It was good news to see two of state Senate candidates I have spent lots of weekend afternoons canvassing for pick up endorsements from the Deputy Sheriffs' Association of Michigan (DSAM); Kathleen Law, D-Gibraltar, in the 7th district; and Paula Zelenko, D-Burton, in the 26th district.
Unfortunately, they also endorsed 16 Senate Republicans, but no one is prefect.
Law is research scientist in alternative energy; working that field for 22 years. She was also the former Mayor pro tem in Gibraltar and a State Representative from 2003-2008.
She has been running a very positive and active person-to-person campaign, and I can personally attest to that. She is facing one of the very few teabgger Republican candidates to make a through the primary, as well as former Republican Sate Representative John Stewart running as an independent and two other third party candidates. No, not that Jon Stewart; the spelling is, obviously different or I would vote for him.
Like all teabaggers, he has some extreme positions, like killing Medicare and Social Security.
Law has stayed above the fray, focusing on meeting individual voters, but Stewart and the teabagger Republican, Patrick Colbeck, have been bringing out the dirt. According to the Observer and Eccentric, at a recent debate, “Stewart criticized Colbeck’s voting record, saying Colbeck has failed to vote in numerous elections. Stewart, in an apparent swipe at the Tea Party, also called “despicable” the political rallies, such as one in Plymouth’s Kellogg Park, in which people carried signs offensive toward President Barack Obama.”
He is 100 percent correct. Colbeck has only voted in the general election since 1998, when he voted in a primary. Not in a local election or any other. I assume he voted for himself in August. It always amazes me that candidates can ask for your vote, but they can’t be bothered to vote themselves.
My former boss at the News Herald, Karl Ziomek, wrote a recent column on a debate held at the Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber’s legislative forum on Monday where Colbeck falsely accused his opponents of lying. This guy already has a problem stretching the truth, and he was busted for it by the Michigan Truth Squad.
“…He then accused Law and Stewart of lying about him. He said Stewart lied about his campaign donors and that Law’s campaign lied with what it said about what he was going to do to things like Medicare.”
Zelenko is a former State Representative from Burton who served three terms in the State House and is currently a member of the Burton City Council. During her time in the House, she served as chair of the Governor's Task Force on Long Term Care, and fought for better protections for vulnerable senior citizens.
Zelenko, like all Democrats, is fighting against a huge influx of unregulated corporate cash from no one knows where or from who. Her opponent, who just happens to oppose legislation to prevent outsourcing, has blanketed the district with expensive mailings – even TV commercials - at a rate of 10-1 to Zelenko, including, according to subscription only Gongwer, a false piece painting Zelenko as “soft on illegal immigration.” Zelenko’s opponent has also commissioned some very nasty and false robocalls against her including one falsely attacking her record on government spending saying, "she's like a pig at the trough,” according to Gongwer.
It’s tough to fight against all that big money, but it just makes me pick up of door knocking.
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