LANSING — Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer will be in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula next week to meet with Democratic Party activists and plan for the upcoming election cycle, when Michigan voters will decide whether to give pink slips to Gov. Rick Snyder, Attorney General Bill Schuette and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson.
“My trip up and over the bridge has become an annual winter event when I can meet with our newly elected and returning party leaders and begin the task of organizing for victory in 2014,” said Brewer. “Democrats in northern Michigan and the U.P. are fired up and ready to go in taking on Snyder, Schuette and Johnson next year.”
Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula were home to one of the most competitive U.S. House races in the country, with Gary McDowell coming within fewer than 2,000 votes of unseating GOP Congressman Dan Benishek in the 1st Congressional District. In the state House, Scott Dianda defeated incumbent Republican Matt Huuki in the 110th House District, which is based in the western Upper Peninsula.
“Northern Michigan and the U.P. are fertile ground for even more Democratic pickups in 2014,” Brewer said. “The Lansing Republican agenda of raising taxes on seniors and middle-class families while slashing taxes for big corporations is not a winner with the voters here. Working with local Democrats, we intend to hold Representatives Frank Foster and Ed McBroom and Senator Tom Casperson accountable for their extreme agenda. In addition, Tea Party Republican Dan Benishek’s record in Washington — voting to gut Medicare and defending tax breaks for Big Oil — is out of touch with northern Michigan.”
Brewer will make stops on his trip in Petoskey, Mackinaw City, St. Ignace, Manistique, Escanaba, Bruce Crossing, Ironwood, Houghton, Hancock, Marquette, Munising, Newberry, Sault Ste. Marie and the Bay Mills Community. The trip kicks off on Sunday, Jan. 27, and concludes on Friday, Feb. 1.
