Tag: 1st Congressional

Straight up, it was a super-wasteful, corruptly built new state police HQ, while the state was laying off 100 state troopers and cutting back other law-and-order funding.

Last year the state completed its plans to move the Michigan State Police headquarters from the previous East Lansing location on the campus of Michigan State University to a newly constructed building a few miles away in downtown Lansing.  Keep in mind that the state police did not ask for this new HQ, and the state police union expressed disappointment in both the timing and the limitations of the new facility (more on that later).

The developers built the new HQ for $39 million, and it was not competitively bid.  For that money, while it will have a big marble-floored lobby and a gym, the site of the new HQ has still been criticized for being too small -- the site does not have room for an emergency operations center, garage space to warehouse vehicles, or a helipad -- and worse, "the federal flood plain prohibits law enforcement high tech and Homeland Security operations from being moved there."  (Here's the link for that quote - read the whole thing, because this deal sounds more and more rotten.)

Not that I didn't want to support Benishek, or think he was not worth the $25 contribution.  No.. Rather I didn't expect he would HAVE to spend a great amount of capital to win a race that should be so eminently winnable given the way in which Bart Stupak handled his affairs.  The spending levels shouldn't HAVE to be so high, as the corrective juggernaut which is fueled by a responsible government sentiment is just now fully underway.

I must give full credit to Jason Allen for his understanding the consequence of fighting among ourselves, and what copuld be viewed as self destructing because of a stroked ego.  He took the high road.  He understood oh-so-well, how its possible to wreck all that you stand for by allowing a personal, but misplaced sense of self to override a bit of common sense.  How splitting hairs over 'perfect' stands on some issues before a congressional candidate, might be used only to split votes in an election.

This is an "official win," however, challenges may still be made, and it is unclear if the Allen team will pursue any beyond this point.

Another hitch in the situation might well be the arrival of a third party candidate, Glenn Wilson, a Rose City Businessman who has indicated he can self fund a reasonable bid of his own.  Conservatives worry that Wilson will siphon off votes from Benishek, and insiders report that an ongoing personality conflict between the UP Doctor and Wilson, might further encourage Wilson to remain in the race as a spoiler.

Not long ago, Jason Gillman wrote on this blog, "As there are often races where a few votes separate 1st place and 1st to lose, it could be YOU that makes a difference."  Last Tuesday, the 1st District proved him right.  In my campaign for the Republican nomination, we faced a tough opponent and fought for every last vote.

And as every count has established more convincingly than the last, we won.

If we must endure an expensive and time-consuming recount, a dedicated few could easily be the deciding factor once again.  That's why today, I need you.

If we want to uphold this conservative victory and retake the seat that Bart Stupak dishonored, we will have two critical needs: the resources to fight the legal challenge, and volunteers standing vigil in all 31 counties of the District.

Right now, we should be uniting around a single conservative banner, making the case for the reforms Washington needs, reforms that Gary McDowell and his allies will resist just as they have for the last four trying years under Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  But should we need one last push to affirm our victory, I hope you will help me see it through to the end.

Already the recount process has begun, and each of the candidates will pay their $10 per precinct they might feel has the greatest opportunity to find a mistake that corrected, would favor them.  In fact the Benishek team has released this message:

"Dr. Dan Benishek now leads Senator Jason Allen by 13 votes after a day of clean-up of election results from the cliff-hanger fight for the 1st District Republican nomination for Congress.

In Gladwin County, correction of a math error on the results sent to the Secretary of State's office resulted in an 11vote boost for Benishek. And when Delta County certified their vote today, Jason Allen added one vote to his tally, while Benishek added two votes to his, for a net gain of one. "

If that is the case, a Hundred or so other precincts may well find minor errors that aggregated, might produce a very definite difference from what we see now.