State and Federal offices up for election on November 6 ballot

Schuette vs Whitmer for Governor Attorney General Bill Schuette is the 53rd Attorney General in our state. He is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and obtained his law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. He and his wife reside in Midland, Michigan and have two children. As Attorney General, he formed the Michigan Commission for Human Trafficking and engineered a plan to fund the testing of thousands of long-abandoned DNA evidence boxes to provide justice for victims of sexual assault. He helped recover millions in back child support for children in need. He successfully opposed President Obama’s job-killing energy regulations that would have hurt Michigan’s economy and increased utility bills for Michiganders. He held government officials accountable by bringing 350 charges against former government officials, including the termination of taxpayer-funded pensions for 13 ex-Detroit principals who embezzled millions from school children. He stood up to the governor of his own party to oppose one of the largest tax hikes in Michigan’s history. Schuette has a plan to make Michigan “The Jobs State”, to end the opioid crisis, roll back the Granholm income tax hike, cut auto insurance rates, and provide our kids with world-class schools. You can read about his in-depth plan on his website www.billschuette.com. Democratic candidate Gretchen Whitmer is a former State Representative from the 69th District, Michigan State Senator from the 23rd District, and Ingham County Prosecutor. She holds degrees from Michigan State University and the Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University. She was raised in Grand Rapids and East Lansing. She attended public schools and universities. She is married and has five children. Whitmer helped negotiate the Healthy Michigan Medicaid expansion which expanded heath care to 630,000 working Michiganders. She passed a minimum wage increase with a cost-of-living adjustment and fought for more. She has fought against leaders of both parties when they stole money from the state education fund and failed to lift up poor performing schools. She fought for paid family leave so workers can take time off to care for a sick loved one or a new baby. She sees the important issues as fixing the roads, making health care more affordable, repealing the Snyder Retirement Tax, improving education and skills training, providing better jobs, and cleaning up our drinking water. Whitmer seeks to defend woman’s rights, hold the government accountable, fight urban poverty, combat the opioid crisis, protect the citizens’ freedoms, and serve Michigan’s veterans. Her full plan for addressing all of these issues can be found at www.gretchenwhitmer.com. Bill Gelieneu is the Libertarian candidate running for Governor. Todd Schleiger is the U.S. Taxpayers candidate running for Governor.

Lang vs Benson for  Secretary of State The Secretary of State serves as the chief motor vehicle administrator and chief election officer for the State and also maintains the state’s official repository of records. The person in this position certifies documents as the Keeper of the Great Seal. Republican Mary Treder Lang has a Bachelor of Science Degree in both Accounting and Marketing from the University of Dayton. She is a Certified Public Accountant with over 30 years of experience. She has a background in both the private and public sector. She and her husband have three children. Democrat Jocelyn Benson is the CEO and President of Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality. She is a graduate of Wellesley College Harvard Law School. She has over a decade of experience as a national leader in election law and administration. She and her husband have one child and they reside in Detroit.

Leonard vs Nessel for Attorney General The Attorney General is in charge of prosecuting the laws of the State of Michigan. Republican Tom Leonard is a graduate of the University of Michigan and received a law degree from Michigan State University. He has served as the Assistant Prosecutor in Genesee County and has served as an Assistant Attorney General. Democrat Dana Nessel is a graduate of the University of Michigan and received her law degree from Wayne State University. She has served as the Assistant Prosecutor in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. She is the President and Founder of the Fair Michigan Foundation, a task force that investigates and prosecutes hate crimes.

Stabenow vs James  for U.S. Senator Long serving Democrat Debbie Stabenow will face Republican John James. James received his education from the United States Military Academy, Penn State University, and the University of Michigan. He has spent half of his adult life serving this country, including service during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is the president of James Group International. He and his wife have two children and reside in Farmington Hills. His top priorities if elected include economic opportunity, national security and veterans, and infrastructure. Debbie Stabenow is seeking her fourth term. She holds degrees from Michigan State University. She was the first woman elected to the United States Senate from Michigan. She seeks to help to create jobs in our state. The first bill she passed banned oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes and she authored the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative which has led to cleaning up the waters around the area. She resides in East Lansing.

Upton vs. Longjohn  for U.S. House District 6 Michigan’s U.S. House District 6 includes all of Van Buren and Berrien counties, as well as Allegan, Kalamazoo, Cass, and St. Joseph counties. Republican Fred Upton, 65, is seeking his 17th term as a representative. He was first elected in 1986. A graduate of the University of Michigan, prior to Congress he served under President Ronald Reagan in the Office of Management & Budget. He has served as the Chairman of the House, Energy, and Commerce Committee. His focus remains on legislation to encourage job creation, protect the taxpayers, help the community of Southwest Michigan, and enhance the quality of life. He and his wife Amey have two children. They reside in St. Joseph. In-depth details on how he plans to continue to serve the residents of southwest Michigan can be found at www.fredupton.com. Matt Longjohn, 46, is a former physician from Portage. He is a former National Health Officer for YMCA; his family has been in Southwest Michigan for over 150 years. He is running for Congress to improve the health and quality of life for everyone in the country. His plans for how to fix issues such as the economy, the environment, equality and equity, education, common sense gun legislation, and standing up to Trump can be found at www.mattlongjohnforcongress.com.

Griffin vs Siebert for State Representative – 66th District Republican Beth Griffin is seeking another term as State Representative of the 66th District. Prior to election at the state level she served on the Van Buren County Board of Commissioners. She has also been a teacher. She has a masters’ degree from Old Dominion University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Indiana University-Purdue University of Ft. Wayne. She and her husband have two children and reside in Mattawan. She and her husband own Premco Financial Corp. While in office she has been active in trying to get insurance rates lowered for automobiles, focus on lowering taxes creating jobs, and providing for our children’s education. Democrat Dan Siebert is a systems engineer in Allegan. He lives in Paw Paw with his wife and their children. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Western Michigan University. He seeks to get the schools the resources they need, to restore the government to a system that serves the people, to provide for the rural communities that cannot gain access to broadband, and make it so people who work full time can afford to support themselves.

Wendzel vs Andrews for State Representative – 79th District Republican Pauline Wendzel faces Democrat Joey Andrews for the 79th District seat. Wendzel is a lifelong Watervliet resident from a 4th generation Bainbridge Township farming family. She is actively involved in both her alumni, Watervliet High School and Michigan State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Food Industry Marketing. She learned the value of hard work at a young age working on her family farm and counseling young children at Five Pines, a local Christian day camp. She has served the community as the Programs Director at the North Berrien Historical Museum and is currently the product brand development manager at Coloma Frozen Foods. She believes in the importance of conservative family values and is dedicated to bringing people together for the improvement of the community. At the top of her agenda is improving the infrastructure, continuing development in education and vocational training along with protecting our rich agricultural heritage while promoting our future. Joey Andrews is a graduate of Lake Michigan Catholic High School and Wayne State University Law School and is a lawyer. He is a small business owner. Originally from St. Joseph, he was raised with Southwest Michigan values. He wants to lower medication and health insurance costs, fix roads and lower automotive insurance premiums, provide quality education for our children, and create a 21st century jobs program that provides skills training.