Four retirements from Michigan’s Congressional delegation have set-off a chain reaction of potential candidate shuffle reaching deep into the State Legislature and, further, into local government. The shake-up in Lansing, as a result of term limits, already promised to be considerable as a result of the 2014 elections and the roughly 36 members of the State Legislature who are unable to run for their current post (seven in the State Senate, 29 in the State House). Now, with U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-Detroit) and U.S. Representatives Dave Camp (R-Midland), John Dingell (D-Detroit), and Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) all announcing their pending departure from public office, the 2014 election will likely be remembered for years to come.

Although the filing deadline is still a couple of weeks out, the buzz throughout the state is heavy with “who is running for what?” This week and next, PAAdvisory is going to examine each announcement and the resulting cascade effect, starting with the Departure of U.S. Senator Carl Levin and U.S. Congressman John Dingell.

Levin
United States Senator Carl Levin (D-Detroit), Michigan’s senior Senator and Chair of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, announced his decision about a year ago, ending a nearly 35 year career in the United States Senate. First elected in 1978, Senator Levin took office in 1979 after defeating former Senator Robert Griffin (R-Traverse City) and is the longest serving member of the U.S. Senate from Michigan having recently cast his 12,000th vote. Senator Levin had been a member and President of the Detroit City Council and is an attorney.

Senator Levin’s statement explained that he had determined he would best serve the citizens of Michigan and the United States by focusing these next two years on doing his job without the distraction of campaigning to keep his job.

Senator Levin’s decision leaves an open U.S. Senate seat for the first time in 20 years and, barring any surprises, the field appears to be clear heading to the November General Election. Current U.S. Representative Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) is the presumptive Democratic nominee and has been actively running since very shortly after Mr. Levin’s announcement. On the GOP-side, former Secretary of State and Republican National Committeewoman Terri Lynn Land has risen out of a long list of early “interested” individuals and, having previously won two statewide elections, has a campaign infrastructure and fundraising apparatus well in-place.

Congressman Peter’s decision to vacate his U.S. House seat for the U.S. Senate run has resulted in a field of candidates looking to replace him in Congress. The four initial candidates for the 14th Congressional District seat, which runs from central Oakland County to the City of Detroit and the Grosse Pointes, consisted of current State Senator Vincent Gregory (D-Southfield), current State Representative Rudy Hobbs (D-Southfield), current State Senator Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park), and current Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence. The race now appears down to two, Rudy Hobbs and Brenda Lawrence, as State Senator Vincent Gregory announced this week that he will not run for Congress but instead will run for his second term in the State Senate, and Senator Bert Johnson’s bid failed to get traction.

The cascade effect continues since Senator Gregory has now reversed his decision and two current members of the State House of Representatives have previously announced their intentions to run to replace him in the Senate and may or may not turn that into a challenge in the Democratic Primary. State Representatives Vicki Barnett (D-Farmington Hills) and Ellen Cogen Lipton (D-Huntington Woods) have been actively campaigning for the State Senate. The GOP does not look to play in the race for the heavily Democratic 11th State Senate seat.

Dingell
The longest serving member in the history of the United States Congress, U.S. Representative John Dingell (D-Dearborn), announced his retirement in February. The announcement drew media coverage from across the nation, including U.S. President Barack Obama commending Congressman Dingell on his remarkable accomplishments during his 58-plus year tenure. Mr. Dingell has held his current seat since 1955, following the death of his father John Dingell, Sr.

Congressman Dingell supported many historic pieces of legislation throughout his career. He voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Medicare, the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and was an original author of the Affordable Care Act.

Although the announcement sparked considerable interest among many potential candidates, including current State Senator Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor), Mr. Dingell’s wife, Debbie Dingell, is the presumed frontrunner to succeed him as she appears to be the only credible candidate actively campaigning.

Next week, PAAdvisory will examine the decisions of Congressmen Dave Camp (R-Midland) and Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) and the potential replacements and resulting shuffle.

U.S. Representative Dave Camp (R-Midland) announced on Monday that he would be retiring from Congress at the end of the year. Congressman Camp had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins large B-cell lymphoma in July 2012, but has been cancer-free since December of that year. He joins U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-Brighton), U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-Detroit) and U.S. Representative John Dingell (D-Dearborn) in the crowd of Michigan federal legislators retiring from office.

As Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Representative Camp spent much of his energy into a rewrite of the federal tax code, an effort that has so far yielded no results. After he unveiled the proposal earlier this year it was ignored by many Republicans in Congress, though he vowed to continue his pursuit.

Camp’s retirement marks an unprecedented loss in political clout by the Michigan delegation. State Senator John Moolenaar (R-Midland), as expected, announced his intent to run for Congressman Camp’s seat. Senator Moolenaar joins tea party activist Peter Konetchy of Roscommon, who previously announced his intent to challenge U.S. Representative Camp, in the primary. Senator Moolenaar, who was called by Congressman Camp with the news of his retirement, is the clear frontrunner in the primary race. Senator Darwin Booher (R-Evart) and Senator Judy Emmons (R-Sheridan) are both considering a run, but have not yet made a decision.

