I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
CQ Politics has a story about Rep. Mark Schauer, the newly elected U.S. Congressman from the Battle Creek area, and his efforts at reelection. The last two representatives from the 7th district only served one term each, something that Schauer hopes to avoid when the 2010 election rolls around.
Joe Schwarz, a GOP moderate, won an open-seat race after defeating a crowded field of conservative rivals in the 2004 Republican primary. In 2006, he lost a one-on-one primary race with former state Rep. Tim Walberg, one of his 2004 primary opponents. But Walberg’s bruising challenge, backed by attacks against Schwarz by the conservative group Club for Growth, left such hard feelings that Walberg only narrowly defeated a little-known and underfinanced Democratic nominee.
That outcome set him up for his 2008 loss, by just more than 2 percentage points, to the better-known and experienced Schauer, who rode a national tide running in favor of the Democrats and portrayed Walberg as too conservative and too much a supporter of Bush’s unpopular administration.
The not-so-good news for Schauer is that he could face a 2010 rematch bid by Walberg in a district that, while no longer the Republican stronghold it once was, can hardly be described as safely Democratic.
The south-central Michigan district — made up of small cities such as Battle Creek and Jackson, exurbs of Lansing and Ann Arbor, and considerable rural turf — favored Democrat Barack Obama by 52 percent to 46 percent over Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential contest. But the district went 54 percent to 45 percent for President George W. Bush over Democrat John Kerry just four years earlier.
It’s early yet, but no Republican has yet thrown his hat in the ring to challenge Schauer. CQ Politics suggests that possible contenders are essentially giving Walberg a “right of first refusal” on running for the seat. Former Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis is quoted in the article as saying he believes Walberg will end up running for his old seat again in 2010.
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