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Stupak to Run for Governor?

By: Brian Faughnan (Diary)  |  January 13th, 2010 at 06:30 AM  | 

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Bart Stupak represents a Congressional district that Republicans have pursued for years. It seems there’s a good chance it may be the next open seat the Democrats have to defend:

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) seems one step closer to running for governor of Michigan, saying he’s “seriously looking at” his chances for the Democratic nomination.

Stupak, a conservative Democrat who has pushed for strong pro-life language in the health care overhaul bill, has already been on a short list of potential Democratic candidates for governor, and said Tuesday night he is “really concerned about where we’re going as a Democratic Party in Michigan.”

“I may very well be the strongest candidate because, as you know, I don’t do everything the party tells me to,” he told a clutch of reporters Tuesday evening outside a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus. “So in a way, that works well in a general.”

Stupak’s seat has only a slight Republican lean. The PVI is Republican +2, according to Charlie Cook. That said, Republicans have long felt they would eventually claim the seat – even running strong candidates against Stupak several times, only to discover his hold on it was stronger than they expected.

Will Stupak run? He only very recently told the New York Times that a pro-life, pro-gun Democrat could not win in Michigan. It seems he’s reconsidering that. And given the animus he’s receiving from DC Democrats over his strong stand for life, it might not be a surprise if he jumped at the chance to head for greener pastures, and leave his House Democrat colleagues scrambling to defend his seat.

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COMMENTS

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  • Brian_Roastbeef

    We know he acts somewhat reasonably regarding social issues. If he runs, he will be doing so off of expected good faith from conservatives and independents from his stand against abortion on the health care bill.

    Nevertheless, he is still a Democrat, and economic issues are by far the greatest concern in Michigan. Where does he stand on the auto-industry takeover? On tax cuts? It would be these far more than gun rights and abortion that will determine whether he could be a good governor for the people of Michigan.

    As far as we’re concerned, I think his election as governor would be a lose-lose. If he is an economic leftist, then Michigan will be faced with four more years of the Granholm sort of mismanagement that helped them get where they are today. If he is a competent moderate, then his leadership could resuscitate the otherwise dying Democrat brand in Michigan and allow for many incompetents to hang on to his coattails in that state. Although, I’m in N.Y. and an outsider to this election, I’d have to think that Cox or Hoekstra would by far be the best for Michigan in the long run.

    I agree though, that this is good news for us, as far as it shows that the House Democratic caucus is growing to be a far more uncomfortable place for vulnerable moderates.

    • proudgop

      I think he wants out of DC but he admitted in CQ article if he runs for Governor the Republicans will definitely pick up his seat

      I still want Republicans to take back Gov mansion in Michigan; redistricting is way too important

      • AngryMatt

        Michigan is losing seats as more and more people leave the area. I think re-districting is not going to be as big a deal there as in some other states like FL, TX or CA. Of course I’d rather have a Republican in the governor’s mansion in Michigan, but Stupak running would make a Dem win not so bad and gives us a great pickup opportunity in the House.

        makemyday is right; Stupak running for governor would be a win for everyone. Sure I’ll root for him to go down, but if he wins, well.. at least he’ll be able to thumb his nose as the Kossacks and that’s worth something.

  • bk

    And leave the Democratic Party in Michigan scrambling to have a more liberal candidate defeat him in the primary.

  • makemyday

    is the northern tip of Michigan and the UP. This is a very agrarian area full of old farms and vast tracts of state and federal forests, prime area for sportsmen. Stupak is considered to be exactly what he looks like, a person that has the pulse and the welfare of his constituents at heart. He has no negatives here, his people love him and “downstaters” don’t know him.

    I had not heard of his possibly entering the governors race in Michigan and was surprised by this post. Cox is the front runner with Hoekstra close by. Cox has some baggage that may be brought out during the election cycle and it won’t be pretty. Hoekstra against Stupak would be a win win for Michigan, I think either candidate would do well as governor.

    Hoekstra is my preference here.

  • smitch61

    It has not been announced in anyway here in MI. The front runners on the GOP side is Cox and Hoekstra. His name has not been mentioned. I am behind Hoekstra all the way. Not a fan of Stupak.

  • penguin2

    I caught this article via Drudge this morning, and considering it is an ABC news reporter, it is pretty decent to our side. A very interesting read, as the writer frames what is happening in Mass with the general situation in 2010, for Dems and Republicans across the board.

    http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/01/democrats-scramble-to-hold-kennedy-seat-in-mass.html

  • wilfranc

    Other than his pro life stance, which I think could be sold out under the right price, his economic senses are typical Democrat like our current govenor. He was open to Gitmo going to Standish. Hoekstra was against it. Physically, Hoekstra lives closer by a few hundred miles than Stupak, and is more informed about the prison.

    Stupak is my rep, I live in the southern lower edge of his district. Every letter I have written has been replied with a long lengthy description of how poor the area is (and unemployment has been high for longer than the current recession in this area, try to start a business in the UP). and how much we needed the stimulus, etc. By the way, other than paving shoulders of US23, I haven’t noticed all the jobs that were going to be provided. We;ve been in economic stress so long, there wasn’t any projects even in plan, let alone shovel ready.

    None of the candidates are especially appealing, I thought DeVos would have been our chance at economic sanity, but he was demonized as a successful businessman, which we can’t have here in union liberal land.

    My choice would be Brooks Patterson. Listening to him on WJR, he makes more sense than all of them together, and he also runs his county better than most in the county. He has predicted Michigan will not regain tax base for a decade at least. He won’t run.

    Stupak sees the opportunity with Lt. gove Cherry out, and Speaker Dillion being villified by the teachers union for wanted to reform govt. health care. That’s all. He will disappoint any conservatives that think he’s much better than Granholm.