Michigan will elect a new governor next year, and many candidates are already in the race. State Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, for instance, is running for the Republican nomination.
Colbeck's background is in aerospace engineering, so he said at first, getting into politics was a foreign concept for his family.
“So for me, this is about passion for public service, and for me and my wife personally, this is a call of faith,” he said.
When that call of faith came, Colbeck said he was getting frustrated with what was happening in the world.
“When you see some of the stuff that’s going on where you have elected officials that think that the people are supposed to be working for them, and not the other way around; when you start seeing that tax increases are the default solution for every problem that faces us; when you start seeing crony capitalism and people picking winners and losers and using taxpayer money to go off and reward friends and family,” he said. “That’s the kind of stuff that ticks me off.”
While there are different ways to respond to issues like this, Colbeck said politics became his path forward.
“My wife and I felt called to go out and do something about it and, you know, it may sound cliché, but make the world a better place,” he said.
Listen to the full interview above.
Check out all of Stateside's conversations with candidates for governor here.
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