Tagged: Pete Hoekstra

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.

Former congressman Pete Hoekstra has been accepting endorsements and campaign donations to run for the U.S. Senate for weeks, but today Hoekstra formally launched his statewide campaign for the Republican nomination.

Hoekstra says he is glad to have the endorsements of some of his former rivals. They include former state Attorney General Mike Cox, who ran against Hoekstra in the Republican primary for governor.

Hoekstra says he and Cox may not have gotten along during that race, but they have buried the so-called hatchet.

 "Whatever hatchet there was, we’ve agreed to work together to make sure Michigan has a new senator. He and I have talked a number of times over the last few weeks, we’ve had great conversations. If there was a hatchet, it’s gone."

Hoekstra has also been endorsed by Governor Rick Snyder, another former rival.

Hoekstra says if he were elected to the U.S. Senate he would work to repeal "No Child Left Behind" school mandates and the new national health care regulations.

Hoekstra says he has met with many small business leaders who would rather see the federal government focus on deregulation than on tax breaks. 

"We need to get the economic engine going again, which is taking a look at the regulatory reform in Washington, it’s taking a look at repealing Obama-care and putting in place smart reforms for health care, and it is allowing for energy exploration in the United States," said Hoekstra.

Hoekstra is running in the Republican Senate primary against anti-gay activist Gary Glenn, businessman Peter Konetchy, former judge Randy Hekman, and school-choice advocate Clark Durant.

The winner of that primary will run against Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow.

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. 

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.

Governor Rick Snyder will endorse former West Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra as the GOP's nominee against Debbie Stabenow in the 2012 U.S. Senate race, according to Rick Pluta. A date for the official announcement is unknown.

The back-story:

Yesterday, three high-profile Republicans endorsed a candidate for the 2012 U.S. Senate race. Former Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis (who, at one point earlier this year, was thought to maybe want to throw his hat into the Senatorial race himself), former U.S. Senator Spence Abraham (who lost his Senate seat to Senator Stabenow in 2000), and ex-Michigan Republican Chairwomen Betsy DeVos announced that they will back Clark Durant in the GOP race against Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow. Durant, however, has not yet entered the race.

I called Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio's Lansing Bureau Chief, to get a little bit more information about the endorsement. We got to talking about what the endorsement will mean for the perceived front-runner in the race, former Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra. Pluta let me know that Governor Snyder intends to endorse Hoekstra. Interestingly enough, Governor Snyder ran against Hoesktra in the GOP gubernatorial primary in 2010.

For all of you politicos, you can take a listen to my conversation with Pluta about yesterday's endorsement and Governor Snyder's decision to back Hoekstra below:

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.