Mike's election wrap up

This afternoon I telephoned Chris Ward and congratulated him on his reelection win. We had a friendly conversation, and I offered him my support during his final two years in the House. We wished each other well, and I'm sure he will do his best to deal with the challenges facing Michigan.

I want to thank you in particular and all the others who have helped us on this campaign. This was a team effort from start to finish. The campaign developed better than I had imagined. I feel we were able to get our message out to the public; in no small way through press releases, the web site and the blog that you so well maintained. Although we were not successful, I think we were judged fairly and gave the voters a choice.
Thank you all.
Mike McGonegal

Election wrap-up: Livingston County out of step with the rest of the state

The news is not good, obviously, and it’s hard to even find any good news in this loss. Working hard, actually getting out and talking to voters with a good candidate running against a candidate with a very questionable ethical record means nothing if you just have a D after you’re name. That’s just sad.

But for the 14,469 people who voted for Mike thank you so much, and he enjoyed meeting you.

In Mike we had a dedicated family man with real family values, man who had a real jobs plan for the economy, had business experience in the real world, would actually listen and talk to voters and could work with both parties. He lost 65-34 percent to a career politician with a record of unethical behavior who blew off the people of the 66th District. Mike did the best of any Democrat against Mr. Ward, but that’s little comfort. The difference in the race? The incumbent had an R after his name. In this county, it seems if Ted Bundy ran as a Republican he would win.

After this result it will be hard to find a quality Democratic candidate to sacrifice and work hard just to be a sacrificial lamb with his only function to preserve the Democratic process. The real loser is Livingston County when there is no choice. The county will end up like Detroit elections where there often is no Republican candidate. The only difference is to Detroit’s credit they always have primary elections, and they always challenge an incumbent. That rarely ever happens in Livingston County.

The conventional wisdom is you run against an incumbent to gain name recognition, and then you run again with name recognition for the open seat in the next election. But Mike said this is a one-time thing, and after seeing how hard he worked how can anyone ask Mike and his family do it again.

The only saving grace is the people of Michigan saw what the real problem was in Michigan and changed it. The great news is Mr. Ward is no longer the Floor Majority Leader, and he is now in the minority party. It will be impossible for him to introduce the show legislation that will get approved in the House and die in the Senate so that he can wave it around and say, “look, I’m doing something.” I only hope the Democrats are not as heavy-handed as Mr. Ward and the other so-called former “leaders” in the House were.

The problem is now the Democratic majority are the ones left to solve the problems with the SBT after the irresponsible vote by the Republicans to end it early. Another mess the Republicans dumped in the laps of the Democrats.

My prediction for the next two years is Mr. Ward will be as scarce in Livingston County as water in the Mojave Desert, but he will be seen frequently in Shiawassee and Ingham Counties as he raises money for his next political office, the open Senate seat in the 22nd District.

Questionable online poll results still bode well for McGonegal

You may recall from our post of Oct. 22 of a political notebook item that appeared in the Daily Press & Argus that Mike was handily winning an online poll posted by Dan Wholihan, a member of the Livingston County Party’s executive committee and a paid consultant for Chris Ward, on his blog. The poll had been up for nearly three months, and Mike had been leading the entire time with 53 percent and 91 votes to 42 percent and 73 votes for Mr. Ward. In fact, all of the Democratic candidates from Governor to both House races were winning except one.

However, It didn’t take long for the numbers to change after that negative publicity, and within eight days, Ward was winning the poll. In just two short weeks, Mr. Ward’s vote total increased a whopping 124 percent to lead 54-42 percent. A miraculous turnaround or he did he get some help? However, considering where the poll is located I’m very happy with the results.

Vote cast for getting Michigan back on track again

I made it to the polls this morning and cast my vote for change in Michigan. Despite the steady rain, the turnout was very good at my precinct. It was steady but not overpowering. Frankly, I’m not sure what that means for our chances. But, somehow I think a heavy turnout is good for us because Mike had heard from so many people that plan to vote for him that normally don’t vote or tend to vote Republican. After my part-time job this morning I will be a poll challenger until the polls close.

My only regret is I can’t actually vote for Mike. I live in the 47th District, so I voted for Mary Andersson. We need to send two mature, honest and respectful people to Lansing to represent us instead of a couple of immature frat boys that we saw a real glimpse of during their disgusting performance at the Livingston GOP dinner a few weeks ago where they insulated women and overweight people.

The interesting thing today is I got e-mails from the Livingston County GOP, George Bush and the RNC urging me to vote. No problem, and thanks for asking.

A vote for Mike McGonegal is a vote for your future and a vote for integrity, accountability and honesty

It’s here again. Election Day that is. For many of us, Election Day is somewhat like Christmas, and hopefully we and our state will receive a great gift instead of a lump of coal like we did in 2004. This much needed gift will be victories for Mike and the top of the ticket and simply the return of our state to the right direction and a jump-start forward.

It has been great fun keeping this blog up, and I will miss it. Today we received the most visitors to the blog we have ever had since we started this blog in June with almost a 100 different visits. That broke the previous record that was just set last Thursday.

Mike has knocked on countless doors and talked to many voters who are splitting their ticket for the first time just to vote for him, and he has met and talked to many more voters at the Farmer’s Market, diners, coffee shops, stores and in the street. He has the business and real word experience to address our biggest concern - jobs and the economy – and he has the personal integrity and honestly that is currently lacking in the House leadership in Lansing. He has an effective jobs plan, and his positions are clear and common sense positions. We have given you as many reasons for voting for Mike as we have given you for not returning the incumbent to Lansing for more free lunches from lobbyists and special interest groups and taxpayer funded giveaways to his rich contributors.

See you at the polls. Remember, a vote for Mike is a vote for your future and a vote for integrity, accountability and honesty.

Campaign will end like it began in June: talking to the voters of the 66th District

BRIGHTON – Mike McGonegal, candidate for the Michigan House from the 66th District, spent the last night before Election Day doing what he has been doing since June, knocking on doors and talking to voters in the restaurants, dinners and coffee houses of Livingston County.

“It had been an honor to do this,” McGonegal said. “I really enjoyed meeting so many people, and it’s an experience and privilege I will remember for a lifetime.”

Despite the long odds of beating an incumbent in a county that has not had a Democrat of any kind representing them since then U.S. Rep. Debbie Stabenow in 2000, McGonegal said he’s grateful for a real opportunity of upsetting his overconfident opponent who has again taken the voters for granted.

“I really like my chances,” he said. “I have talked to so many people who have said they have never voted for a Democrat before who plan to vote for me.”

McGonegal sill spend Election Day voting at his home precinct at Hawkins Elementary School on Lee Road in Green Oak Township, and he then plans to have breakfast with his wife, Meg, who has taken the day off from her job as a surgical nurse at CS Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor to campaign with her husband. McGonegal will make the rounds of all the voting precincts in the 66th District to meet the voters one last time before they cast their all-important ballots

McGonegal will end the day at the Victory Party at the Livingston County Democratic Party Headquarters, 10321 E. Grand River Suite 600, to watch the election returns and personally thank the many dedicated volunteers who worked so hard for him.

* * *

Opponent gets award before insensitive and offensive remarks are made public

In an ironic twist, Mr. Ward was recently named 2006 "Legislator of the Year" by the Michigan School Counselor Association (MSCA).
Mr. Ward’s campaign press release said the association based the award on his sponsorship of House Bill 4375 that encourages school districts to include age-appropriate instruction programs regarding the warning signs and risk factors of suicide and depression. The award came just one week after Mr. Ward and his House colleague showed their immaturity, poor judgment and cruelty by making embarrassing and unfunny comments aimed at U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s weight during a “comedy routine” at the annual Ronald Reagan Dinner held by the Livingston County Republican Party.

Since we have demanded an apology from the pair for their embarrassing and hateful remarks that are offensive and demeaning to women and overweight people, we have heard nothing from either elected officials. However, we have heard from some overweight people telling us how constant unkind remarks like Mr. Ward’s and Mr. Hune’s made their lives miserable and led some to seriously consider suicide. Mr. Ward should be encouraged to undergo age-appropriate instruction regarding the warning signs and risk factors of suicide and depression and senseitivity traing aftr his apology.

Mr. Ward getting an award for sponsoring a bill that is supposed to deter suicide and depression among young people and a week later making insensitive remarks that are a cause for suicide and depression is repulsive.

Send a an e-mail to MSCA President Claudia Wojciakowski
at sowac@gvsu.edu and ask her to consider giving the award to a Legislator that really supports students.

Opponent’s diversionary tactic attempts to disenfranchise voters and draws attention away from his ethically challenged record

This is so typical of the divisive crap Mr. Ward and his party continues to pull. It must be so important that he actually made a trip to Livingston County and downtown Howell after getting his marching orders from the state party. To bad he’s not as responsive to constituents.
As we have seen in the past, (see post for 9/26) this is one of Mr. Ward’s favorite ploys when he plays the race card and blames the bogeyman Detroit the state’s problems.
Mr. Johnson made a mistake as a teenager, and he has paid his debt to society. He has clearly been rehabilitated. He served as Rep. Bill McConico’s Chief-of-Staff, so he has much more experience than Joe Hune did when he was elected. Craig DeRoche is going to try and twist a law around to use it to benefit him when it was clearly not intended to do what he’s trying to do. The law was intended more to address some of the questionable things Mr. Ward has done while in office.
This is a ploy to distract from the lack of action by the do nothing Legislature, and its just one more attempt to disenfranchise minority voters. Mr. Johnson beat seven other candidates in the primary election with 1,476 votes, and the person in second only got 808 votes. The real funny thing is there’s not even a Republican in the race. How sad.

By Dan Meisler DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
State Reps. Chris Ward and Joe Hune are pledging to vote against letting a Detroit lawmaker who was convicted of a felony 13 years ago take office next year, but Democrats accuse them of bringing up irrelevant issues to distract voters from the state's real problems.
Ward, of Brighton Township, and Hune, of Hamburg Township, are both Republicans, and have joined the chorus of GOP leaders bringing up the background of Detroit Democratic House candidate Bert Johnson.
Ward and Hune brought their case to the Daily Press & Argus newsroom Friday, saying the Michigan Constitution prohibits from service in the Legislature people who have in the last 20 years "been convicted of a felony involving a breach of the public trust."
Johnson pleaded no contest to armed robbery in the 1990s.
"If that's not a breach of the public trust, what is?" Hune asked.
But Democrats accused them of bringing up irrelevant issues.
Mike McGonegal, Ward's opponent, said he hasn't heard one word about Johnson in his door-to-door campaigning.
"The people in Livingston County are not concerned about some obscure legislator," he said. "They're concerned about their jobs, and I think Chris and Joe ought to be concerned about their jobs."
Added county Democratic Party Chairman Joe Carney: "I'm amazed that Joe Hune and Chris Ward are more interested in Detroit than in their own area."
He said voters are more interested in education, health care and jobs.
"What these two guys are talking about is baloney," Carney said.
House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, brought the issue up a few weeks ago.
The Michigan Constitution specifically says the felonies that prohibit someone from serving must involve a "breach of public trust," and Hune and Ward both said armed robbery fits that bill.
But Richard McLellan, a Republican attorney in Lansing respected for his knowledge of state government, said in July that his research shows that opinions by the state attorney general have held that a breach of the public trust must be an act that is committed while in office and harms the public.

Robo calls have apparently become a campaign issue to some voters

To some, robo calls have become a campaign issue. One poster here said they are no longer voting for Mike because he does not want to ban robo calls – which doing so is clearly unconstitutional – and they suggested we just say we are against them so we won’t lose votes. Now, that may be something our opponent does, but we’re not going to say something just to get elected. Any ban on robo calls will be overturned by the courts because it’s a basic Freedom of Speech issue. We could take our opponent’s tack and introduce a “show bill” just to say we did it knowing full well it will never become law or stand up in court.
Our solution is to require who ever is paying for the call to identify themselves right at the top of the call not at the end, restrict their length and only allow then during certain reasonable hours of the day.
It seems funny that just two days ago our opponent said he’s against robo calls and would not use then, and immediately people begin saying they received the calls from Mr. Ward.
Here’s the blurb that appeared in today’s newspaper.

The Daily Press & Argus blog got responses from several people who were irritated with receiving recorded political messages, or "robo-calls," on their answering machines.
"Dan" (Wholihan, a member of the Livingston County Republican Party Executive Committee) said he has received robo-calls and added, "I absolutely hate robo-calls, even when they are from my own party. I think they cost more votes than they gain, but that's just me."
Yet, not everyone who responded to Story Chat disliked them.
"Curley Sue" got one from state Rep. Chris Ward, R-Brighton Township, on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos.
"If you don't like robo-calls, hang up," the post reads. "Some of us like hearing something about the candidates we are being asked to vote for, and not everyone gets the paper."

Here is Mike’s direct position on robo calls.
“People hate, I mean people hate all the calls. I put my numbers out there in the ads because they can get back at a politician and call them. I also let them know I did not call them, so keep that in mind before you call. I was asked to do the calls and I declined because meeting someone face to face is great.

