It's not bad enough that Republicans in Hamburg Township are still fighting among themselves over the township clerk position.
Now our brand new, still wet-behind-the-ears state representative wants to take the fight to the Michigan Legislature.
Rep. Bill Rogers has introduced a measure that would ban someone from running as a write-in candidate after losing a primary for the same position.
That's exactly what Hamburg Township Clerk JoAnna Hardesty did in November after she lost the GOP primary to Matt Skiba. She came in third, behind Skiba and Democrat Debby Buckland, who would have been a better clerk than the two Republicans put together.
Rogers claims that running as a write-in after losing a primary subverts the will of the people.
This is a totally unnecessary law. Voters are quite capable of asserting their own will in an election, which is exactly what they did in the Hamburg case. They said no to Hardesty.
This measure is really about making the will of the Livingston County Republican Party supreme in Livingston County.
Someone might lose the GOP primary because they are more moderate than the right-wing Republicans can put up with. This measure would prevent him or her from challenging the Republican-annointed candidate. Such a candidate should have the option of offering themselves as a candidate to people who don't vote in GOP primaries. Apparently, Rogers is worried that such a scenario would split the Republican vote and allow a Democrat to win. Horrors!
This measure is anti-democratic (with a small "d") and an attempted Republican power-grab.
9 comments:
Those Rogers boys sure are working for me! snark
If you lived in Hamburg and had to put up with Joanna Hardesty and her campaign dirty tricks, you might think Rogers was on the right track.
Maybe he could think of a way to ban Pat Hohl from Hamburg politics so we might have a chance to have township government that doesn't look like a comedy reality show.
A disgusted Hamburgian
I have not been happy with the treatment of clerk Skiba, but I do not see how this bill changes any of that.
It simply takes away the rights someone to run for office in a reaction to the problems that Hardesty caused to the Livingston County Republican party.
It isn't a good bill.
Joe Lieberman lost his primary for the Democratic U.S. senate candidate and then ran as an Independent and won in the General Election.
He is a very unpopular person in the Democratic party, but no one even considered trying to take away his right to run for office!
I think this speaks volumes to the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties.
Democrats are simply more democratic.
Like the anti-bullying law that just died in the Michigan Legislature being called "Matt's Law," or the child molester law being called "Jessica's Law," this should be called "Hardesty's Law." As if you needed anymore proof for the need of some diversity on that board.
I agree Guru, the treatment Matt Skiba has received is nothing short of disgusting!
He truly has never been given a chance, he is constantly being attacked.
The press set this up and now they should own up to the disaster they have created with the board relationships.
It is pitiful.
Isn't this just like the Rogers boys! Put your own career and your party first, then the voters. Remember Mike's law which took away the MSU students' vote? Even without the students' vote, he barely won.
Be careful what you wish for, Bill. This one may come back to haunt the Republican Party.
It's ironic that communications guru would refer to a child molester law.
Bill Rogers is simply worried about the effect this has had on the Livingston County GOP.
I can see that it hasn't been pretty, but this bill will not solve a thing!
The leaders of the Livingston GOP could not control the actions of Joanna Hardesty.
I am not a fan of Joanna's but her rights to run for office, like all of us needs to be protected.
This is just a bad bill.
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