Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land (R) announced this morning in Grand Rapids that she will no longer seek the Republican nomination for Michigan governor. She instead endorsed the candidacy of Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard (R). Developing . . .
Potential GOP candidate Rick Snyder is embroiled in an election controversy before formally announcing his candidacy. Conservative blog Right Michigan today reports that Snyder’s campaign lied about endorsements from prominent Republicans.
Republican leaders reviled Snyder for his lack of integrity and the deception in the false endorsement claims. One leader asked: “”When are we going to learn as Republicans we need to be straight up?”
Is is legal for the disgraced former mayor of Detroit to use nearly $1 million in campaign funds to pay has legal fees?
Thanks to Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land (R), we will never know.
According to published reports, Land avoided making any decision regrading Kwame Kilpatrick’s use of $980,000 from his candidate committee to pay his mouthpieces in his criminal cases:
“Michigan’s Secretary of State has refused to decide if former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrickwrongly used his re-election fund last year to pay nearly $980,000 in legal fees.
In a June 12 letter to Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett, the chief of staff for Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, Brian DeBano, wrote that he could not give Garrett a decision on the legality of the move because she failed to provide a “complete statement of fact” when she asked.” Michigan won’t decide if Kilpatrick misused campaign cash, The Detroit News, June 16, 2009.
Land passed the buck to the IRS, stating that they needed to clarify if the legal fees were a legitimate business expense.
“Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick must provide documentation from the Internal Revenue Service to the Wayne County Clerk’s Office, proving that legal fees paid from campaign funds were an “ordinary and business” expense as determined by the federal tax code.
That is the suggestion Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land makes in a proposed response to a query from Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett about whether Kilpatrick broke the law when he spent nearly $1 million from his political campaign fund on personal lawyers.” DETROIT: Kilpatrick’s legal fees under scrutiny, The Detroit Free Press, June 13, 2009
Land, a presumptive candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, must be hoping that the Kilpatrick machine will turn the massive Detroit vote out for her in the GOP primary next year.
Mr. Gloom, writing in Daily Kos, has an interesting take on the race for governor in Michigan:
“If unemployment remains high in Michigan Cherry is going to be in significant trouble going into the general election, particularly if Chrysler or GM hits a significant snag going forward. But Cherry will benefit if Obama’s policies bear fruit in Michigan by mid-2010 and he also is benefiting from having a relatively mild primary (Wheeler Smith is the only significant candidate currently announced and she doesn’t have the resourced to make any trouble for Cherry).”
and
“Cox is probably the favorite to win the primary and comes into the general with a lot going for him (and he beat current Congressman Gary Peters in a surprising win in 2002, the same year Jennifer Granholm won statewide). Snyder has the money to run, and the Ann Arbor SPARK under his stewardship is considered an overall positive in regard to Michigan’s economic development efforts, however many are concerned that he comes off too much like 2006 nominee Dick Devos (however, I think Snyder is the only current Republican running who hasn’t pledged fealty towards Right to Life so there’s that). In order of chance: Cox, Snyder, Hoekstra, Land, George.”
Michigan Governor’s Race 2010: Redux
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder has been the subject of discussion by two Michigan political podcasts this week. Download the Talking Michigan Politics Podcast and the Two Guys Named Joe – The DiSano & Munem Report for discussions about attacks being leveled at Snyder. The Two Guys podcast went as far to question the competence of Snyder’s campaign advisors.
Rick Snyder’s campaign spokesman released the following statement regarding the growing controversy surrounding the potential candidate:
“This anonymous and dishonest smear tactic is exactly the kind of politics that has plagued Lansing and distracted Michigan from what’s important, like creating jobs. Even though he’s not officially in the race, it’s not surprising that Rick’s unique and impressive track record of domestic job creation is under attack. His leadership at Gateway helped a $600 million business grow to a public company worth $6 billion in revenues and he’s focused on economic development in Michigan ever since. Whether or not he chooses to run for Governor, voters should reject politics as usual and urge their leaders instead to focus on fixing Michigan’s economy.”
A Lansing-based newsletter today reported that Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rick Snyder is under attack. The report indicated that an unknown person distributed a flier attacking Snyder for out sourcing America jobs to China during his stint as Gateway CEO. The flier was handed out at a Snyder campaign event in Grand Rapids. Race Michigan has obtained a copy of this flier:
In other news, Snyder stopped listening and began offering details about where he stands on various issues.
The Michigan Campagin Finanace Network has published its 2008 Citizen’s Guide to Michigan Campaign Finance, examining campaign spending throughout Michigan. We are looking at the analysis and will make observations later.
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rick Synder this week challenged fellow candidates to take a pledge to not take money from political action committees and lobbyists.
Snyder, a former CEO of Gateway computers, made the challenge in the form of a letter to other republican candidates. An article in The Detroit Free Press quoted Snyder to say that “voters no longer trust politicians and are in thrall to special interests. Declining to take their contributions will begin to restore trust . . .”
Synder, likely the wealthiest of the all republican candidates, is unlikely to convince his less affulent oppenents to take up his challenge.
Potential GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder has come under fire for shipping thousands American jobs overseas while making a big payday.
Race for Michigan sources have uncovered evidence that Snyder took compensation of $1.8 million for his six months of service as interim CEO of computer manufacturer Gateway, Inc in 2006. That amount is based upon Securities and Exchange Commission filings indicating that Snyder was paid a $500,000 salary and 600,000 shares of Gateway stock for his six months of service.
Prior to being named Gateway’s interim CEO, Snyder had served as a member of its Board of Directors, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer. During Snyder’s tenure on the Gateway Board, US employees were slashed from a high of 21,200 in 2000 to a mere 1,700 jobs in 2006.
Look for Snyder to answer charges of corporate waste and abuse as he considers a run for CEO of the State of Michigan in 2010.