10th Dist. candidates look for medium ground in the Thumb

Voters in the Thumb get more than just two candidates from the major parties in deciding who represents Michigan’s 10th Congressional District Nov. 6.

Candidates Jeremy Peruski and Harley Mikkelsen, independent and Green Party hopefuls respectively, are joining Democrat Kimberly Bizon to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Dryden Township.

Completing his first full term, the freshman congressman Mitchell cites things like bolstering the economy and protecting the Great Lakes as among the key promises he’s kept while in Washington. 

Bizon, who calls herself the progressive candidate, is finding focus on health care and environmental issues in “bringing back politics to people and not special interests.”

Meanwhile, candidates outside the mainstream are focusing on something else.

“Politics are about compromise. It’s not my way or the highway,” said Peruski, a 44-year-old native of Deckerville and former finance executive.

“There is a history of that preference, but I would say, one, we’ve got the Reagan Democrats down in Macomb (County). People have a tendency to want to vote for those (candidates). Candice Miller and Debbie Stabenow getting majorities” — Miller, the former Republican rep in the 10th District, and Stabenow, one of Michigan’s Democratic senators — “people were splitting the ticket because they wanted the person who would represent us the best.”

“People are fed up. It doesn’t matter if they’re Republican or Democrat,” Peruski said. “… When you say you’re independent, and you start talking common sense solutions, everybody wants to hear it. From that perspective, the appetite is there. It’s like, I’m not here to argue with you.’”

The 10th District encompasses northern Macomb County and eastern Tuscola County, as well as all of Huron, Lapeer, Sanilac and St. Clair counties.

Bizon, a Sanilac County resident who works as a senior online marketing director out of Metro Detroit, emerged the victor of a three-way primary bout to face Mitchell in August.

She’s said she considers herself a lifelong progressive and environmental activist, continuing her advocacy in adulthood as a volunteer lobbyist for the Citizens Climate Lobby.

Talking about her more recent campaign, Bizon puts things into numbers — 100 volunteers in six counties, 30,000 postcards in a friend-to-friend effort, 80,000 candy cards, 1,500 signs, 15,000 seed packets and 12 parades.

She said she’s gotten a lot of support for people’s concerns, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and runoff in drinking water and the Great Lakes, as well as climate change and focusing on renewables and sustainable energy in industry “to move us off of fossil fuel dependency.”

“(The) Democratic message is strong. (It has) united with people,” Bizon said. “… The No. 1 thing I hear about is health care. We need a solution. Whether it’s affordable health care with pre-existing conditions. It’s a human right.” She said she’d support universal or single-payer systems, adding, that people affected, “They’re on the verge of losing of their homes when bills come in. it’s quite frightening for them.”

Mitchell is the former CEO and owner of Ross Education. His earliest political interests manifested as he chaired a conservative nonprofit foundation and led a campaign to oppose a 2015 state ballot measure that proposed a tax plan for roads. He initially ran for national office in the state’s 4th Congressional District, losing in the primary in 2014. After moving to Dryden Township, he overcame four other Republican primary candidates in 2016.

He also previously lived in St. Clair County, having located Ross headquarters to St. Clair and briefly served on St. Clair’s City Council before resigning.

After his first term, Mitchell said he believed he delivered on the “series of things” he ran on.

He cited opposing the proposed nuclear waste dump site near Lake Huron in Canada, efforts to bring Illinois on board to stop the spread of Asian carp and supporting infrastructure at the Soo Locks. And he said his support to keep Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding intact particularly benefited the Thumb.

Mitchell said other things have come through that don’t always get that much attention in a political landscape where controversy grabs the most headlines.

“Twenty-four-hour news stations, they (put) out their news, and mostly it’s about drama,” he said, pointing to more than 100 bills passed in the last 21 months. “… That news has never gotten out. And I talk about it wherever I go in groups. Nobody talks about it.”

In specifics, he said, “There was no drama about keeping the government open. … I think we need to start telling that story. That there are things accomplished.”

Mitchell said while he kept promises like tax cuts, he thought other needs like rural broadband could also be met. He said the latter could be best covered in the latest farm bill, where separate funds could support development in “difficult areas.” He said he’s also in touch with more local officials about facilitating contacts over wireless communication issues along the Canadian border.

Peruski said he left his job advising technology companies a year ago, later getting into the race for Congress.

After traveling for work, he said he “basically decided” he wanted “to come home and be closer to family.” What he found when he came back inspired him to get involved.

“The community that we had, had become so divisive and polarized because of our politics,” Peruski said. “Again, you look at friends and family, people have lost their best friends because you have an election where you are picking the lesser of two evils and it’s being held against them.”

In almost anything, the Deckerville native said he’s run into people on the campaign trail who have hopes for the district and needs somewhere in the middle, and he said he believed things could be handled in an even more “bipartisan way.”

A fiscal conservative, he took issue with bulging government budgets — the “merry Christmas to all the legislators” and the areas they don’t “tighten up their pants.”

“Right now, we’re on an economic high, but we know it’s going to go back down,” he said. “Everything ebbs and flows, and we’re not prepared for it.”

After talking with constituents, Peruski said the number-one thing he’s heard has been about mental health — by far.

“Whether we’re talking the opioid addiction, PTSD, the highest levels of suicides, farmers’ depression … these are all mental health issues. It’s one of the most shocking things I’ve come across, personally,” he said. “What people have to deal with, it is by far (the most common). We don’t have the facilities, and we don’t have the manpower to handle a lot of these issues. The hospitals, authorities, the police officials, the schools. We don’t have the facilities (for) how big it is.”

Peruski also said he was concerned that the middle class has become unaffordable.

“With all the insurance costs, health care costs, education costs, all of these things have been going up while wage growth has been flat or down,” he said. “People can barely keep their head above water.”

Mikkelson, who has a long history in Green Party candidacy for major offices, including Congress, the Senate and governor, favors improvements to education and health care programs, according to his website, advocating for taxing the upper-income groups to help pay for them.

Having held several union offices, he also advocates for higher basic wages, as well as better investment in renewable energy.

Mikkelson, of Caro, did not immediately respond for comment.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

MICHIGAN’S 10TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Paul Mitchell – Republican
Age: 61
Address: 4068 Hough Road, Dryden
Occupation: Former CEO and owner of Ross Education
Education: Graduated from Michigan State University
Political experience: One term in Congress, brief stint on St. Clair City Council

Kimberly Bizon – Democrat
Age: 49
Address: PO Box 42, Lexington
Occupation: Senior online marketing director
Education: Bachelor's in fine arts from Michigan State University
Political experience: None

Jeremy Peruski - independent
Age: 44
Address: PO Box 307, Lexington
Occupation: Former finance executive, advising technology companies
Education: Bachelor’s in international relations and German, Michigan State University
Political experience: None