Campaign news and rumors: Kildee to file Tuesday

by: Eric B.

Mon Feb 22, 2010 at 14:48:49 PM EST

Rumor has reached my ear, and has been confirmed, that Dan Kildee plans to file paperwork Tuesday to run for governor. This has been a two-sentence diary passing along the news that Dan Kildee plans to file paperwork tomorrow to run for governor.

Previous rumors had it that Kildee would be supported in his bid by Michael Moore.

Update! ... Below the fold, Kildee's official announcement.

“What I am hearing from people across Michigan is that Lansing is broken and we need new ideas and a clean break from the politics of Lansing that have kept us from moving forward,” said Kildee, who filed today as a candidate in the August Democratic primary election for governor.

“The people of Michigan are fed up with business as usual, and so am I. I am inviting citizens to join me in taking back our state.”

 “Reforming Lansing means rethinking government to attract jobs and rebuild our economy. Relying on the same answers from the same people will just mean more of the same, something Michigan families can not afford,” Kildee said. In 2005 Kildee completed a Fellowship at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. In 2007, Kildee’s Land Bank program was named winner of the Harvard University/Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations in American Government Award for Affordable Housing, and in 2008 Kildee was the recipient of the Michigan “Excellence in Land Use Leadership Award” by the MSU Land Policy Institute and the Michigan Land Use Funders Network.

Kildee, 51, cited his award-winning economic development work pioneering neighborhood and large-scale reforms for communities that have saved Michigan families from home foreclosures.

Kildee is President/CEO of the national Center for Community Progress and was Genesee County’s treasurer from 1997 to 2009. He is the former Chair of the Genesee County Board of Commissioners.

 “Lansing politicians can’t get a budget done on time and are putting extreme partisanship ahead of the people,” said Kildee. “We need the results-driven executive leadership in Lansing that I have practiced at the local level with programs like the Genesee County Land Bank.”

He will have a formal campaign announcement soon with more details of his plans for Michigan. Kildee lives in Flushing with his wife, Jennifer, and has three children.

 “The decision to file today for governor isn’t about me,” said Kildee. “It’s about making sure my son, who is in college, and my daughter, who is graduating from high school this year, have opportunities in Michigan and good jobs. It’s about sons and daughters all across the state. It’s about making a clean break from the mess in Lansing and giving Michigan’s working people a governor who gets the job done and goes to work every day fighting for them and their families. “

Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner is serving as treasurer of Kildee’s campaign committee.

 “Dan Kildee has the executive experience, vision and progressive ideals we need in our next governor,” said Meisner.

“His record of working across the aisle to achieve bipartisan solutions, his even temperament and proven record as a public servant make him exactly what Michigan needs to make our next chapter a success.”

In 2005 Kildee completed a Fellowship at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

In 2007, Kildee’s Land Bank program was named winner of the Harvard University/Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations in American Government Award for Affordable Housing, and in 2008 Kildee was the recipient of the Michigan “Excellence in Land Use Leadership Award” by the MSU Land Policy Institute and the Michigan Land Use Funders Network.

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