All of Macomb County endorses Bernero

by: Bootsy

Thu May 20, 2010 at 20:32:38 PM EDT

Macomb Daily:

The gubernatorial campaign of Virg Bernero received a big boost in Macomb County today when 36 prominent Democrats endorsed his candidacy over the competing bid by House Speaker Andy Dillon.

Those backing the Lansing mayor's run include three longtime officials from the past -- former congressman David Bonior, former prosecutor Carl Marlinga, and former state Senate minority leader Art Miller.

Bonior said he hadn't known much about Bernero until recently, when the mayor made numerous, spirited appearances on national TV and radio shows defending federal loans to ailing automakers. Bernero's impassioned support for working families and American manufacturers, he said, is what Michigan needs from its next governor.

Others backing Bernero include: county Treasurer Ted Wahby, Clerk Carmella Sabaugh and Public Works Commissioner Anthony Marrocco; state Reps. Sarah Roberts and Fred Miller; county board Chairman Paul Gieleghem and 12 of his fellow commissioners; and Sterling Heights Mayor Richard Notte.

While Dillon and his supporter, Brady, continue to spin about Bernero's supposedly "anti-labor" record (despite the endorsements of the AFL-CIO, the state's largest labor federation, and the UAW, the state's largest union), labor-rich Macomb County is lining up to support Virg Bernero.

Not only that, but Bernero's endorsements today included David Bonior. As any good MichLib reader knows, Bonior is the chair of the board of American Rights at Work (a pro-labor organization), a former Labor Studies professor at Wayne State, and someone with a record of fighting for working families his whole career. It will be interesting hearing how David Bonior is spun into being somehow anti-labor too.

Also: Dillon got the endorsement of Buzz Thomas today.

For those keeping score at home: that's 36 endorsements for Virg Bernero today, and 1 for Andy Dillon. (Dillon's website also lists the Mayor of Westland as a major endorser, the only elected official listed).

Redistricting Michigan 2012

by: Menhen

Sat May 23, 2009 at 11:26:57 AM EDT

Lately there has been a lot of Debate over the number of Democratic Congressional Districts that Democrats could gerrymander out of the state of Michigan if they had complete control (right now they hold the Governorship and State House.  They stand a good chance at taking control of the State Senate while the Governor's race is a tossup).  A few people have said that it is possible to succesfully draw a map that would yield 12 Democratic seats and only 2 Republican seats.  I've been trying for several weeks to draw a 12-2 map, meanwhile protecting endangered incumbents (specifically Schauer) and I've determined that a 12-2 map would be far overeaching and in a neutral or Republican leaning year might end up 9-5 or worse. I think the best Michigan Democrats could do is create 11 safe or Democrat leaning districts and 3 strongly Republican districts.  I've drawn a map that I think does just that, although I still am not entirely confident that we could hold both of my "Thumb" districts in a Republican year.  But without further ado, here's my map.

Friday Coffee Talk

by: BZP

Fri May 09, 2008 at 07:14:58 AM EDT

Happy Friday! Enjoy your cup-o-links...

• Conservative Media: Smoking ban passes Senate. The Comm Guru has more info on yesterday's big news out of the Senate.
• Skubick: Banning Cells and Text Messaging. Skubick explains why he thinks a ban on cell phone use while driving won't happen anytime soon (remember, it took ten years to get to this point with the smoking ban).
• House Dems: House Dems Blast Senate for Stalling on Ethics Reforms. "As state lawmakers, we should be held to the highest ethical standards," said Majority Floor Leader Steve Tobocman (D-Detroit). "The people of Michigan refuse to tolerate a culture of corruption. An overwhelming majority of the House respects our residents and responded over a year ago by strengthening our ethics policies. Its now time for the Senate to take action."

• BFM: United Solar Ovonic Announces Another Expansion. "Alternative energy is creating jobs, and Uni-Solar is living proof."

• Michigan Messenger: Bonior Endorses Obama. Todd Spencer on yesterday's news from the former Edwards campaign manager and Michigan congressman.
• Walberg Watch: Roll Call, Cook: MI-07 Is A Toss-Up. Fitzy has a follow-up on the story Eric wrote about yesterday.
• DetNews: House approves $15B foreclosure aid. Speaking of CD07 and CD09, yesterday Walberg voted against a House bill to send states $15 billion to buy and fix up foreclosed properties; Knollenberg voted yes. The bill passed 239-188.

David Bonior Goes After Hillary on Trade

by: philgoblue

Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 17:35:26 PM EDT

With all due respect ... they had a very important choice to make back in '93: whether to do the North American Free Trade agreement or health care. They implemented the North American Free Trade Agreement that put literally millions of workers out of work in this country and destroyed, basically, our good trading relationships we had around the world. And then in the interim, they lost any capital they had to get health care passed. ... The fact of the matter is it's been an absolute disaster on health care.

Report from the Edwards Event in Detroit

by: philgoblue

Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 12:35:56 PM EDT

Well, it's two weeks late (hardly BREAKING anymore), but here's my full write-up of the Edwards fundraising event I attended on 14 June.

Bonior: Michigan is made for Edwards

by: philgoblue

Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 11:12:40 AM EDT

Trowbridge has a fairly basic piece on David Bonior, but there are a few interesting comments worth noting:

David Bonior -- "John Edwards's Left-Hand Man"

by: philgoblue

Sun Mar 18, 2007 at 23:21:31 PM EDT

Bonior, Edwards, Michigan and the Unions

by: philgoblue

Wed Jan 24, 2007 at 23:37:37 PM EST

Below are some excerpts, summaries and my commentary: