© 2024 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

WMU professor to try to unseat Congressman Upton, again

Courtesy photo - Paul Clements
/
Creative Commons http://michrad.io/1LXrdJM

Paul Clements will try again to unseat longtime Congressman Fred Upton.

The political science professor at Western Michigan University got 40% of the vote the last time he ran against Upton, in 2014.

“I’m going to build a smart campaign. I have a better idea of how to do that. I think the political environment will be a little more favorable,” Clements said.

Turnout will probably be higher this time, since it’ll be a presidential election.

Clements says he decided to run again because the U.S. “economy and democracy are broken and (Upton’s) part of the problem.”

“We’re not building the kind of economy that’s going to work for the majority of people,” Clements said. “If we want to build an economy that works for everybody, we have to have significant improvement in education.”

Clements wants to improve access to education, including universal preschool and free college at public universities. He’d also like to see less money in politics.

Clements is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard. He’s taught at Western for nearly 20 years.

Lindsey Smith helps lead the station'sAmplify Team. She previously served as Michigan Public's Morning News Editor, Investigative Reporter and West Michigan Reporter.
Related Content