Posted on 03/03/2010 6:54:39 AM PST by AuH2ORepublican
GRAND RAPIDS --State Sen. Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood, will run for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids. He was announcing his decision today.
"West Michigan has a history of sending conservative, thoughtful representatives to Congress such as President Ford, Paul Henry and Vern Ehlers," Hardiman said. "They carried themselves with dignity and integrity. I'm a thoughtful conservative and am excited about running for this seat."
Hardiman's announcement ensures at least a three-way primary, but the field could get crowded with other Republicans still seriously considering jumping into the 3rd Congressional District race.
"If I am going to get in, it would to get in to win," said Jerry Kooiman, dean of external affairs at Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine and a former state legislator. "Part of my consideration is who is out there running, in terms of considering the quality of representation we've had in the past."
First term state Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, backed by Dick and Betsy DeVos, declared his candidacy before Ehlers announced his retirement. The other announced candidate is Air Force veteran Bob Overbeek, a Wyoming resident and graduate student at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Besides Kooiman, others giving strong consideration to running include Steve Heacock, chief administrator for Van Andel Institute and former Kent County commissioner, and Doug Koopman, a Calvin College political science professor.
Hardiman was mayor of Kentwood before becoming a senator. Term limits prevent him from another Senate run.
"I've served this area for quite some time and have good, positive name recognition," Hardiman said. "The people of West Michigan have been very supportive and I have rewarded that support by serving faithfully and with integrity.
"When people look at my full record, they will see someone who is prepared to represent them in Washington, D.C."
Hardiman said he believes people are looking for proven leadership, someone that doesn't just set goals but is able to achieve them. He said he has been able to reach across the aisle, when appropriate, to move initiatives forward.
"We will need the support of people all over this district, and I think we are gaining that support," he said.
State Senator Bill Hardiman is a solid conservative and a natural for the Grand Rapids-based 3rd Congressional District of Michigan being vacated by Vernon Ehlers. He was elected and reelected to a Democrat-leaning state senate district (with a substantial black population) wholly within the MI-03, so he knows how to motivate conservatives and attract independents and conservative Democrats. In a district that is traditionally Republican but which only gave 49% to McCain in 2008, Bill Hardiman’s nomination would keep the seat safely in our hands, and if his issue positions and senate voting record are any indication he will be an outstanding conservative in Congress.
And when you consider the fact that Bill Hardiman is black, and with a prominent position in Congress could be part of the long-term solution to the GOP’s eternal problem attracting black voters, it makes it even clearer who the right candidate is in the MI-03. Hopefully, Bill Hardiman will join Allen West, Les Phillip, Ryan Frazier and perhaps a couple of additional black conservative Republicans in Congress and end once and for all the canard that blacks are genetically incapable of being Republicans. If Republicans can get just 30% of the black vote, the party would have a permanent lock on the presidency, 60+ Senate seats, supermajorities in the House, and on most goverrnoships and state legislatures across the nation.
Well, I don't know about Mr. Hardiman, but I do remember writing to Ehlers last summer, as he was one of the pubbies on the fence about Dingell's Congressional version of health care "reform". As I recall, he voted FOR it.
That's not my idea of a conservative, thoughtful representative.
Justin Amash ... sorry, I'm a bit suspicious of people in their mid-20's embarking on a career in elected office. Get some real world experience first. Apparently his parents are friends with the DeVos couple.
But I do think that Hardiman is more substance and less hot air, compared to many elected officials.
Just because Bill Hardiman wants to be nice and say kind words to Vern Ehlers and respect the legacy of the late President Ford and the late Congressman Henry (who died in office in 1993 while relatively young) does not mean that he would vote like them. Heck, all Michigan Republicans honor President Ford, and he was pro-abortion—that doesn’t mean that Michigan Republicans will turn around and vote pro-abortion.
Here are Bill Hardiman’s key votes in the state senate, which prove him to be a solid conservative despite his kind words for squishy Republicans:
http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=37483
Senator Hardiman voted YES
Read statements Senator Hardiman made in this general time period.
Vote to adopt a conference report that funds the Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries for the 2007-2008 fiscal year.
Holds in Foreclosure Proceedings
Key Votes:
HB 4453
Issues: Business and Consumers, Housing and Property Issues
Date: 04/02/2009
Sponsor: Rep. Jackson, Shanell
Bill Passed
(Senate)
How members voted
(29 - 8)
Senator Hardiman voted YES
Project Vote Smart’s Synopsis:
Vote to pass a bill that would prohibit a party from initiating proceedings to foreclose a mortgage of a principle residence if various stipulations as mandated in the bill applied
Senator Hardiman voted YES
Read statements Senator Hardiman made in this general time period.
Project Vote Smart’s Synopsis:
Vote to adopt a conference report that establishes renewable energy standards for electric utilities with a goal of obtaining 10 percent of state electric power from renewable sources by 2015
Bill Hardiman governed as a RINO when he was mayor of Kentwood? Please provide examples of this.
