U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra kicked off his campaign for governor in Detroit this morning. ….
Hoekstra was first elected to Congress in 1992 and rose through the ranks to become chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee, a position he held until Democrats won control of the House of Representatives in 2006. He remains the ranking minority member of the committee.
Before winning elective office, Hoekstra was an executive at Herman Miller Furniture Co. in Zeeland.
He joins a crowded field of potential Republican candidates for the state’s top job, including: state Sen. Tom George of Texas Township, Attorney General Mike Cox, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land.
Hoekstra had said several months ago that he wouldn’t seek a tenth term in the House. The question then was whether he’d retire or look to move up, and now we have our answer. Hoekstra’s main competition right now looks to be AG Mike Cox. The primary is a long way off – August 3, 2010.
Open seat fans also have a legitimate reason to be intriged by MI-02. Swing State Project’s analysis shows that after supporting Republican presidential candidates by twenty points for two cycles in a row, Obama surged here, holding McCain to a narrow 51-48 win. As James noted previously, the fact that McCain dissed Michigan late in the game undoubtedly killed his numbers statewide, so this may be a high-water mark for Dems. Nonetheless, there may be some promise here. Any thoughts on potential candidates?
He’s a nutter with almost no statewide appeal.
Hoekstra is the only one I’m confident we could easily dispatch statewide.
Can anyone from western Michigan win a top statewide post? I know Terri Lynn Land is from the Grand Rapids area but i think she is somewhat moderate (from what ive heard). Which kind of evens things out.
The 2008 candidate, Fred Johnson, is running again. With the departure of Hoekstra, and the amazing voter reg job done in 2008, this is now a much more competitive district. The R+7 PVI isn’t the whole story: Obama ran at 48.5% and Levin won (although he was virtually unopposed)in 2008; 47,000 first time voters, overwhelmingly young and pro-Obama, created in 2008; highly contentious Republican primary; more experienced Dem candidate with good name id from ’08.
Fred will run a much stronger, and better funded, campaign this time around. With the absence of other fed races, this will be the only game in town for activists interested in DC policy. Fundraising already well ahead of 2008 (FEC totals don’t reflect monthly givers on ActBlue).
There’s every indication this race will be significantly closer than 2008.