GOP Lt. Gov. speculation begins in earnest

Former Congressional candidate and well known conservative activist Jack Hoogendyk Thursday sent out an email newsletter looking at three possible Republican Lt. Gov candidates in the upcoming GOP nominating convention.

While the top of the ticket has been decided for the party, won by Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, posts such as Secretary of State, Attorney General and Lt. Governor are still up for grabs and will be decided by a vote of the delegates at the end of the month.

Traditionally, the Lt. Governor choice has been left to the convention, though the governor candidate’s option tends to carry the weight in pushing the delegates to choice.

But Snyder has not mentioned who his Lt. Gov. choice will be, leaving a void where pundits and activist are able to do some political guess work, and advocacy, of their own.

Hoogendyk names three possible candidated: Sen. Jason Allen, who just conceded in a tight primary race for the GOP nomination for the Congressional 1st in Northern Michigan; Sen. Patti Birkholtz, who is leaving Senate due to term limits; and Rep. Brian Calley, who just won a primary in his west Michigan Senate District for a state Senate seat.

Here’s what HJoogendyk writes about the three candidates:

All three candidates are staunchly pro-life, which is probably why they are under consideration. All three candidates voted FOR the 21.99% Michigan Business Tax surcharge in 2007. Calley, a banker by trade, has a sharp business and finance mind and is a strong candidate for Chair of Finance in the Senate next year.

Birkholz’s legacy is her strong support of the environment, especially protection of Lake Michigan…

Allen ran for US Congress and was defeated by the razor-thin margin of 15 votes by Dr. Dan Benishek, who was strongly supported by the Tea Party voters.

All three candidates are from the western side of the state, which is another reason why they are under consideration.

And while these options certainly have an appealing sheen for red meat conservatives, Hoogendyk drops in some stats which might make the die hard conservatives a bit nervous:

You can also look at the scores they achieve with various interest groups. We’ve rated them as (C) conservative, (M) moderate, and (L) liberal. Here are the scores and links to each group:

Americans for Prosperity. (C) Allen 91%, Birkholz 87%, Calley 92%
Michigan Chamber of Commerce. (M) Allen 96%, Birkholz 88%, Calley 86%
Common Sense in Government. (C) Allen 17%, Birkholz 29%, Calley 50%
League of Conservation Voters. (L) Allen 25%, Birkholz 30%, Calley 30%

This focus on a dyed in the wool conservative as the second on the ticket is seen as important to shore up the traditional GOP base for Snyder as many in the right wing have lamented that Snyder is liberal on social issues.

Expect to see similar guesses about gubernatorial second on the ticket options coming forward as both parties move towards their nominating conventions.