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    Who are the NERD fund donors Mr Snyder?

    Raise the curtain.

    19th Senate Special: Mike Nofs makes it official


    By Nick, Section News
    Posted on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 10:01:03 AM EST
    Tags: 19th, special election, Nofs, Griffin, Schauer, redistricting, Senate (all tags)


    Today is the day.  As of 10 o'clock this morning, former sheriff, state trooper and state representative Mike Nofs is an official candidate in this fall's 19th state Senate district special election.  

    The 19th, you'll remember, was technically vacated at the beginning of the year when Mark Schauer broke his word to his constituents and took a seat in Congress, becoming a part of what polling data consistently tells us is one of the least popular legislative bodies in American history.  

    Our readers in Calhoun and Jackson Counties, their friends and neighbors, have been without representation in Michigan's upper legislative chamber for the last one-hundred-plus days and will be until the end of 2009.  The Granholm-Cherry administration, fearing a potential partisan swing in the District and an expanded GOP majority in the Senate, delayed announcing a special election for months.  

    Remember, they've got a lot more than one Senate seat to lose.  Whoever winds up being the incumbent in the 19th come the 2010 general elections will have a leg-up on the challenger.  Should the Democrats lose the 19th their path to taking control of the Senate becomes significantly more difficult with nothing less than the holy grail of legislative tasks at stake... redistricting.  

    Whoever controls the Supreme Court and the state Senate come January 2011 will control legislative redistricting and partisan electoral potential for the next decade.

    The man who has the liberals spooked?  Mike Nofs.

    Read on...

    Nofs served with the Michigan State Police for 25 years and retired in 2002 as commander of the Battle Creek state police post. Prior to that, he worked for the Calhoun County Sheriff's Department, the Marshall City Police Department and the Battle Creek Police Department.

    The man ran on his law-and-order record and was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in November 2002, and re-elected in November 2004 and 2006. He also served on the Calhoun County Board of Commissioners for ten years, five of those as Chairman of the Board.

    He made his announcement this morning at the Kellogg Community College Regional Manufacturing and Training Center in Battle Creek and is following it up with an announcement this afternoon at Advance Turning and Manufacturing in Jackson.  Those locations are not insignificant.

    Battle Creek represents the 19th's most potent Democratic stronghold.  Finding a conservative candidate who can play well in that part of the District isn't just important... it is absolutely critical to any hopes of picking up the seat. Nofs brings Battle Creek potential in spades.

    We took a look at the district and potential candidates here on RightMichigan last year.  In the last two election cycles, 2006 and 2008, Mike Nofs is the ONLY conservative to win a legislative seat anywhere in the district... and he effectively did it in Battle Creek.

    This afternoon's Jackson stop isn't insignificant, either.  Not only is Jackson the second largest city in the District, Nof's likely opponent, state Rep. Marty Griffin currently represents the county in the House.  The GOPer is heading directly into "enemy territory" to bring his message to the voters.

    Not a surprise, either.  Nofs is pretty well known around Lansing as one of the guys who can genuinely get things done working across party lines.  

    Admittedly, that drives me six different kinds of crazy from time to time, but in an election like this it is a reputation and an ability that can't be taken lightly.

    < President Obama kills 1,600 Michigan jobs, sends stocks plummeting | Planned Parenthood Coming To Oakland County >


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    Display: Sort:
    Mike Nofs and the MEA (none / 0) (#1)
    by dsheill on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:13:02 PM EST
    Is Mike Nofs endorsed by the MEA? I'd really still like to see an updated list of Republican Caucus members who are.

    Nofs is a Republican, not a conservative (none / 0) (#2)
    by boguth on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:36:26 PM EST
    That doesn't mean he's worse than his "likely opponent, state Rep. Marty Griffin."  In fact, according to a ranking by the RLC-MI, we can see just how different the two are.

    Nofs: 1 of 13 good votes on personal freedom; 5 of 16 good votes on economic freedom.

    Griffin: 2 of 13 good votes on personal freedom; 3 of 16 good votes on economic freedom.

    This is the proverbial "dime's worth of difference."  But maybe people can get excited about the one vote (for Majority Leader) that's actually at stake despite the candidates' similarities.  Just please don't call Nofs a "conservative," because doing so helps destroy whatever meaning the word still has.

    Need Input (none / 0) (#6)
    by Shell on Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 11:17:25 AM EST
    I need to do research on Mr. Nofs.  Since I'm in the 19th district and campaigned hard for Walberg, if Tim gives Nofs the nod I'd be happy to help out.

    I will say one thing about Martin Griffin...he pays attention.  When I encountered him at the Jackson Coffee Company one morning (his voice is very recognizable) and told him about what was happening inside the Department of Human Services regarding private contractors and massive policy violations regarding the manual, he was surprised and listened.  When the settlement agreement was released and set to be signed, I read the PDF.  The concerns I'd brought up were in the document with very little room for wiggling.  I'm not sure if others made congress aware of the violations -- I hope so -- but I was pleasantly surprised to see them addressed.  The violations could cost MILLIONS in federal fines if left unresolved.

    Simpson has no business running.  His ego would get in the way of any productive talks.  He acts like the teacher's pet who likes to claim responsibility for action when others might not be listening.

    Shell,
    The Conservatrarian

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