"Six years ago I ran for state representative on the platform of Jobs!, Jobs!, Jobs! Unfortunately, six years later, those three words are still our state’s number one priority. Although a Republican Governor and solid Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate will continue to reinvent Michigan, we cannot rest here in Saginaw County. We have been blessed with leaders like Roger Kahn, Ken Horn and Jim Stamas, able legislators who continue to ensure that our common values are defended and who support our shared belief in a limited but effective government. But this fight has not yet been won. Efforts to cut spending, eliminate waste, or to reign in government bureaucracy are fought daily in Saginaw, Lansing, and beyond. For the Saginaw Valley and Michigan to flourish, that fight must continue, unabated, without compromise, equivocation, or indecisiveness. We cannot fall back when bold action and strong leadership are still necessary and required. I have been a consistent voice against government expansion, higher taxes, and business as usual on the Board of Commissioners, but I also believe that those views may carry more weight in our state’s capitol. Therefore, I am announcing my campaign to serve you, the people of the 94th District, as your next state representative.
While too many of us remain unemployed, underemployed, or just plain unhappy with the status quo, we can all agree that we live in a special place. What makes Michigan and Saginaw County so special? People. Our people make our state and our community a place worth fighting for. Look about you. While our natural resources, abundant water, hearty forests, and fertile soil, led early explorers and immigrants to this peninsula, and still today drives agriculture, commerce and tourism, it’s our collection of hard working individuals, families, and institutions that make Michigan and Saginaw County a desirable place in which to work and raise a family. In pursuit of our own bit of liberty and happiness, we look for leaders who will work toward the preservation of personal freedom, responsibility and respect. We are troubled by the selfish efforts of politicians that pander to special interests, pit one side against another, or repeat worn-out habits that always, always, end in negative results.
Whether you are a farmer, physician, salesman, a teacher, administrator, carpenter or electrician. A storeowner, grocer, plumber, lawyer or laborer, a soccer mom, a devoted dad, an accountant or professor, you take pride in your work and feel better when others do to. You play by the rules and expect the same from those around you. You don’t ask for special favors, you don’t expect them, yet quietly, sometimes demonstrably, feel taken advantage when others do. You seek equal treatment for equal results. Year after year, precious resources for education, infrastructure, the things that will help to ensure our growth and long-term prosperity, are squeezed by increased federal mandates, or the maintenance and expansion of poorly performing programs pushed by politicians who succumb to fear and threats of reprisal.
Everyone talks about saving the middle-class but they often don’t see that every expansion of government, every dollar that goes into additional services, in reality, squeezes the middle by draining precious personal resources that otherwise would have been better directed at enriching their own lives and those around them. The people are better stewards of their own money, not government. In any case, government assistance too often results in the persistence of a problem, not its elimination.
I wish to represent you in Lansing, not to increase my own fortunes but to help increase yours - to ensure that your businesses, your livelihoods are kept free from government interference, free from burdensome job killing regulations, and free from the consequences of governments’ good intentions. I want to ensure that your support for government, both locally and in Lansing, is more wisely and judiciously spent - ensuring the very best, most efficient government possible, without waste, without excuses, and without continued assistance for those who no longer need or deserve it. In other words lets start making sense with our taxes, not friends, dependents, or allies.
Six years ago I touted myself as “Uniquely Prepared and Lansing Ready”. Let me tell you that hasn’t changed! I still am, only more so. I’m fired up, and I’m more than ready to go to work for you - as your next state representative!"
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