Hoekstra aims to pedal his way out of geographic disadvantage on way to Lansing

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra after announcing his gubernatorial bid at a Herman Miller facility in Holland (Photo courtesy Hoekstra campaign)

Low taxes. Pro growth. Less regulation.

If you follow politics, you know these are the central tenants of Republican economic philosophy, and U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra wants the party faithful in Michigan to know he is in favor of each of them.

Perhaps that’s a typical stance for a candidate seeking his party’s nomination for the governorship, which the congressman from Holland announced his intention to run for last month.

The road to the Republican gubernatorial nomination will be a long one, but Hoekstra plans on getting to the finish line in a way that’s anything but typical.

As the political season — and undoubtedly the weather — begin to heat-up over the next several months, Hoekstra will be pedaling through each one of Michigan’s 83 counties on his bike, a signature symbol of his campaign that harkens back to his upset win over U.S. Rep. Guy Vander Jagt in the 1992 Republican primary in the state’s 2nd Congressional District.

But when he comes to your county, will you be able to pick him out of a crowd?

Unless you’re a state political junkie or a resident of West Michigan, chances are you won’t. And in voter-rich Southeast Michigan, that could be a problem.

Name recognition is the bread and butter of any political campaign. And though Hoekstra has polled well on the west side of the state, he is “a non-entity in Metro Detroit,” said Bill Ballenger, state political guru and editor of Inside Michigan Politics.

“He’s almost got to live there,” Ballenger said. “There are too many votes in the Detroit area. You have to compete there.”

Hoekstra joins a host of other public officials who have thrown their hat into the ring or are said to be weighing a run for the nomination, a list that includes Attorney General Mike Cox of Livonia, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land of Byron Center, State Sen. Tom George of Texas Township and Ann Arbor businessmen David Brandon and Rick Snyder. After several months of speculation, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson announced Thursday that he would not seek the GOP nomination, stating that he could not justify being away from his job for more than a year to campaign.

During an interview with Michigan Messenger last week, Hoekstra, a 55-year-old native of the Netherlands who represents an area of West Michigan stretching roughly from Holland to Buleah, touted himself as a pro-growth, business-minded reformer who sees his experience in Congress and years as a business executive as a potent combination to lead Michigan out of its economic doldrums.

Hoekstra, currently the ranking Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he stands out in the increasingly crowded list of GOP candidates because of his mix of political skills and 15 years experience in the business world with Herman Miller Inc., where he was vice president of marketing.

“I understand the language of business,” he said. “I know how to get things done. I know the congressional leadership. I know how Washington works.”

Yes, Hoekstra has a wealth of business experience to draw from. And his bike riding strategy could be seen as a populist move meant to show he is willing to be close to voters and listen to their concerns.

But in addition to his lack of name recognition in the Metro Detroit area, a part of the state Hoekstra said “I obviously need to spend a lot of time in,” other significant challenges face him over the next 17 months until the primary election in August 2010.

First there is the issue of his state political experience, which voters would be hard-pressed to find much of — he went straight from Herman Miller to Congress, after defeating Vander Jagt, charging that the lawmaker and Republican National Congressional Committee chairman had been in Washington, D.C., for far too long.

But promoting his experience in Congress, a body that routinely receives low approval ratings, could hurt, not help his candidacy, Ballenger said.

“He could be seen as out of sync with what you need in a gubernatorial candidate,” he said. “Yes, he’s touting himself as a can-do, effective businessman, but what does being on the intelligence committee mean to the average voter?

“He’s going to have to find a way to market how the intersection of his political experience and business experience would result in him being an effective governor. People are looking for someone who is going to put them to work.”

The last time Michiganders elected a member of Congress to the governor’s mansion was James Blanchard in 1982.

Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer told Michigan Messenger on Wednesday that Hoekstra’s geographic disadvantage is “irrelevant” when it comes to the congressman’s baggage from Washington. “One of the pitfalls [for Hoekstra] is going to be his support for Bush policies.”

Money Matters

Hoekstra’s personal finance records for 2007, filed in June 2008, show total net worth of $116,016 to $542,999.

“He’s no Dick DeVos,” Ballenger said, referring to the son of Amway co-founder Richard DeVos, who spent a record $41 million on an unsuccessful run for governor in 2006.

But Hoekstra, Ballenger said, “is a credible candidate, though. At this point, he is a work in progress. In a year or so, he might end up being a different kind of candidate than he is today.”

At this point it the race, however, Hoekstra described his candidacy in a largely Republican political framework, heralding the need for a pro-growth, low-tax economic agenda and adding that the political wrangling seen in Lansing in recent years needs to be replaced with “leadership focused on solutions.”

“We need a commitment to growth, tax reform and education,” he said. “Getting to [compromise] is more important than a political agenda.”

The state needs to become a hub for industry innovation, not only in the automotive sector, but also in areas “still unknown,” Hoekstra said. That would begin to stem the tide of young professionals educated in Michigan who are leaving the state for lack of opportunities, he said.

“Other states have welcome signs out, we have high taxes,” he said.

The business tax structure and too much regulation have made Michigan an “anti-growth state,” Hoekstra argues. That has led to businesses packing-up and leaving, which then leads to fewer jobs, a declining population and reduced revenue to the state, he said.

“No money for education, no money for infrastructure, no money for environmental cleanups, no money for our state parks,” he said. “We’re jeopardizing the things that make Michigan great.”

He said he doesn’t support a measure drafted by two Ann Arbor-area state legislators to provide free college for Michigan high school graduates by increasing the income tax by 1.15 percent.

“Increasing taxes on a declining tax base would be the death mill for Michigan businesses,” he said of the proposal, drafted by Democratic Reps. Alma Wheeler Smith and Rebekah Warren.

Hoekstra also touched on the need to reform the state’s correction system as a way to save money, stating his support for a special commission to investigate the issue. In 2008, taxpayers spent 70 percent more on corrections than the national average.

Michigan Messenger’s Todd A. Heywood contributed reporting from Lansing.