Up North Progressive
Politics and commentary for Northern Michigan
With Your Help Geoff Malicoat Will Win on November 8
Friday , 4, November 2016 Candidates, Elections Leave a comment
Geoff Malicoat is the Democratic Party candidate running for the 98th district in the Michigan State House. His opponent is the ever noisome and unethical tea party incumbent Gary Glenn.
The good news is Malicoat and Glenn are tied in the polls going into the general election on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. This means there is a real chance the people of the 98th district could have someone in Lansing representing them and their interests, instead of a man who has made it his career to seize any port in the political storm willing to give him money and support. Just ask the people of Idaho what it was like having Gary Glenn represent them as an elected official.
Geoff Malicoat doesn’t answer to deep pockets that pay for him to run for office, or lobby state governments to pass laws that hurt working people or deprive them of their civil rights. Malicoat is a small business owner who wants to go to Lansing and fight for the people who need their voices heard. To do that, he needs the support of everyone in the 98th district. This weekend is the last opportunity to mobilize people to go to the polls on Tuesday, and Geoff Malicoat needs your help. Your donations will help him get the word out through advertising and social media. Will you help him?
If so, please donate to Geoff Malicoat’s campaign and give him the push he needs to win on November 8, 2016.
Meet the Candidates: Michigan State Legislature District 110 Scott Dianda
Saturday , 29, October 2016 Candidates, Elections, Meet the Candidates 2016 Leave a comment
The 110th District contains Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Iron, Keweenaw, two western townships of Marquette and Ontanogan Counties. State Representative Scott Dianda is running for his third term to represent the people of Michigan’s 110th State House district. He has served on Michigan’s State Legislature since 2012.
Scott Dianda has lived in the Upper Peninsula for his entire life. He attended school at Lake Superior State University and The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Scott Dianda has experience in retail, and worked for the Michigan Department of Transportation. He lives in Calumet with his wife, Debbie.
Scott Dianda wants to continue to work hard for the people of the 110th district by focusing on job creation. Jobs that don’t spoil the Upper Peninsula’s natural beauty while providing jobs so young people can remain in the region are important to the community. Education is the key to making sure young people can find jobs in the 110th district. Dianda knows funding public education, and providing opportunities to study in the technology fields are key to making the region competitive. Providing better care and support to veterans, making sure the Upper Peninsula can provide for it’s energy needs, and making sure everyone pays their fair share of taxes are all things Scott Diana wants to continue fighting for in Lansing.
Scott Dianda is endorsed by the Small Business Association of Michigan, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, Pride Source, Planned Parenthood of Michigan, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Michigan AFL-CIO, Equality Michigan, American Federation of Teachers, National Rifle Association, and the Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners.
To find out more about Scott Dianda, contact him or volunteer, you can visit his website, or his Facebook page. Vote for Scott Dianda, 110th Michigan State Legislature on November 8, 2016.
Meet the Candidates: Michigan State Legislature District 107 Dr. Phil Bellfy
Friday , 28, October 2016 Candidates, Elections, Meet the Candidates 2016 Leave a comment
The Mackinac Bridge connects the 107th State House District with Emmet County in the Lower Peninsula, and Chippewa and Mackinac Counties in the Upper Peninsula. Dr. Phil Bellfy. A resident of Sault Ste. Marie is running for the 107th State House. Dr. Bellfy’s family has lived in the area for ten generations. He attended Lake Superior State on the GI Bill and earned a Bachelor’s in Psychology. From Michigan State University he holds a Master’s in Sociology and a Ph D in American Studies. Colleges Bellfy has taught at include Lake State, Bay Mills Community College, Wayne State and Michigan State, where he retired from teaching in 2012.
Dr. Bellfy’s work in environmentalism spans 40 years. He has worked with Native American tribes, at international, national, state, and local levels promoting important environmental issues. He is committed to closing and removing Enbridge Line 5 from the Straits of Mackinac. This urgent issue that has the potential to destroy the Great Lakes affects the health, jobs, and Michigan’s waters, which must be protected.
Dr. Phil Bellfy is endorsed by Planned Parenthood of Michigan. To find out more, contact Dr. Bellfy or volunteer, you can check out his website or Facebook page. Vote Dr. Phil Bellfy for 107th State Legislature on November 8, 2016.