State Senator John Moolenaar (R-Midland) said Tuesday that he expects to report a Senate proposal for the Department of Community Health (DCH)for the upcoming fiscal year budget. In that proposal is $115 million General Fund dollars aimed at filling a revenue shortfall associated with the Health Insurance Claims Assessment (HICA).

Created by Governor Snyder in September 2011, the assessment requires certain third party administrators, carriers and self-insured entities to pay 1 percent on certain paid health care claims. However, the tax has not generated the revenue it was supposed to provide, and there has been no long-term solution to fix the problem. House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) and other members of his caucus proposed a fee in an auto insurance reform proposal to help fill the shortfall, but Mr. Bolger said recently that provision will be removed. The House concurred with the Governor’s proposal and did not include funding for the HICA revenue shortfall in its proposed DCH budget.

Senator Moolenaar said he plans to fund it in the Department of Community Health Proposal, but acknowledges it will have to be negotiated on in the future. He went on to say that he expects to report the bill, Senate Bill 763, out of committee. It will then be in the hands of Senator Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw Township) and the Senate Appropriations Committee. Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding and rural hospital funding will also be looked at by Senator Moolenaar and the subcommittee. Governor Snyder proposed removing $4.3 million in one-time GME funding, but the House proposal approved funding for GME at about $2.9 million so long as it met certain boilerplate conditions.

The Governor also proposed eliminating a gross reduction of $35.6 million ($12 million General Fund). The House proposal replaces the General Fund dollars with certain hospital revenue allowing payments to continue at the same gross amount. It also shifted $3.1 million from the General Fund to state restricted revenue for the state retainer share of the assessment.

Former State Representative Kevin Green, who served from 2005-2010, will join State Representative Peter MacGregor (R-Cannon Township) in the GOP primary for the open 28th Senate District seat.

Columbia Township Treasurer John Calhoun announced his intent to run for the 65th House District seat, where the current holder Representative Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) is running for the State Senate. Fellow Republicans Jim Stormont and Dale Moretz will join Mr. Calhoun in the primary. A Democrat, Ed Peterson, has created a campaign committee to run for the seat as well.

Milford bail bondsman Matt Maddock has formed a campaign committee to run against incumbent Republican State Senator Mike Kowall of White Lake Township. Mr. Maddock cited Senator Kowall’s support of Medicaid expansion and corporate tax abatements among the reasons he chose to run. Also running in the primary is Vernon “Ron” Molnar, a former precinct delegate and self-described tea party Republican.

Matt Wiedenhoeft, who previously intended to run for the U.S. Senate, has filed to run in the 89th House District against State Representative Amanda Price (R-Park Township). Wiedenhoeft listed his stance against Medicaid expansion and Common Core as primary reasons for challenging Representative Price. Similarly, Representative Klint Kesto (R-Commerce Township) will be challenged by Deb O’Hagan in the GOP primary. Ms. Hagan is a member of the Lakes Area Tea Party, and has criticized Representative Kesto for his support of Medicaid expansion and Common Core.

In the March 28th edition, PAAdvisory asked: Some recent polls have been released showing the race between Congressman Gary Peters and former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land to replace Senator Carl Levin in the U.S. Senate as closer than some expected. Who is the next junior Senator from Michigan?

68 percent of respondents believe former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land will be the state’s newest U.S. Senator and 26 percent see Congressman Gary Peters in the position. 5 percent believe someone not yet in the race will be the winner.

Schauer Picks Lisa Brown for Lieutenant Governor
Gubernatorial candidate and presumptive Democratic nominee Mark Schauer named Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown as his running mate in this year’s election. Ms. Brown has a history of winning tight races in Oakland County, the most critical county in a statewide election. She is best known for receiving national attention after she was barred from speaking on the House Floor due to a reference she made about female anatomy during an abortion debate. Brown’s name on the ticket brings abortion rights issues to the forefront, a subject Governor Snyder tends to stay away from.

 Olumba to Chair Appropriations Subcommittee
State Representative John Olumba (I-Detroit) has been appointed the Chair of the House Appropriations Fiscal Oversight Subcommittee. Representative Joe Haveman (R-Holland), Chair of the full Appropriations Committee, announced Representative Olumba would Chair the Subcommittee, adding that he has been a strong advocate for the people of Detroit during the appropriations process. Representative Olumba said Representative Haveman and House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) see him as someone who can be reasonable and work with everyone.

Governor Signs Self-Storage Reform
Late last week, Governor Rick Snyder signed House Bill 4484 into Public Act 61 of 2014, enacting considerable modernization to the Self-Storage Lien Act. The measure, sponsored by Representative Peter Pettalia (R-Presque Isle), provides for protection to both consumers and self-storage facility owners/operators in instances of delinquent tenant and storage of sensitive goods, as well as structure and limits for late fees and value for stored goods.