Ward’s campaign promise goes unfulfilled

As we have shown in many of the posts here, there’s not much Mr. Ward will do or say to stay in power. This unfulfilled campaign promise was made in 2002. I wonder how many others he made that were not kept, especially when you consider how careful he has been not to make any promises and what a low profile he has kept in the 66th District in the last couple of years. Check the headline above to read it for yourself.

“When the new 66th district boundaries were announced, many citizens of the Milford community thought they would be ignored in a majority Livingston County seat. Chris decided early in this campaign to spend a great deal of time in Milford to address these concerns. He also committed to opening a district office in Milford and keeping scheduled office hours in the community. This hard work paid off when the Milford Times printed an article “House Candidate Woos Milford” in January. The article highlighted Chris’ very active campaign to reach out to Milford community leaders and citizens.”

Video killed the radio star, or Mike sounds better than he looks

Check out Mike’s commercials on local radio station WHMI. The two different radio ads will air four times a day up to Election Day on Tuesday. Today, Friday, just tune to 93.5 FM at or around 4:11 p.m. and 11:17 p.m.

Also check out Mike’s ad on page 2 of today’s Livingston County Daily Press and Argus. Unfortunately, there just weren’t enough hours in the day for Mike to knock on every single door in the 66th District, but he gave it a good shot. We are using our limited resources to reach out to voters the best way we can. If you want to personally meet or talk to Mike feel free to call the phone number or e-mail listed on our blog and web site.

Here we go again: Another case of our opponent saying do as I say not as I do

This is just one more example of Mr. Ward doing something he says he is against and then he goes out and does it. Voters in Genoa Township - where we know of for sure so far- were greeted with the voice of Mr. Ward extolling the virtues of his favorite candidate for governor. That’s fine, but then don’t say you “…opposes the use of the typically 30-second ads that are being telephoned to residents and left on answering machines throughout the county, state and country.” That’s called both a lie and hypocrisy.

We have seen this before from Mr. Ward. Last month he agreed with his favorite candidate for governor that all travel paid for by lobbyists should be banned (See our posts on 10/2 and 10/4), and then he goes on an all-expenses paid junket by lobbyists to Taiwan. This robo call episode is just one more example in a pattern of Mr. Ward saying do as I say not as I do. Unfortunately for him, adults don’t buy into that argument, and not many kids do either. How do you not call it a campaign call when Mr. Ward clearly identifies himself and his office? We are fighting for name recognition on a shoestring budget, and he has someone’s millions and the taxpayers doing it for him.

Mike is not against robo calls. He would have told you his position if the newspaper had asked him. Why they did not ask any of the non-incumbents for comments I don’t really know, but I have my suspicions. The calls should not be banned or placed on a Do Not Call List because the 1st Amendment is very important to Mike. However, the calls should not exceed a certain length, and they should clearly state who paid for the call just like a TV, radio or print ad. Whether we would actually use them if we had the money is another question, and we are not sure we would use them. For the many of you who have met Mike at the door you know he prefers personal contact. At this point we are spending our limited funds locally, taking an ad out in today’s local daily newspaper and local radio station.

By Kristofer Karol DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
The recent blitz of recorded political messages, or "robo-calls" as they are called, are "ripe for a lot of dirty tricks," according to one local legislator.
State Rep. Chris Ward, R-Brighton Township, opposes the use of the typically 30-second ads that are being telephoned to residents and left on answering machines throughout the county, state and country.
"It's an environment that's ripe for a lot of dirty tricks, people calling and saying things that aren't true or are unsubstantiated," Ward said, adding there is no law requiring a tag line of who paid for the messages.
State Rep. Joe Hune, R-Hamburg Township, recently recorded a robo-call in support of Republican gubernatorial challenger Dick DeVos.
"I think that they work if you can't get out and meet the voters yourself," Hune said. "I should apologize because everyone opens their mailbox (and) it's full of literature. Every time they answer the phone, it's a politician. But soon it will be all over."
Neither Ward nor Hune are using robo-calls for their own re-election campaigns, with the latter saying he has received a "couple of anecdotal things" about robo-calls from people he's met while out in the field.
Both have said they wouldn't be opposed to adding robo-calls to the list of prohibited calls on the National Do Not Call Registry.
Joe Carney, chairman of the Livingston County Democrats, said he was unaware of any county Democratic candidates using robo-calls.
"(Republicans) probably have more money than all of us put together, so that has something to do with it, and they believe that they work," Carney said.
Several local politicians have been approached by DeVos' camp asking them to record messages in support of his candidacy.
State Sen. Valde Garcia, R-Marion Township, said he declined to do so because of scheduling conflicts. Garcia is not doing any robo-calls for his own campaign.
Ward said he recorded a message, but wasn't told if it would be used for a robo-call.
Meanwhile, Ward said politicians will continue to use robo-calls until everyone agrees to stop using them, which he hopes will one day happen.
"It's kind of like the Wild West of campaign-ing — anything goes" Ward said. "Our system is built on some level of accountability, and robo-calls have none."

