Free Republic

That was fast. Top Michigan Republicans decided to support former state Sen. Nancy Cassis (R) as their consensus write-in candidate for the 11th district GOP ballot. A cadre of top local GOP leaders met again this morning to discuss potential candidates and settled on Cassis out of a handful of write-in hopefuls who expressed interest. The decision follows a hectic couple of days for the local GOP since Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) dropped his own write-in bid Saturday after failing to make the Aug. 7 primary ballot. There’s one Republican on the primary ballot, reindeer rancher Kerry Bentivolio, but GOP...

Michigan congressional candidate Kerry Bentivolio (pictured) will get a leg up in his battle against the GOP establishment in next week's Republican primary election, courtesy of the Ron Paul movement-aligned Liberty For All Super-PAC. The SuperPAC — headed by 21-year-old Texas financial heir John Ramsey — has committed an estimated $300,000 (already spending some $130,000, according to OpenSecrets.org) to support Bentivolio in his primary race over establishment write-in candidate Nancy Cassis. Bentivolio — a teacher and part-time reindeer farmer — committed to the race earlier in the year when victory seemed all but impossible. The Tea Party-aligned Bentivolio faced a...

All eyes are on race for governor Web-posted Jun 6, 2005 By SVEN GUSTAFSON Of The Oakland Press MACKINAC ISLAND - If there were an overriding theme to this year's Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference, it was that both the state and Detroit face crisis situations. Political and business leaders heard repeatedly that bold thinking, more aggressive marketing and less partisan political stalemates are needed if the state is to right its rapidly sinking ship. And while politically, the Detroit mayoral race figured largest at the 25th annual conference, next year's gubernatorial race gained noteworthy attention at the event....

PORTLAND TOWNSHIP - Voters will not cast ballots to decide the next Michigan governor's race for nearly two years, but the contest is already heating up. Three Republican candidates for the state's highest office spoke at a Lincoln Day Dinner hosted by the Ionia County Republican party Tuesday evening at Wagon Wheel Restaurant near Portland. They were joined by several local and state legislators. All three candidates presented a common theme: Gov. Jennifer Granholm is a weak leader who must be voted out of office. Nancy Cassis, a former three-term state representative and current state senator from Oakland County, faulted...

Two state GOP lawmakers enter race for governor 2/3/2005, 5:51 p.m. ET By DAVID EGGERT The Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Two Republican state lawmakers said Thursday they were running for governor, the first two candidates to enter the race. Sen. Nancy Cassis of Novi and Rep. Jack Hoogendyk of Kalamazoo both criticized Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm for not leading the state through difficult economic times. They are the first Republicans to announce they're challenging Granholm, who faces re-election in 2006. She has not yet officially said she's running, but a "Granholm for Gov." Web site urges supporters to...