Now, Go Vote

As Paul says, I have run the race…

Over the past months, we have talked on doorsteps, in backyards, in community meetings, and here on this blog.

Looking back, I can only say how grateful I am for your support and encouragement. These last days have been so hectic, I couldn’t have managed it without my wife Amy’s understanding and support.

But as I said, we’ve finished our race. Now it’s up to you.

We need more than a change of direction in Lansing, we need a change of spirit. We have some big tasks in front of us: improve our schools, rebuild a tax code; repair our roads. They’re going to challenge us, legislators and citizens alike. I have an unabashed hope — a hope I celebrate each Sunday — that principle can be a bridge and not a barrier to working together. It’s been that way in the landscaping business, and it certainly has guided me on the school board.

I have been honored to meet you. Today, I would be honored to receive your vote.

And tonight? Please come out to the Caledonia High School for our campaign celebration. Our campaign would never have had the impact it did without all our volunteers, friends and supporters. Tuesday night will be a time to celebrate our hard work and, we hope, the fruit of our labor. I hope to see you there.

The Reason I’m Running

Well, we wrapped up the door to door today. And as I look back I kept hearing one issue on the doorsteps — an issue that hits our family.

“What will happen when our kids graduate? Will they stay in Michigan?”

That touches home. We have college students, and soon enough we’ll be empty nesters.

One of the saddest aspects of Michigan’s economy is how we’ve turned our children into our most valuable export. Instead of staying around they go to where opportunity is better: Texas or Florida or North Carolina. And who can blame them.

And when they leave, all too often they never come back.

That brings me why I’m running. I’m not running because I have an agenda, or because I have this life desire to go Lansing, or because this is somehow a family business. I’m running because I want a State where my children can return after college, a state with real opportunity and good jobs.

I’m running because I think I can make a contribution to our State

I’m running because it’s not too late. We can do something. Now. Together. It’s time to put Michigan’s economy on a better foundation.  To get our economy growing again,  we will take need to take a look at our tax code and what we can do to create fairer taxes. We will need make sure Lansing runs lean.  And we will  need to make sure that children throughout the State are well-educated.

All that will take a practical, even a servant leadership.

Every time I look at the family picture, I realize again this election is personal. The challenges are real. But  there’s good news There still is time — we only have to  take it. This Tuesday, let’s make a Michigan our kids can come home to.