McGonegal calls for apology from lawmakers

BRIGHTON – Mike McGonegel, candidate for the Michigan House from the 66th District, called on his opponent, Chris Ward, and Rep. Joe Hune to apologize for their insensitive, embarrassing and unfunny comments aimed at U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s weight during a “comedy routine” last week at the annual Ronald Reagan Dinner held by the Livingston County Republican Party.

McGonegal said many people who attended the event later contacted former Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Burress to express their outrage and embarrassment over the performance by the two elected officials. McGonegal said his campaign blog received the most hits ever after the information was posted on the blog Wednesday. Many of the posters said they have endured painful and hurtful taunts because of their weight for most of their lives, and the pain has remand with them beyond their childhood and teen years.

“This is just a grievous and offensive insult to overweight people and women everywhere,” McGonegal said. “Poor judgment is one thing, but this goes beyond that. They simply need to publicly apologize to those people they have hurt and offended.”

One woman using just her first name of Cathy on the blog said she was teased so much about her weight in the eighth grade that she considered suicide, and her parents had to seek treatment from a therapist for her because of the pain it caused her. Ironically, Ward introduced legislation in February of 2005 following a string of tragic teen suicides in Livingston County that was just signed into law this past summer by the Governor to encourage school districts to include age-appropriate instruction programs regarding the warning signs and risk factors of suicide and depression.

“The two of them need to show some real leadership and maturity by accepting responsibility for and owning up to some truly insensitive and offensive remarks,” McGonegal said. “I think that’s what we should expect as a minimum from our elected officials.”

McGonegal sends congratulations on new mall

BRIGHTON – Mike McGonegel, candidate for the Michigan House from the 66th District, added his congratulations to Green Oak Township and Wixom-based Quadrants Inc. on the opening of the new $100 millon Green Oak Village Place mall last week.

But McGonegal said the real winners were the taxpayers of Livingston County who were not stuck with the more than $9 millon cost of the dual roundabouts at the Lee Road interchange. McGonegal’s opponent drafted an amendment to the law establishing a Downtown Development Authority that would have allowed the township to form a DDA just to benefit the mall to capture county tax revenue for road improvements.

Luckily, the Livingston County Board of Commissioners rejected establishing the DDA, and one of the major reasons was because the developer did not and would not have to provide any money, and the county was already struggling to replace $3.6 million in lost state revenue sharing payments. A 20-year bond would have been sold to finance the project and taxpayers would also have to pay an additional $200,000 a year in interest for the next 20 years.

“This is one of the worst giveaways of taxpayer money to a developer I have ever heard about,” McGonegal said. “This would take away money away from local police, fire departments, ambulances, the jail and many other local services.”

McGonegal also said Chris Ward’s statement in a candidate debate last month that if his stealth amendment had not been repealed the interchange would be much better built is simply untrue. The only difference would be the taxpayers would have footed the bill instead of the people who are receiving the direct benefit.

“It’s ironic that Mr. Ward was only one of three lawmakers to vote against the earned income tax credit for working families that would pump money right back into the local economy and keep many working people off of welfare,” McGonegal said. “But he has no problem giving away more than $9 million of taxpayer money to a developer.”
* * *

Ward’s offensive fat jokes fall flat

This story appeared in today’s Daily Press & Argus, and it speaks volumes about Mr. Ward’s character.

While I have to agree with him to a point that politicians are often the butt of unflattering jokes, including former Governor John Engler, but it doesn’t make Mr. Ward’s performance any less offensive to overweight people and women.

But it really illustrates Mr. Ward’s obsessive and destructive partisanship. If you need a few examples of how he has so soured the relationship between the two parties in Lansing you can find them on this blog, including refusing the years old common courtesy of simply giving out the days agenda and throwing a priest out of a committee hearing and threatening him with arrest because he wanted to speak after being promised that right.