Meet the Candidates: Michigan State Legislature District 106 Robert Kennedy
Friday , 28, October 2016 Candidates, Elections, Meet the Candidates 2016 Leave a comment
Robert Kennedy is the Democratic Party Candidate for the 106th State House District. The counties of Alcona, Alpena, eastern portions of Cheboygan, and Iosco counties are included in this district. Kennedy is a lifelong resident of the region. He attended college in Alpena and served six years in the Army National Guard. Kennedy taught for Oscoda Area Public Schools for 38 years. He currently lives with his wife, Margy, in Alcona County.
Issues important to Kennedy include a leveling the playing field between the rich and well connected, and everyone else. An economy that puts the tax burden on the working class, poor and elderly so corporations and the wealthy can enjoy tax cuts has stagnated wages and made it harder for working families to survive. The rich keep the system in place through changes in campaign finance that allows them to donate millions anonymously. Revenue sharing from the state to the local communities who pay the taxes needs to be reestablished for communities struggling to pay for services and avoid one of Governor Snyder’s emergency managers.
Robert Kennedy wants to make enjoying the state’s natural resources a priorty in Michigan again. He will fight to maintain equal rights for LGBTQ Michiganians. Kennedy also knows the devastation Snyder’s cuts to school funding have cause for Michigan’s public schools and will restore the schools to levels where they can effectively educate Michigan’s children.
Endorsements for Robert Kennedy include the Sierra Club, Michigan Chapter, Operating Engineers Local 324, Iosco County Sheriff Allen L. MacGregor, and Bruce Gauthier, Cheboygan County Commissioner. To find out more, contact Robert Kennedy or volunteer, you can check out his website or Facebook page Vote for Robert Kennedy, 106th State Legislature on November 8, 2016.
Shades of Idaho in Michigan: Gary Glenn Admits His Campaign is the Source of the Miller Letter
Thursday , 27, October 2016 Candidates, Elections Leave a comment
Gary Glenn in his never-ending quest to prove just how much of a jerk he is can have another entry in his political scrapbook, Michigan chapter. Remember the William Miller Letter? The letter from an 83-year-old veteran that appeared all over the press last week declaring 98th State Legislature candidate Geoff Malicoat a bad person because of some comments left on a forum ten years ago that was likely never written by Geoff Malicoat? Well, the truth came out and it appears the Miller letter wasn’t written by Miller, but by Gary Glenn, or his campaign manager Jeremiah Ward and sent out to the press pretending to be from Miller, a Korean War Veteran. Malicoat insists he never wrote those comments, but it didn’t stop Gary Glenn and Jeremiah Ward from using them in an attempt to libel Geoff Malicoat.
Gary Glenn is no stranger to saying horrible things to promote his political agenda in Michigan or Idaho. In 1994, while a member of the Ada County Board of Commissioners, he was a leader in the movement in Idaho to deprive LGBTQ residents of their civil rights with Proposition 1. The Idaho LGBTQ community organized to stop the ballot referendum, and of course, Gary Glenn just had to let everyone know what he thought of their efforts to stop him, Kelly Walton and the Idaho Citizens Alliance in January of 1994:
“As long as I have the privilege of holding elected office, I’m going to man a foxhole. If the ACLU and Brian Bergquist are listening, the last time I was tested with an M-16, I shot 40 out of 40.”
Naturally, this shocked and horrified everyone who had a shred of humanity in them. The statement made at an Idaho Family Forum banquet rallied people to protest against Gary Glenn for his violent hate speech.
Fortunately for Idaho, Gary Glenn’s foxhole wasn’t enough to make it legal to treat gay people as second-class citizens, and Proposition 1 was defeated in November 1994. Three years later, Gary Glenn had no more bridges in the Gem State to burn, and headed back east to Michigan. Unfortunately for us.
One thing you can always rely on when it comes to Gary Glenn, he will continue to be Gary Glenn, horrifying us with hate speech, agenda alerts, and fail to make a better human being look bad.
Please vote for Geoff Malicoat on November 8, 2016.
Meet the Candidates: Michigan State Legislature District 105 Wyatt Knight
Thursday , 27, October 2016 Candidates, Elections, Meet the Candidates 2016 Leave a comment
Antrim, Charlevoix, Montmorency, Oscoda and Otsego counties make up the 105th State House District. The Democratic Party candidate for that district is Wyatt Knight.
A Michigan native, Knight graduated from Northern Michigan University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. Through his experience and the opportunity to attend public schools and a public university, he wants to support education once he’s in Lansing as well as other issues he feels strongly about, as they are important to Michigan’s future as a state.
