Huge news out of Michigan:
State Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer said Thursday he will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg in the 2008 election after declining earlier overtures to enter the race.“Tim Walberg is not doing the job,” Schauer told The Associated Press on Thursday. “He is serving a very narrow interest. He’s really been a servant of the Bush-Cheney administration and the extreme special interests in Washington.” […]
Schauer, who had pledged to Senate Democrats to serve out his full four-year term as minority leader through 2010, said he will keep being the Democratic leader while running for Congress. He said he changed his mind about running after being approached by both rank-and-file constituents and party leaders.
The push by others for him to join the race “almost became deafening,” Schauer said. […}
Schauer is seen as a strong candidate by Democrats because he is known as a vigorous campaigner and almost all of his state Senate seat is located within the 7th District – giving him a base of support.
Schauer is a big name in Michigan politics, and his state Senate seat is based in Battle Creek, the heart of the 7th district. Walberg, as you may recall, rode a wave of hard-right support from the Club For Growth to defeat sitting congressman Joe Schwarz in the Republican primary in 2006. With only token Democratic opposition, Walberg scored a win that November, but snagged just shy of 50% of the vote against Democrat Sharon Renier.
With Schauer, an aggressive campaigner, in the picture, Walberg won’t be nearly so lucky in 2008. While he faces a primary with former state Senator Jim Berryman, lawyer David Nacht, and Renier, Schauer has to be considered the front-runner.
This race just skyrocketed up the list of potential House Democratic pick-ups in 2008.
You can read Schauer’s full press release over at Michigan Liberal.
UPDATE: In the diaries, Fitzy of Walberg Watch, has much, much more.
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I was asked to cross-post what Sen. Schauer wrote on a few different state and national blogs. Here’s the Swing State Project diary.
The MI Congressional delegation should not be red. More votes were cast for Democrats than Republicans last year, but this map drawn in 2002 continues to screw us.
Finally after 3 cycles we’ve done the hard work to make several districts winnable!
I have no favorite in this district’s primary, and I am happy to see this seat recognized as a strong pick-up potential. But I am wondering why the 2006 Renier campaign is referred to as “only token Democratic opposition”. I had the impression from several blogs last fall that the Renier campaign was underrated and overlooked, resulting in a lack of national-level funding and support that could have helped swung this district to the Democrats last November. A description of “token opposition” suggests to me that the bare minimum effort was put in: name on the ballot, maybe showed up to some debates and official party programs, and at best had an some obligatory (but probably unused) campaign literature printed. Various postings and comments led me to believe that the underfunded Renier campaign put in a very serious effort and not just a token one. Keeping a Republican in a Republican district to just 50% usually takes more than token effort. Even if Renier is not considered the best 2008 Dem nominee, I think the 2006 Renier campaign deserves better recognition than that. Just saying,….
1. She only raised $56K–not enough to make a dent.
2. From the Ann Arbor News: