By John Minnis
Legal News
Former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land has spoken many times at the annual Eastside Republican Club PAC dinner, but only once — so far — as the GOP candidate running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Carl Levin.
The Thomas J. McCleary Jr. Eastside Republican Club Political Action Committee Dinner is annually held in the Sohar Room at Sindbad’s on the Lake on Detroit’s east side.
The PAC is named in memory of ERC’s popular founder, Tom McCleary, who also served as a PAC director.
Perhaps reflecting Land’s popularity as well, an overflow crowd attended the May 8 dinner.
“This is a nice problem to have. We don’t have enough seats,” said PAC Chairman John Stempfle. “We’ll improvise.”
The crowd included many elected officials and judges, including Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Christopher Murray and former state Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan, now director of the Michigan Department of Human Services.
In introducing the speaker, ERC Chair Jenny Nolan touched on Land’s small-family-business roots now being touted in her campaign ads and literature and her success as Michigan Secretary of State.
“Terry made government work for us here in Michigan,” Nolan said. “She will do the same thing in Washington.”
Acknowledging that it was the fourth time she has spoken before the Eastside Republicans, Land said she had to take a moment to talk about the event’s namesake, McCleary, who always introduced her as the ERC’s first — and only — West Michigan member.
“I paid my $25 every year,” Land said, “and I would tell my husband it was the best $25 I ever spent. I miss Tom dearly.”
She said the campaign is going very well. “I can’t believe it’s been a year since we filed,” she said. “There’s no primary, hallelujah! We can start working toward November.”
“I actually changed sheets at the motel,” she said, taking up her family-business-roots campaign angle. “My first customer service job was working the front desk. My favorite job was working the switchboard.”
“It was the American Dream,” she said of her upbringing in a family business, “and that’s why I want to go to Washington, to give everyone that opportunity. That’s what I want to take to the U.S. Senate.”
Land cited her successes as secretary of state in Michigan, reducing the number of branches from 178 to 141 and installing 24/7 self-serve machines statewide. She also saved businesses and recreational users time and money with lifetime license plates on trailers. She also mentioned getting dealers to issue license plates, reducing congestion at SOS branch offices.
She wants to take her common sense, get-it-done approach to the nation’s capital.
“I think we can all agree Washington is broke and we need to fix it,” Land said.
She cited tax law and health care legislation in particular: “We need predictability.” She proposed making it possible to purchase insurance across state lines. “We need to have a health plan that’s portable,” she said.
Land gave Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder credit for her decision to run for the U.S. Senate. “He said, ‘Terri, why don’t you go down to Washington, D.C., and balance the budget,'” she said, “and I’m going to do that.”
As Levin’s 35-year reign as a Democrat senator from Michigan comes to an end, many in the GOP are yearning for Michigan and other Democratic states to go to Republicans in the fall and winning control of the U.S. Senate.
With a Republican-controlled House and Senate, Land said, they could then repeal the Affordable Care Act (she did not use the term Obamacare) and reduce the deficit.
“This is not going to be a ‘Terry Land-slide’ like secretary of state,” said Land, who faces Democratic U.S. Rep. Gary Peters in November. “This is going to be very close, very competitive.”
Land said she is opening a campaign office on Northwestern Highway.
“Altogether we can do this,” she told the Eastside Republicans. “I think we need a little more listening in Washington, and that’s what I'm looking to do.”
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