The environment is an important issue, especially the Great Lakes and inland waterways of the state. Knight supports the shutdown of Enbridge line 5 under the Straits of Mackinaw and protecting the Great Lakes. Ways to do this include ending because of the threat it poses to the water table and inland lakes, and to regulate oil pipelines in the state more rigorously with tougher safety standards and a transparent inspection system.
The LGBTQ community deserves the same rights the residents of Michigan have; this includes allowing people to use the public restroom according to the gender they identify with. Wyatt Knight supports the rights of same sex couples to marry, and to protect their civil rights.
Endorsements for Knight include the Teamsters Local 406 and the United Auto Workers Local 1D. To find out more about Wyatt Knight, contact him or volunteer, you can check out his website Facebook page, twitter or Instagram accounts. Vote for Wyatt Knight, 105th State Legislature on November 8, 2016.
Meet the Candidates: Michigan State Legislature District 109 John Kivela
Wednesday , 26, October 2016 Candidates, Elections, Meet the Candidates 2016, Upper Peninsula Leave a comment
State Representative John Kivela once again seeks re-election to represent the people of Michigan’s 109th State House district. He has served on Michigan’s State Legislature representing the people of the 109th since 2012. He seeks his third term to serve the Upper Peninsula district that includes Alger, Luce, Marquette, and Schoolcraft Counties.
John Kivela graduated from Marquette High School in 1987. His professional background is in automotive; he managed a car dealership and worked in the family-owned service station. In 2006 he was elected to Marquette City Commission. Kivela served as mayor of Marquette from 2008 to 2012. His public service includes the Children’s Museum Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, the Ishpeming Federal Credit Union Committee, and the Rotary Club. He and his wife, Sandy, live in Marquette and have two children.
Issues important to the people in John Kivela’s district include affordable energy. Kivela also has worked tirelessly in Lansing to get legislation passed to put an end to the meth epidemic in the Upper Peninisula. John Kivela promises to continue to work across the aisle to pass laws that will help the people of the 109th district.
John Kivela is endorsed by the Small Business Association of Michigan, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, Pride Source, Planned Parenthood of Michigan, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Michigan AFL-CIO, Equality Michigan, American Federation of Teachers, National Rifle Association, and the Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners.
To find out more about John Kivela, contact him or volunteer, you can check out his state congressional website, or his Facebook page. Vote for John Kivela, 109th Michigan State Legislature on November 8, 2016.
Meet the Candidates: Michigan State Legislature District 108 Scott Celello
Tuesday , 25, October 2016 Candidates, Elections, Meet the Candidates 2016 Leave a comment
Sheriff Scott Celello is the Democratic Party candidate you need to vote for in Michigan’s 108th State House district on November 8. Counties in this district are Delta, Dickinson and Menominee.
Born and raised in Iron Mountain, Scott Celello graduated from Iron Mountain High School and attended St. Norbert College. Work experience includes the oil fields in Louisiana, as a Corrections Officer for Dickinson County, and after attending police academy, a police officer. Celello has served as sheriff since 2008. Scott Celello served for six years on the Iron Mountain Public Schools Board of Education. He lives with his wife, Shelley. They have two children and one grandchild.
Issues important to Scott Celello include improving the economy in his district. He wants to focus on Technical Education centers and strengthen building trades in the region. Celello believes that “strong schools promote strong communities.” He will work to make sure schools are fully funded and that young people will have the skills they need to go on to higher education or join the workforce in their community upon graduation. As sheriff, Scott Celello knows the importance of managing a budget and properly allocating funds without being wasteful. This is necessary to have revenue to run the government services while keeping tax rates at affordable levels. Scott Celello will fight to keep taxes low for hard working families.
Endorsements for Scott Celello include the Police Officer’s Association of Michigan, Michigan Farm Bureau, former United States Congressman Bart Stupak , John Kivela 109th District State Representative, Scott Dianda 110th District State Representative, the Operating Engineers Local 324, Michigan Professional Firefighters Union, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights Local 1510, Michigan Nurses Association, American Federation of Teachers Michigan, Michigan Education Association, Michigan AFSCME Council 25, Laborer’s International Union of North America Local 1329, U.P. Plumbers Pipefitters, and HVAC Local 111.
To find out more about Scott Celello, contact him or volunteer, you can check out his website and Facebook page. Vote for Scott Celello, 108th Michigan State Legislature on November 8, 2016.
