Tagged: Election 2012

The Associated Press reports Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will make campaign stops in Michigan this week:

From the AP:

A campaign spokesman said Tuesday the ex-Massachusetts governor would attend a Grand Rapids fundraiser Tuesday night and another in Detroit on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Romney is to campaign at a Livonia diner and attend a business round table in Detroit. They're his first Michigan stops since formally entering the race last week.

Romney's Michigan campaign staff has been revealed. From the Detroit Free Press:

• Lori Wortz, senior advisor - once served as Dick Posthumus' chief of staff
• Rob Macomber, state director - previously served as director of candidate and party assistance for former state Republican Party chairman Saul Anuzis
• Lauren Rakolta, state campaign finance director - daughter of John Rakolta, head of construction firm Walbridge Aldinger who served as a national chairman for the Romney campaign in 2008
• Bryce Sandler, state deputy finance director, once served as finance director for former U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg

In 2008, Romney won the Republican presidential primary in Michigan. He eventually pulled out of the race after John McCain won the Florida primary.

Well, it was bound to happen. Mix an election that’s less than 18 months away with politicos, talking heads and hungry reporters (in pretty close quarters) and you’re going to start to hear stories about possible candidates for the 2012 Michigan Senate seat. Two-term Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow is up for reelection in 2012 and only one Republican, former Kent County judge Randy Hekman, has announced a run so far.

The Detroit News reports:

Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner John McCulloch said today he is "seriously looking at" a 2012 challenge to… Stabenow and expects to decide within 30 days. McCulloch, 55, told The Detroit News at the Mackinac Policy Conference he is concerned about the way the budget deficit and other federal issues are being handled. Elected to his current post, formerly known as the drain commissioner, in 2000, McCulloch earlier served 10 years as an Oakland County commissioner, including five years as chairman. Born in Royal Oak, he is an attorney and a certified public accountant.

Then, also from the Detroit News, is this:

A hot rumor making the rounds at the Mackinac conference today was that Detroit radio host Frank Beckmann would seek the Republican nomination to challenge Stabenow. "Don't wait for an announcement," Beckmann, host of "The Frank Beckmann Show”… told The Detroit News with a laugh during a break from his radio show. But the conservative talk show host wouldn't rule out entering politics, either.

Former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and former West Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra have both announced that they will not run.

Republican Congressman Thaddeus McCotter of Livonia says he isn’t planning on challenging Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow for her Senate seat in 2012.

McCotter’s name had been talked about as a possible GOP candidate to run against Stabenow. The Detroit News reports:

McCotter, the fifth-term congressman who signaled last week he was considering a Senate run, said he's stepping aside for other GOP hopefuls.

"I did not wish to be a distraction for the stellar candidates now stepping forward to consider seeking the GOP U.S. Senate nomination," McCotter, of Livonia, said in statement that did not mention specific candidates.

Representative McCotter is just one more Michigan Republican who has decided not to jump into the race. Former West Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra and former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land have both announced recently that they wouldn’t seek the GOP nomination.

Only one Republican candidate has entered the race so far. Former Kent County Judge Randy Heckman announced he would run for the seat earlier this year.

Stabenow has held the U.S. Senate seat since 2000.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will be in Ann Arbor later today to talk about the nation’s health care system.  The Republican presidential contender is expected to outline a path away from the nation’s recently enacted health care reform law.  

Mitt Romney will outline his plan to change the nation’s health care system to an invitation only audience at the University of Michigan's Cardiovascular Center. 

Terri Lynn Land, Michigan's former Secretary of State, has decided she will not run for the U.S. Senate in 2012. Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow is up for reelection next year. The Associated Press reports:

Land said Thursday in a statement on her Facebook page that she has decided against joining the Republican field to take on Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Stabenow is running for her third six-year term. She reported last month that she has $3 million on hand so far for her 2012 campaign.

Only one Republican candidate has entered the race so far. Former Kent County Judge Randy Heckman announced he would run for the seat earlier this year.

Former West Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra, who some speculated would run, announced last month that he would not run against Stabenow.

Stabenow has held the seat since 2000.

All but one of Michigan's 15 representatives in the U.S. House say they'll run for re-election in 2012, the Associated Press reports. From the AP:

...according to an Associated Press survey of members this week and despite a coming redistricting process that in some cases could vastly impact the physical makeup of their districts.

The lone holdout in the delegation is Republican Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Livonia, who declined to provide a "yes" or "no" response to whether he would run again next year, saying only that he was focused on serving his constituents.

District boundaries will be redrawn based on U.S. Census counts, and Republicans who lead the state House and Senate control the process.

Michigan was the only state to lose population in the past decade and will drop one of its congressional seats.

Michigan's Democratic Senator Debbie Stabeow has $3 million on hand for her 2012 re-election bid, according to the Associated Press. From the AP:

The Associated Press on Wednesday obtained a copy of the Stabenow for U.S. Senate committee's April quarterly report, which is due to the FEC by Friday.

In it, the committee says Stabenow raised nearly $1.2 million in the period that ran from Jan. 1 to March 31 and has $3 million on hand in the run for her third term in the Senate.

Stabenow was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. The only Republican to declare candidacy for the seat so far is Randy Hekman, a former Kent County judge. He announced his candidacy last month.

Other possible GOP candidates for the Senate seat include former West Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra,  former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and former Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party Saul Anuzis.

Republican Mitt Romney announced yesterday that he has formed an exploratory committee for the 2012 presidential election. Romney has close ties to Michigan as his father, George Romney, was Governor of the state in the 1960's.

Romney lost his first presidential bid in the 2008 GOP primary to Senator John McCain (R-AZ). Since '08, Romney has largely stayed in the national political realm with the release of his book,"No Apology: The Case for American Greatness," and speaking tour.

But, it hasn't just been national politics that Romney has been interested in since his loss in '08. The Detroit News reports that Romney's political action committee took quite an interest in statewide politics in the November 2010 election. From the Detroit News:

Though Romney is mostly known in Michigan through his father's enduring business and political legacy, his Free and Strong America political action committee took a keen interest in state races in 2010, contributing to Republicans Gov. Rick Snyder, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and Attorney General Bill Schuette.

His committee also poured money into the successful U.S. House campaigns of freshman Republican Reps. Tim Walberg, Bill Huizenga, Justin Amash and Dan Benishek, as well as the tea party-backed bid of Rob Steele, the Ann Arbor cardiologist who lost to Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn.

In a recent poll by Public Policy Polling, Romney led other possible GOP presidential contenders among Michigan Republican primary voters. From the PP Poll:

• 26% Romney
• 20% Huckabee
• 15% Gingrich
• 12% Palin
• 7% Paul
• 5% Daniels
• 3% Pawlenty
• 3% Walker