Presidential Candidate to Speak at Lincoln Day Dinner
Billionaire Donald
Trump is scheduled to visit Michigan, for the first time since announcing his
bid for the Republican presidential nomination, in August. His appearance will
come as the keynote speaker for the combined Genesee and Saginaw County Republican
parties’ Lincoln Day dinner on August 11. The event, which will be held in
Birch Run, has drawn massive interest, to the point of crashing the websites of
the two involved parties.
Jake Davidson to Run for 82nd House Seat
Jake Davidson, a Republican
from Mayfield Township, has officially filed paperwork to run for the 82nd
House District, currently held by Representative Todd Courser (R-Silverwood).
While Mr. Courser is considering a run for the 10th U.S. House
District, currently held by U.S. Representative Candice Miller (R-Harrison
Township), he has yet to officially announce his plans for 2016. Jan Peabody,
of Lapeer, has also expressed interest in running for the 82nd
District, after her narrow loss to Mr. Courser in the 2014 Republican primary.
Wall Street Bond Rating Agency Raises Michigan’s Outlook
Standard and Poor’s, (S&P),
a Wall Street Bond Rating Agency has become the second major agency to upgrade
Michigan’s outlook on general obligation debt to “positive”. The first firm to
upgrade the State’s outlook to “positive” was Moody’s Investors Services, who
changed their rating March 2014. While the change is certainly a welcome one it
does not affect the state’s rating on their debt, which is an A+ on state
appropriations backed debt and an AA- on general obligation debts.
Swartzle New Chief of Staff, Saari Appointed to the
Public Service Commission
Governor Rick Snyder
has appointed Norm Saari, House Speaker Kevin Cotter’s chief of staff, to the
Public Service Commission. The appointment means that Mr. Saari will relinquish
his duties as chief of staff to the Speaker with Brock Swartzle taking on the
role as new chief. Mr. Saari will be replacing Greg White on the commission and
he will serve a six-year term, effective August 2, 2015. Mr. Swartzle, who
serves as the general counsel for the House, has experience in leadership as he
was the executive director of the House Republican Policy Office and was a
partner at his previous law firm.
Congressional Bid Possibility for Winfrey
Former Democratic
candidate for secretary of state and current Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey
has said she is in the process of considering a bid for the 13th
U.S. House District. The district is represented by U.S. Representative John
Conyers (D-Detroit) who has held the seat since 1964. Ms. Winfrey stated she
expects to make an official decision in the next three weeks; however, if she
were to enter the race she would be facing an uphill battle to unseat a
political icon such as Representative Conyers.