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Number of visits to this blog to date ...

938 views on this blog since opening during the last week of January of this year. Thank you to all who have taken time to visit & please keep coming back.

GDH

Ken Hubbard Meet & Greet ....

I met Ken Hubbard last night in Harrisville. He is running against Republican Peter Pettalia for the 106th Michigan House seat. He is well qualified and familiar with the issues and is most concerned about the extremist turn Michigan has taken under Republican rule. It was also interesting to learn that he has known Pettalia for many years. Thank you to Paul & Wendy Peterson for opening their property, " The Harrisville Holistic Center" for the Ken Hubbard meet & greet. As his campaign continues I will ask him to submit an article here for readers to learn more about him and his campaign.

GDH

The Bailey Campaign Official Press Release ...

"Chairman Derek Bailey Withdraws From Congressional Race And Will Seek Michigan’s 101st House District
April 23, 2012 (Suttons Bay, MI)
Chairman Derek Bailey announced today that he is ending his six month campaign to seek the Democratic nomination for Michigan’s First Congressional office. Bailey instead will pursue Michigan’s 101st House District seat as a Democratic candidate.
“After a six month campaign where we were successful in reaching out to many voters in the District we are withdrawing from the congressional race,” said Chairman Bailey. “There are several factors that went into my decision. The biggest one is that my campaign got into the process late in the game, resulting in not having enough time to effectively raise dollars in a campaign that is going to require a million plus dollars to be competitive. We have notified Gary McDowell of our decision and wish him well in the general election in defeating Dan Benishek.”
Bailey will now turn his attention to Michigan’s 101st House District (Leelanau, Benzie, Manistee and Mason counties).

“During my tenure as Tribal Chairman several business and community leaders asked that I seek the congressional seat. Ironically while I was on the campaign trail I heard from many who said I was needed to run in Michigan’s 101st District,” said Bailey. “I am heeding that call today and focusing my attention on unseating Ray Franz who currently represents the 101st District. We differ on many issues and those will come forward during the course of the campaign. Certainly his vote against tourism promotion was not in the best interest of this important industry in our District. Even his colleagues here in Northern Michigan all supported the bill to fund tourism promotion.”

Bailey plans to pursue the First Congressional District office at some point in the future -- a decision that is supported by several within the Democratic Party including Gary McDowell.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) and Gary McDowell all released statements today on Derek Bailey’s decision. Each of the statements follow:

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee :
In response to Bailey’s decision, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued the following statement:

“Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey has built a well-deserved reputation as a leader and tireless advocate for Northern Michigan, and he will be the voice middle class families and workers can count on in the Michigan House,” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

“From his work helping Michigan businesses succeed and create jobs to fighting to protect Great Lakes and natural resources, Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey has distinguished himself through the rare trait of listening and building bridges to strengthen Northern Michigan. He will be the champion Northern Michigan needs in Lansing.”

MDP:
"Chairman Derek Bailey ran a strong, positive and issue-based Congressional campaign of which all Democrats can be proud and we thank him for that great effort," said MDP Chair Mark Brewer. "He is an articulate and thoughtful Northern Michigan leader, as well as a recognized leader in the Michigan Democratic Party. Derek has a bright future and we look forward to working with him again."

Gary McDowell:

“It’s always been clear that standing up for middle class families is why Derek is seeking public office, and why he will be a strong advocate for Northern Michigan in the Michigan House of Representatives," said Gary McDowell. “Chairman Bailey will be a leader in Lansing who will continue his work to grow the economy in Northern Michigan, protect our Great Lakes and ensure that regular working people have a voice.”"

Bailey Withdraws -Will Seek 101st House Seat ...

Just back from the Bailey news conference in Traverse City. Here's a link to the Glen Arbor story. A lot went into the decision including a lot of conversations with both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Michigan Democratic Party.

McDowell announced this campaign following his defeat in 2010 and has built a large financial lead in a contest where both McDowell & Benishek will spend over a million dollars each this year. Derek entered the race in October 2011. McDowell currently has greater name recognition District wide at this time also. The "powers that be" wanted to let McDowell have another swing at it and offered Derek the 101st State House seat where the Republican candidate is a very vulnerable target. They said that the legislative experience would be helpful for him and also give him more time to develop his "brand" for a Congressional race. The MDP & DCCC said that they were very surprised by what he has accomplished in 6 months and how competitive he became in a short period of time. This frees up McDowell to go full on against Benishek now instead of having to wait till August. http://glenarborsun.com/derek-bailey-takes-on-ray-franz-instead/

 

There will be further discussion at the Alcona County Democratic Meeting on Tuesday April 24, 7:00 pm at the M-72 EMT Station.

GDH

Major Announcement from Bailey Campaign on Tuesday ...

I will be reporting on a major development concerning the Bailey campaign on Monday evening or Tuesday morning. Check back for more info ...

GDH

Ken Hubbard Meet & Greet April 25th ...

Alpena area Democrat Ken Hubbard has announced he is running against incumbant Republican Peter Pettalia for the 106th District State House seat. Come meet Ken and show your support on Wednesday, April 25th at 7:00 pm.

 The meet & greet will be at the "Harrisville Holistic Center", 200 N. State Street ( U.S. 23 ) Harrisville, Michigan. ( 989 724 6720 ). Hope to see you there !

GDH

I'm very interested in the perspectives of women readers regarding the Republican's "War on Women". Want to sound off ? Please leave a comment below & I'll feature you as a guest writer !

GDH