Bay City, Michigan 48706
Front Page 03/29/2024 05:19 About us
www.mybaycity.com May 17, 2012
(Prior Story)   Government ArTicle 7016   (Next Story)


(L/R) Dr. Dan Benishek, Gary McDowell and Derek Bailey

Native American Drops Bid to Oust Dr. Benishek from Congress

Democrat Gary McDowell of Rudyard Seeks Redrawn Michigan First Post

May 17, 2012       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

Printer Friendly Story View

Had he been elected a U.S. representative, Derek Bailey would have been only the second Native American serving in Congress.

Mr. Bailey, Tribal Chairman for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, has announced he is suspending his Congressional campaign and instead is running to represent Northern Michigan families in the Michigan House of Representatives.

Tom Cole, current U.S. Representative for Oklahoma's 4th district and an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, is currently the only Native American serving in the United States Congress.

Bailey is backing Democrat Gary McDowell, Rudyard farmer, against Dr. Dan Benishek, Tea Party Republican, who is seeking a second term in a newly drawn Michigan 1st District.

For the past two years Dr. Benishek has represented part of Bay County as well as counties in Northern Michigan.

His main political stands have been against the proposed Affordable Health Care Law and for controlling spending and reducing debt. His campaign website states:

"Dr. Benishek is committed to ensuring a strong doctor-patient relationship and lowering the overall cost of health care. As a member of the GOP Doctors Caucus, he has supported a series of bills that work to achieve these goals while reducing the overall regulatory burdens on physicians and patients and increasing access to care."

Most recently, Dr. Benishek has voted to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) as well as enact important tort reform laws across the United States. He also is taking a strong stand against higher debt:

"Dr. Benishek fears this unsustainable level of debt could seriously threaten economic recovery, affect seniors and low-income Americans the hardest, and leave all Americans with a diminished future. This is why Dr. Benishek has supported measures to reduce federal spending, erase the annual deficits, and provide a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In Dr. Benishek's view, reducing federal spending and eliminating the debt is not difficult, it just requires the will to do it.

"Dr. Benishek is supportive of efforts to lower tax rates on businesses and simplify the tax code, which he believes will create opportunities for businesses to invest, expand and become more competitive."

"Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey has built a well-deserved reputation as a leader and tireless advocate for Northern Michigan, and he will be the voice middle class families and workers can count on in the Michigan House," said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"From his work helping Michigan businesses succeed and create jobs to fighting to protect the Great Lakes and natural resources, Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey has distinguished himself through the rare trait of listening and building bridges to strengthen Northern Michigan. He will be the champion Northern Michigan needs in Lansing."

Bailey said: "After a six month campaign where we were successful in reaching out to many voters in the District we are withdrawing from the congressional race. There are several factors that went into my decision. The biggest one is that my campaign got into the process late in the game, resulting in not having enough time to effectively raise dollars in a campaign that is going to require a million plus dollars to be competitive. We have notified Gary McDowell of our decision and wish him well in the general election in defeating Dan Benishek."

Bailey will now turn his attention to Michigan's 101st House District (Leelanau, Benzie, Manistee and Mason counties).

"During my tenure as Tribal Chairman several business and community leaders asked that I seek the congressional seat. Ironically while I was on the campaign trail I heard from many who said I was needed to run in Michigan's 101st District," said Bailey.

"I am heeding that call today and focusing my attention on unseating Ray Franz who currently represents the 101st District. We differ on many issues and those will come forward during the course of the campaign. Certainly his vote against tourism promotion was not in the best interest of this important industry in our district. Even his colleagues here in Northern Michigan all supported the bill to fund tourism promotion."

Bailey plans to pursue the First Congressional District office at some point in the future -- a decision that is supported by several within the Democratic Party including Gary McDowell.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) and Gary McDowell all released statements today on Derek Bailey's decision. Each of the statements follow:

"Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey has built a well-deserved reputation as a leader and tireless advocate for Northern Michigan, and he will be the voice middle class families and workers can count on in the Michigan House," said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"From his work helping Michigan businesses succeed and create jobs to fighting to protect Great Lakes and natural resources, Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey has distinguished himself through the rare trait of listening and building bridges to strengthen Northern Michigan. He will be the champion Northern Michigan needs in Lansing."

Following Congressman Benishek's announcement of a business tour, Gary McDowell, farmer and small businessman from the U.P., criticized Benishek's record of job-killing votes in Congress and questioned why Congressman Benishek supports giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas.

McDowell criticized Benishek for opposition to the portion of a jobs proposal that would cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and small business by asking Americans making over $1 million per year to pay the same tax rate as the middle class.

Gary McDowell is a fifth generation Yooper and a lifelong farmer. He lives in the town of Rudyard, MI in the Eastern U.P. with his wife Carrie and daughters Alivia, Emily and Rochelle.

Gary is a small business owner, farming over 1,000 acres of hay with his brothers Bob and Ron. He is also the treasurer of McDowell Hay, which brokers hay from the Eastern U.P. to markets across the country. Gary also worked as a United Parcel Service delivery driver for 23 years.

Gary is the oldest of ten children. Growing up, his father was a John Deere salesman and a hay broker. His mother was active in the community and raised Gary and his nine siblings.

Gary was a volunteer firefighter and volunteer EMT for his township for a total of 18 years and he led the fight to setup the first 9-1-1 service in Chippewa County. Gary has served for over 20 years on the board of the War Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. Gary has also served as a Chippewa County Commissioner and a State Representative.

"Gary has built a reputation as a bi-partisan leader who has worked across the aisle to cut taxes for small businesses and the middle class," states his campaign literature.

"In Lansing, Gary worked each year to pass balanced budgets while protecting Michigan jobs and ensuring that our seniors and most vulnerable had access to quality, affordable health care.

"Gary has always been a defender of the Great Lakes. He worked to stop drilling on our lakes, stop the importation of Canadian trash and stop the bottling and selling of our water by corporations. He was the lead sponsor on a resolution to boycott Chicago in response to Illinois refusal to prevent the Asian Carp from entering Lake Michigan."

###

Printer Friendly Story View
Prior Article

February 10, 2020
by: Rachel Reh
Family Winter Fun Fest is BACC Hot Spot for 2/10/2020
Next Article

February 2, 2020
by: Kathy Rupert-Mathews
MOVIE REVIEW: "Just Mercy" ... You Will Shed Tears, or at Least You Should
Agree? or Disagree?


Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

More from Dave Rogers

Send This Story to a Friend!       Letter to the editor       Link to this Story
Printer-Friendly Story View


--- Advertisments ---
     


0200 Nd: 03-25-2024 d 4 cpr 0






12/31/2020 P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm

SPONSORED LINKS



12/31/2020 drop ads P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm


Designed at OJ Advertising, Inc. (V3) (v3) Software by Mid-Michigan Computer Consultants
Bay City, Michigan USA
All Photographs and Content Copyright © 1998 - 2024 by OJA/MMCC. They may be used by permission only.
P3V3-0200 (1) 0   ID:Default   UserID:Default   Type:reader   R:x   PubID:mbC   NewspaperID:noPaperID
  pid:1560   pd:11-18-2012   nd:2024-03-25   ax:2024-03-29   Site:5   ArticleID:7016   MaxA: 999999   MaxAA: 999999
claudebot