Tagged: Clark Durant

Clark Durant is a man of ideas who is far more knowledgeable about American history than most United States senators I’ve met.

His office is filled with portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, together with photos of a much younger Clark with Ronald Reagan and Sandra Day O’Connor. He’s fascinated by Washington, D.C. and absolutely hates its culture.

This year, he’s running hard for the United States Senate, because he thinks his country is in great danger of being destroyed by debt and spending with no thought for the consequences.

And he believes that maybe, just maybe, he can do something to change that. “If this were just about trying to be one more Republican senator, I wouldn’t be doing this. I know I would be a freshman senator, bottom of the pack in seniority, at 63 years old."

Former Michigan State Board of Education President Clark Durant says he will formally launch his bid for the U.S. Senate tomorrow in Detroit.

Durant is seeking the Republican nomination to face Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) on the November 2012 ballot.

Durant is a former president of the state Board of Education. He made a failed attempt to win his party’s U.S. Senate nomination 20 years ago.

He also ran unsuccessfully for the state Supreme Court. 

Republican candidates hoping to unseat U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow in 2012 held an unofficial debate in West Michigan this week. The Gerald R. Ford Republican Women’s Club hosted the event. The “Ford Women” of the club aren’t set on which man will make the best candidate.

13th District: Johnson Is In

State Senator Bert Johnson just got into the race for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. Johnson made the announcement yesterday in Highland Park. Many political observers believe Johnson will face U.S. Rep. John Conyers in a Democratic primary for the seat. Though Rep. Conyers currently represents the state’s 14th Congressional District, it’s believed, due to redistricting, that he’ll run in 2012 in the 13th District. U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke, who currently represents the state’s 13th District, announced earlier this month his intention to run in 2012 in the new 14th Congressional District.

Miller Supports Hoekstra

Michigan Republican Congresswoman Candice Miller says she supports former West Michigan Congressman Pete Hoesktra in his bid to become the GOP challenger in the 2012 election against incumbent Senator Debbie Stabenow. Earlier this week, Governor Rick Snyder formally endorsed Hoekstra as well. Hoekstra faces fellow Republicans Clark Durant, a Detroit charter school executive; Randy Hekman, a former Kent County Probate Judge; Gary Glenn, President of the American Family Association of Michigan; and businessman Pete Konetchy.

Melton Steps Down

Democratic State Representative Tim Melton of Pontiac is stepping down from his seat in the state legislature. Melton, who made the announcement yesterday, is taking a job in California with StudentsFirst, an education reform group lead by Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of the Washington D.C., public school system. When Democrats controlled the state House, Melton was chair of that chamber’s Education Committee. Melton is the third state lawmaker in recent years to leave office early for another job. Melton says term limits could make leaving early a trend for state politicians.

Update 3:23

Michigan Public Radio's Laura Weber covered today's announcement. She reports Hoekstra says he and Snyder became friends after running against each other in a “hard-fought” primary for Governor last year:

“Isn’t it great that two people can go through a campaign, they can go through a primary, and at the end of that process they actually like each other, they actually have respect for each other, because they went through it in a way that the people of Michigan respected.”

Hoekstra said he does not think Snyder’s sinking approval rating will have a negative impact on his campaign for Senate. In his remarks, the governor reciprocated Hoekstra's admiration. Snyder said the experience of gave him respect for Hoekstra:

"Being one of our senators is critically important to our state, so I felt it was appropriate to speak up on this. And it was so easy to speak up. This is a case where we have a compelling candidate.”

6:22 am

Governor Rick Snyder has scheduled a press conference today to endorse former Congressman Pete Hoekstra in the race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. Michigan Radio was first to report the endorsement earlier this month.

Snyder and Hoekstra first got to know each other last year as rivals for the Republican nomination for governor. Snyder won, but people close to the governor say he walked away from the campaign with respect for Hoekstra. They say Snyder praised Hoekstra as a results-oriented congressman with a history of rising above partisan interests to get things done.

The endorsement will put the governor at odds with other Michigan Republican power players. Billionaire Betsy DeVos, Republican National Committeeman Saul Anuzis, and ex-Senator Spencer Abraham – all former GOP party chairs – are backing school choice advocate Clark Durant.

Former Judge Randy Hekman, anti-gay rights activist Gary Glenn, and Roscomman businessman Peter Konetchy are also vying for the nod to face incumbent Senator Debbie Stabenow next year.

The Tea Party Express will roll back into Michigan next week.     The conservative political activists hold rallies featuring fiery speeches and patriotic music.  Previous visits have focused on health care reform and government spending. This time the focus will be on Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow. 

Levi Russell is a Tea Party Express spokesman.   He says the Tea Party group is hoping to rally local conservatives to work to defeat Stabenow’s re-election bid next year. 

The latest Republican candidate to challenge U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow says it’s time for regular citizens – like him -- to get into politics.  Clark Durant says he’s running for office because he’s tired of government getting in the way of citizens trying to build their dreams.

"I tremble for my country," Durant says. "Our government is overspending, has grown too fast and taxes too much. Ordinary people are having a hard time putting bread on the table and making ends meet, and our government is extravagant.”

Durant says there’s a danger of inflation unless the U.S. stops expanding its money supply.

The Grosse Pointe charter school executive has the endorsement of several influential Michigan Republican party officials. However, Gov. Snyder has thrown his support to former Cong. Pete Hoekstra.

Another candidate has entered the race to unseat Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) - Clark Durant, a charter school executive in Detroit.

This from Saul Anuzis' blog site (Anuzis is the chairman of the Michigan Republic Party):

Today, Clark Durant filed the necessary paperwork to begin organizing a campaign for Michigan’s United States Senate seat.

Durant filed Articles of Incorporation and a Statement of Candidacy for “The American Way—Durant 2012.” The formal announcement is expected after Labor Day.

Durant's candidacy is backed by some prominent Republicans in the state.

Saul Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, Betsy Devos, former chairwoman of the MRP, and former Republican Senator Spence Abraham all have thrown their support behind Durant.

The Associate Press reports that Durant's candidacy will increase the chances for a hard fought Republican primary against presumptive front runner former Congressman Pete Hoekstra.

Here's a little more background on Durant from the AP:

The Grosse Pointe resident is president of the New Common School Foundation in Detroit and helped found Cornerstone Schools. He last ran for U.S. Senate in 1990, narrowly losing the GOP primary.

The field of Republican Senate candidates also includes former Kent County Probate Judge Randy Hekman, Roscommon businessman Peter Konetchy and Midland resident Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan.

Well, yesterday was not a great day for Pete Hoekstra, the former congressman from Holland. Two days ago, he was seen as the all-but-certain Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate next year.

With the nation’s economic crisis continuing, and more and more voters worried about the future, there seemed to be a growing chance that incumbent Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow may be vulnerable. Hoekstra, who got into the race last month after initially declining to run, thought he had a clear shot.

There were a few minor candidates, but they lacked funding or name recognition. But then yesterday, three longtime Michigan GOP heavyweights staged a coup of sorts. Two former state party chairs, Betsy DeVos, wife of Amway heir Dick DeVos, and Saul Anuzis, joined former U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham in endorsing a candidate.  And it wasn’t Pete Hoekstra.

Matter of fact, it wasn’t even someone who is formally in the race yet, though that will quickly change. The Big Three came out strongly for Clark Durant, a Grosse Pointer who is the founder of Cornerstone Schools, a group of charter schools in Detroit.