There’s nothing wrong with partnership because I personally am partisan. But I know when to put it away, but I’m not an elected official. Mr. Ward represents the entire 66th District not just those of his own party. The structural problems facing our great state are so serious that finding a solution is going to take having everyone at the table, and it’s going to take someone who can work with a diverse group of people. That’s clearly not Mr. Ward, but that’s something Mike has been doing for almost 30 years.

Back to Mr. Ward’s performance. It seems to me a simple apology will be enough to put it behind him and move on.

By Dan Meisler
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
Jokes made by local Republican lawmakers at a recent dinner about Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow's weight have raised the ire of some local political observers.
At last week's annual Ronald Reagan Dinner held by the Livingston County Republican Party, state Reps. Joe Hune and Chris Ward did a comedy routine needling several politicians, both present and absent.
One of their targets was Stabenow, and the jokes — which went over like a lead zeppelin with the audience of approximately 400 — poked fun at her weight.
Hune and Ward joked that critics were incorrect when they criticize Stabenow for lacking substance, saying "there's nothing there." Actually, the comedy duo said, there's a lot there.
Retired Judge Daniel A. Burress didn't find that funny, saying he's received four calls, only one from a Democrat, from people who were upset about the jokes.
"It's just inappropriate," he said. "She is a United States senator, and it's a lack of respect for the office and for her ... it's just plain wrong."
Ward said he and Hune were just attempting to keep things lighthearted at the dinner, which took place Oct. 24.
"I poke fun at my own weight all the time," Ward said. "If the Democrats are concerned about that, they have a whole lot of John Engler jokes they should be taking back."
Ward was referring to the portly former Republican governor.
"I'm feeling like this is the silly season when people are complaining about jokes," Ward said.
He added that it's not unusual for Democrats, of which Burress is one, to attack Republicans in the week before an election.
Hune, no lightweight himself, said: "I'm a fat guy, so I can make fun of someone else with a weight problem. We ripped on Republicans probably more than we did Democrats. It was all in jest."
But Burress said the people who contacted him were embarrassed by the performance.
"They thought it was demeaning and embarrassing," he said.
The dominant thought at the dinner appeared to be that it just wasn't funny. Hune and Ward — who performed as the Blues Brothers at a fundraiser a few weeks ago — were cut off before they could finish their shtick.
And the keynote speaker, GOP gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos, gave Hune and Ward a mock rebuke before starting his speech.
Contact Dan Meisler at (517) 552-2857 or at dmeisler@gannett.com.

Businessman looks to unseat career politician

This profile of the race in the 66th District appeared in today’s Daily Press & Argus. You can click the headline above to read the full story.

By Jim Totten
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
Opponents Mike McGonegal and Chris Ward don't share a lot in common, but they do agree on a couple of things.
The state's economy needs help. Both also like what Massachusetts did to provide universal access to health care.
After that, the two seeking the state representative seat for the 66th District in the Nov. 7 election are a lesson in contrasts. The district includes Brighton, Milford and the townships of Green Oak, Brighton, Genoa, Marion, Oceola and Milford.
With his 30 years of sales and business experience, McGonegal said he knows why companies are leaving Michigan and what should be done to strengthen the economy. He also said his opponent, Ward, lacks the business knowledge to turn things around.
Ward said he has a proven track record of accomplishing goals for his community, including helping to get more money for area schools and getting mothballed transportation projects back on schedule. Ward said he's working hard to get people back to work and deserves to go back for his final term.
McGonegal, 57, worked as an independent manufacturer's rep for 30 years and never run for public office until now. He's always loved politics and followed it closely.
"I'm mad," said McGonegal.
"I've watched from a front-row seat the deindustrialization of Michigan," McGonegal said.
He said the machine-tool companies he calls upon are sending jobs to Italy, Japan and Germany, and the reason is the skyrocketing costs of health care.
McGonegal said the state should follow Massachusetts' lead. That state has launched a program to provide health care for its residents. He said Massachusetts isn't waiting for the federal government to fix health care, and neither should Michigan.
He also believes elected officials need to do more to diversify the economy, and he favors fully funding the Michigan Economic Development Corp. He said the state needs to do a better job of marketing itself with tourism and should promote its universities and use them as magnet for life sciences to attract interest to the state.
McGonegal said he has the "real-world experience" to make that happen.
When he's gone out campaigning door-to-door, McGonegal said he's received a good reception from people even though this is predominantly Republican territory.