Michigan legislative action thread
Posted on 07/14/2014 3:37:35 PM PDT by 6ft2inhighheelshoes
A division of the Michigan Education Association's political action committee, which is funded in part by teachers, is urging its members to cast votes in Michigan's 47th House District Republican primary even if they consider themselves to be Democrats.
In a letter labeled: "IMPORTANT!," the MEA/Livingston County PAC Screening and Recommending Committee pressed union members to cast votes for Handy Township Supervisor Henry Vaupel, a Fowlerville veterinarian who is one of five candidates on the GOP primary ballot. A designation at the top of the letter reads in bold print: "To: All MEA members residing in House District 47," then goes on to emphasize the Aug. 5 date of the primary and describe the district's geographical location.
The letter continues with bold print: "Please give the highest consideration to voting for our recommended candidate: Dr. Hank Vaupel," with the candidate's name appearing in larger print at the center of the page.
Part of the explanation given in the letter is as follows:
If you traditionally consider yourself a Democrat and wish to vote for Dr. Vaupel, you must do what is called a 'cross-over' and vote on the Republican side of the ballot. Voters who cross-over don't have to permanently declare as a Republican. (Michigan has an open primary system. Voters can vote either Republican or Democrat in this primary.) A vote in this primary does not determine which candidate receives your vote in the November general election.
The Democrat primary ballot happens to be meaningless in this primary, as one Democrat is running unopposed. He will automatically make it through to the general election when you can choose the Democrat if you wish. As a result, we did not make a recommendation for the August 5th Democrat primary in this House district.
Vaupel said he was aware he had received the MEA endorsement.
"I told them (the MEA) I would have open doors and we would communicate," Vaupel said. "I told them I was interested in making education better, and though I'm a conservative, I would at least have an open door and we may be arguing or working together to make education better."
Vaupel did not say whether he had made any specific policy agreements with the MEA.
"It was general," Vaupel said. "I said I’d have open doors and I am interested in making education better. I am proud that the teachers themselves know that we can communicate and I'm very pleased with the endorsement."
Vaupel said he wasn't sure whether the endorsement would carry over to the general election, but said he hoped it would.
The 47th House District covers the lion's share of Livingston County. It includes part of the cities of Fenton and Howell and the townships of Cohoctah, Conway, Deerfield, Handy, Hartland, Howell, Iosco, Marion, Oceola, Tyrone and Unadilla.
The district has a 64.1 percent Republican base. However, with five GOP candidates dividing up the primary votes, the MEA would appear to have good chance of seeing its candidate, Vaupel, win, particularly with Democrats crossing over.
The other Republicans in the field are all from Howell. They are: Wendy Day, president of Common Sense in Government; Howell Mayor Phillip Campbell; Harold Melton, an NRA certified firearms instructor who has retired from a career that included a variety of positions; and Theodore Ring, who has pledged not to spend more than $1,000 on the race.
The MEA did not respond to a request for comment.
The MEA political action committee council is comprised in part by the MEA president and "at least two (2) other members of the MEA Board of Directors," as well as other MEA members and officials, according to MEA documents, which also say contributions are voluntary.
And the Mich GOP won’t care??
Its clear that three candidates should drop out for the good of the people, and allow a conservative to win.
Also, the Marxists/progressives/Democrats/teachers' union loyalists within our Country just don't seem to understand that when they successfully undermine the voting process that the system is likely gamed from then on, and THEIR votes just might mean nothing in the future.
.
Where is this guy on the political spectrum?
OK Michigan Freepers:
Does Michigan have an open primary?
If so, what have you done to change it?
The leading candidate is Wendy Day -www.electwendyday.com she is running against a bunch of men who are perfectly fine conservatives, but the MEA has a beef with her; she was pivotal in building the Tea Party in Michigan, & was one of the first to join the battle for Right-to-Work in Michigan. She is a big threat, and she is winning. the Dems are trying to get their voters to cross over to the least dangerous candidate they know of.
He’s billing himself as a strong conservative. I have no idea why he accepted the endorsement in the first place.
Its a mixed bag. You can only vote one way in primary races but if the democrats only have one choice in theirs, they’re free to play.
Yeah Wendy Day sounds good to me.
Nope, they absolutely LOVE it; they are living their dream right now as we are a REPUBLIC. The GOPe are democrats, pure and simple and we are seeing it proven over and over again with open primaries.
:: the MEA) certainly HATES DEMOCRACY, n’est ce pas? ::
Not really...
they just find it “convenient”...
n’est ce pas?
Why hasn’t the GOP State committee changed that?
Likely just as much as YOU've done to impose term limits on the U.S. Congress and Senate.....Well, what have you done?
and the MGOP? They are fine with that?
You're right.
I'm going to start calling them the GOPd.
That’s the change we got about two years ago. 1 step at a time.
We have closed primaries, and caucuses for Presidential elections.
We’ve come a long way in Michigan over the past 4 or 5 years. Ruth Johnson and Bill Schuette were the true gems of the 2010 election cycle.
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