Candidates in Michigan State House of Representatives race pick up endorsements
Christine Green picked up the endorsement of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters this week.
Examiner.com: Dueling endorsements for 52nd House--conservation voters for Green, chamber of commerce for Ouimet
By Vince Lamb, Washtenaw County Elections 2010 Examiner
Two major organizations came out with endorsements in the 52nd State House of Representatives race this week. Yesterday, the Michigan League of Conservation Voters (Michigan LCV) endorsed Democrat Christine Green to represent the 52nd District State House of Representatives. The day before, the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce endorsed Republican Mark Ouimet for the same seat. The local chamber also endorsed Republican Rick Snyder for Governor.
Green isn't the only candidate that the Michigan LCV has endorsed.
During the primary, the Michigan LCV endorsed Democrats Rebekah Warren for the 18th District State Senate and John Hieftje for Mayor of Ann Arbor. Warren is opposing Republican John Hochstetler for the State Senate seat. Hieftje, the incumbent mayor, is being challenged by independent Steve Bean.
The Michigan LCV also endorsed both Democrat Virg Bernaro and Republican Rick Snyder in their respective primaries for Governor. The organization is currently waiting for both campaigns to answer a set of eight questions. At this time, it is not endorsing either of them in the general election.
More at the link, including details of the endorsements of both Green and Ouimet.
This race, like that in the Seventh Congressional District between Schauer and Walberg, is one that is taking place where I used to live. Neither my wife nor I can vote there anymore, and it's too far away for us to do anything but send money, but at least I can write about it. Even better, I get paid for doing so!
One other note about this race. The Washtenaw Democratic Party is calling for an investigation of Mark Ouimet for what it alleges to be fraud. While AnnArbor.com did not cover the story, Heritage Newspapers, which runs the papers in the small towns in Washtenaw County, did. Here is an excerpt of their article.
WASHTENAW COUNTY: Democrats call for fraud investigation against Ouimet
By Daniel Lai, Heritage Newspapers
Washtenaw County Democratic Party Chairman Stu Dowty is calling for an investigation into what he describes as “thousands of dollars of fees and expenses” that County Commissioner Mark Ouimet, R- District 1, improperly collected from county government funds.
Dowty said nearly $35,000 in meeting attendance fees and mileage reimbursements that Ouimet has claimed in his nearly six years as a commissioner are being disputed.
The issue came to light at the Oct. 7 meeting of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners. Attorney Thomas Wieder, citing information obtained from the county through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, presented evidence to the board of commissioners that a significant portion of the fees and mileage that Ouimet has claimed and received should not have been paid to him.
A PDF of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party press release is available here.
I didn't feel comfortable adding this story to the article I just published until I saw another paper breaking it. Now that I have, I'll be writing about it.