former Canton Township Trustee Syed Taj and former State Board of Ed President John Austin) Teacher and past Casting Director Dana Polehanki (who’s campaigned with Canton area State Representative Kristy Pagan, a progressive Dem). I covered Dr. Qadir, a distinguished psychiatrist for, I believe Oakwood Hospital, last time but Dana Polehanki has an interesting background in her own right. Polehanki’s website mentions that she is a past: past “Teach of the Year” at New Heaven High School (unfortunately, this district is outside the 7th so it would have been prior to her moving here), past New Haven Education Association (local teacher’s union) Building Representative, and does have a Master’s in teaching. On the Hollywood front: she provided the Detroit casting for Alex Cross in 2012 and is the owner of Detroit Casting Company (as per her website). There is currently not a Republican I’m aware of who has formally declared a run, as this district overlaps with David Trott’s Congressional seat and it looks like there is a lot of jockeying for position as things shake out. This is an interesting primary in a winnable seat and, provided everyone is respectful, potentially an interesting primary.
State Senate District 29 (city of Grand Rapids, City of East Grand Rapids, Ada Township, Cascade Township, Caledonia Township, Bowne Township, City/Township of Lowell)
Incumbent: Dave Hildenbrand (R-Lowell, not eligible to run for re-election)
Dems Running: State Representative for the 76th district Winnie Brinks (http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/09/state_rep_winnie_brinks_runnin.html)
Possible Republicans Running: State Representative Thomas Albert (District 86) and State Representative Chris Afendoulis (District 73), a number of township and county officials in district. A websearch did not have anyone as declaring yet.
State Representative Winnie Brinks recently declared for State Senate and, its worth noting, her district was specifically gerrymandered to elect a Republican (her neighboring district 75 was supposed to be the Dem district in Grand Rapids, her district was supposed to elect a Republican). This is optimistic for her as if she wins her district and District 75 (represented by Dem David LaGrand) she probably wins this district. Making things more interesting, I don’t know that either of the two Republican state Reps that represent parts of this district even live in the district (due to Gerrymanders the 75-76, and the 73rd and 86th are kinds odd shapped). Given that Winnie Brinks wasn’t expected to be elected (she had to win a write-in primary after Roy Schmidt switched parties to the Republicans too late to name a formal replacement on the ballot and *then* beat him in the general) she has to have good odds for a pick-up the Dems haven’t won since the 70s.
Michigan State House
House District 40 (Oakland County-Troy, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and nearby townships)
Incumbent: Mike McCrady (R-Bloomfield Hills, not eligible for re-election)
Dems Running: former State Department employee & former John Dingell Congressional intern Mari Manoogian (http://mariformi.com/) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MariforMichigan/)
Licensed Nutritionist, gun safety advocate, and 2016 Nominee Nicole Bedi (https://votebedi.com/) Facebook: (https://www.facebook.com/votebedi/)
Republicans Running: A websearch indicates no one so I’m checking to see if anyone has anything.
We have a new primary as this past week Nicole Bedi decided to give it another shot in 2018. I still think that Manoogian is favored as she’s been running for longer in this cycle, hasn’t lost before, and as she’s been raising money for longer *should* have more. It should be noted that Bedi did run fairly strongly (exact % breakdown: 53.48-46.52) so don’t count her out, and the 40th is the type of district that gun control isn’t a breaking issue. Also, for everyone who missed it the first time, Mari does not appear to be related to the Manoogians who founded (and still run) Masco.
House District 69 (East Lansing, Lansing, Okemos Township, other related townships)
Incumbent: House Minority Leader Sam Singh (ineligible to run for reelection)
Dems Running: former Ingham County Commissioner Penelope Tsernoglou (https://www.votepenelope.com/), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/VotePenelope/?fref=nf)
Potential Republicans: ?
This is just details on a safe seat that is coming up next year. Tsernoglou appears to be a sound candidate in a safe seat and she is getting support from people I respect. Just getting this out there as a combination of name recognition and requesting information to see if anyone knows of anyone else out there.
House District 76 (part of Grand Rapids)
Incumbent: Winnie Banks (Running for State Senate)
Dems Running: Non-Profit Executive & former Director of the Western Michigan Environmental Action Council Rachel Hood (https://hoodforthehouse.com/), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/hoodforthehouse/)
Potential Republicans Running: Still seeking information, a websearch indicated nothing.
This is a worthwhile hold as it is the more Republican of the two Grand Rapids-area seats (though it should be pointed out that Dems have held this the past few elections) and I’m still seeking information on it. However, Hood appears to be a qualified thoughtful candidate with a good resume.