Allegan County State Rep Primary

There are currently eight candidates vying for the Republican nomination here in the 88th. Click the candidates' names to be taken to their websites...

Boorsma, Todd - Business manager and former head of MichGO, an anti-gambling group. He's pro-life, pro-2nd, conservative on the economy, and pro-Christian value system in schools. He has the endorsement of Fulton Sheen, the incumbent rep, and has lied about having the endorsement of Jack Hoogendyk, a conservative state rep. Rumors persist that 80% of his $$funding$$ comes out of Kent County from people seeking to control the 88th's seat in the House.
My Take: There is a slogan on the homepage that scares me a bit, "Todd believes we have the people...the government needs to develop this environment.", which tells me that he seeks to employ the government and make it more involved.

Edgerton, Shelly - Attorney for the politicians in Lansing, she has numerous political accomplishments already. Shelly wants to "reform" the "tax and regulatory structure" to create a business friendly state, make health care affordable and reduce politicians benefits, make education affordable (at HHS it's advertised as 'free education'), and claims a few conservative values.
My Take: Well...she's done a lot...this also makes her an insider. She seems to know the political game pretty well and, like Boorsma, seems to be okay with government being large. There's a line "Government must live within it's means" on the website that, like Boorsma's, scares me a bit. She says nothing of actually eliminating taxes or reducing the size of government itself.
Label: Insider

Farnsworth, Jeff - This is the only candidate who has actually made a specific, issues based campaign direct to the taxpayer. Though he looks a little fruity, he logs soundly conservative positions on just about everything. The only quirk is that he subscribes to the emerging Environmental Stewardship camp...people who are pro-environment but not Environmentalists. He has the language of someone who is truly for "freedom of the community" .
My Take: I like everything he's got to say. He seems to have the drive to do something about Lansing and make Michigan less like California and Massachusetts, less Blue, and more like the successful states.

Galligan, William D. - Mr. Galligan is the kind of blue-blood, country club Republican liberal we are fighting against. He's an environmentalist, for government involvement in forcing upon us high speed internet, against smoking freedom, for the casino, and to top it all off: he's pro-choice and GAY!
My Take: This one just shows you that not even Allegan County's GOP isnt impervious to these guys.

Genetski, Bob - He's pro-life, pro-business, for "restructuring universities to reduce tuition costs", for eliminating the income tax on senior citizens, and (the best yet) anti-tax. Your quintessential conservative. This candidate is the only one to talk about the college tuition problem. He's also the only one to directly attack liberalism in our state, saying that "Liberals claim that 'we have programs to help the disadvantaged.' After eight years of working day to day with some of those who are trapped in poverty, I can adamantly tell people that nothing helps the poor like a strong economy."
My Take: He seems like he's the most in touch and much less focused on expediency than the others. A real conservative with real, non-political experience.

Leatherman, Joshua - He lists strong conservative points on just about everything. A business owner from our county he seems to understand the plight of small businesses in Michigan. The other candidates do not speak of globalization at all but Leatherman speaks of it extensively. He advertises embracing it and melding our economic policies around it. Talks about decentralization of government and more privatization.
My Take: I see a conflict between his decentralization wish and the state-level policy making needed to enjoy globalization. His ideas look as if he wants the localities to pick up the cost for the decentralized state programs and then have the state divert that money to picking up globalization and helping out businesses. In my mind, his ideology is shady when it comes to actually eliminating government and making free people.

Moore, Spencer - At the moment, he's the Leighton Township Supervisor and has been for the past four years. He takes a strong position against the conduct of the Lansing politicians and vows to not be absorbed into their mindset. He has written extensively on economic issues but says nothing about those pesky little social ones.
My Take: For all we know, he could be as radically pro-abortion as Obama and his partial-birth bills.

THE DEMOCRAT (yes, there's only one...)
Clark, Tom - I think he understands that he's probably going to lose and his website has gone without being updated since March 4. He hasnt declared money...or anything.
Need I give my take?: Typical Dem fashion: dont disclose anything and hope your pretty words and skin color will get you elected.

Who Will I Be Voting For? Bob Genetski. Why? He is the kind of hostile-to-government candidate I think we need. He's nice in person, insightful, and would make an all-around great candidate.

Who will you vote for?