He certainly voted as a conservative in his 8 years in the state senate: http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=37483
As for Justin Amash, I have nothing against him, but
he has served just 2 years in the state house. I think he needs more time to prove himself (both on policy and electorally) before I would support him for Congress, especially against a proven candidate such as Hardiman. Amash is young and has only run in a safe GOP seat, so he may not yet have the skills needed to win and hold (I’m more concerned about the second part, since 2010 should be a slam dunk for us) a district centered in Democrat-trending Grand Rapids with an electorate more than 7 times as large as Amash’s state house district (particularly since we don’t know what the MI-03 will look like after 2011 redistricting, in which the legislature could remove Barry and Ionia counties and add part of Kalamazoo County to make the MI-06 and MI-07 more Republican).
Justin Amash should gain valuable experience in the state house for 4 more years before running for another office, especially if he wants his next office to be U.S. Congress. Then again, maybe he’s running for Congress this year not because he expects to win (prior to Ehlers’s retirement, Amash was a huge longshot), but as a way to bring up his name ID for a future run. I think it would be wiser for Amash to file for reelection to the state house instead.
Representative Amash voted NO
Read statements Representative Amash made in this general time period.
Project Vote Smart’s Synopsis:
Vote to pass a bill that prohibits the commencement of foreclosure proceedings under certain circumstance
moking Ban
Hire Michigan First Plan
Key Votes:
Issues: Budget, Spending and Taxes, Business and Consumers, Labor
Date: 06/18/2009
Sponsor: Sen. Olshove, Denni
Bill Passed
(House)
How members voted
(74 - 35)
Representative Amash voted NO
Read statements Representative Amash made in this general time period
Issues: Business and Consumers, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, Health Issues
Date: 05/26/2009
Sponsor: Rep. Gonzales, Lee
Roll no. 261
Bill Passed
(House)
How members voted
(73 - 31)
Representative Amash voted NO
Let me understand your reasoning for Hardiman is he is a career politician? I think the less experience the better if the person is a man of principle. I have nothing against Bill but his time has passed. The aspect that you dislike about Justin makes him appeal to me and many others who are sick of the status quo.
OK this is from a Calvin College forum on May 3rd 2005. You judge if he is a progressive or not.
Mayor’s Office Sets Urban Priorities
In a May 3 rd forum at Calvin College , Grand Rapids ’ mayor George Heartwell and state senator Bill Hardiman discussed what they termed the three most important issues facing Grand Rapids . “Twenty three percent of Grand Rapids children live in poverty line households,” said Heartwell. These kids are going off to kindergarten at age five with one hand tied behind their backs.” He pointed out that people will take to the streets over casinos and gay marriage but societal “blood pressure is flat-lined with it comes to poverty…no one is paying attention to poverty.”
Mayor Heartwell is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and served for 14 years as pastor at Heartside Ministry, a program serving the homeless community of Grand Rapids . He also directs the Community Leadership Institute at Aquinas College , teaching in the Community Leadership major.
Heartwell’s next issue was education. “As a mayor of an urban center, you can’t separate education and poverty. Education ought to take a higher priority on our national agenda,” he said. Heartwell’s third concern was “economic vitality.” With Grand Rapids a major manufacturing center and manufacturing on the decline, the Michigan economy has been hurt. The “challenge” to the state’s economy is finding its place with advancing technology. Senator Hardiman added, “I agree with those [three issues]. The economy is incredibly important right now.”
When Heartwell and Hardiman took questions, one student asked, asked what is being done to address the injustice of the gap between city poverty and the affluence of the suburbs. How are multimillion dollar developments in suburbs justified in the face of closing schools in inner cities? Mayor Heartwell responded that “there is a great gulf that exists between urban centers and townships that’s not only geographical; it’s a state of mind difference.” Both the senator and the mayor noted that poor children have higher academic success when learning with affluent kids.
Adapted from “ Politicians Talk Urban Issues,” b y Amanda Whitcomb, Calvin College Chimes, May 6, 2005
Hardiman voted to create the job-killing Michigan Business Tax. That’s enough to disqualify him for any elected position in my book.
Hardiman voted to CREATE the job-killing MBT. That’s enough to disqualify him for any elected position in my book.
I apologize for the double-post.
Career politician? Who's the career politician here?
Bill Hardiman honorably served our country in Vietnam long before Amash was born, and didn't enter politics until he was 45. (I don't know his employment experience before politics, but it seems he earned his degrees as an adult.)
Justin Amash went to high school, went to college, went to law school (graduated 2005) and almost immediately started running for office (2007-2008 election cycle). Has he ever been exposed to the real world? Has he ever held a real job?
Amash might make a fine Congressman. But my preference is always to go with the veteran, the businessman, the community leader, the proven public servant in the best sense of the term, over some kid trying to make himself a career on the public dime.
Good -— hope he proves to be real thing!
I’ve got nothing against career politicians that vote the right way, but, iif you have a problem with it, it is Justin Amash who decided—apparently straight out of college—to become a career politician. Bill Hardiman got into politics much later in life.
I prefer Bill Hardiman because he is experienced and proven, and won’t get voted out after two years because he’s never faced a real election before. It makes no sense to pick the apple before it’s ripe; I think that Amash should get a little more experience and collect a few more battle scars before he’ll have earned a congressional nomination. He’s got a bright future, but he’s really getting ahead of himself running for Congress instead of for reelection to the state house.
Wait, so he agreed with the mayor that the economy was an important issue, and believes that poverty and lack of education are bad? Gee, he must be a communist.
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