The Mayor of Traverse City has endorsed Greg MacMaster in the race for Michigan’s 37th Senate District.
Mike Estes likes MacMaster’s commitment to fix Michigan’s roads without raising taxes or charging new fees. Estes believes new revenue will eventually be needed to fix the state’s roads, but he says the first steps should be to work within the current budget.
“We have found in local units of government that if you dedicate yourself to trying to be fiscally responsible, and the current revenue resources cannot meet the needs, then I think residents are willing to vote for additional tax increases,” says Estes. “And I think that will be true in the State of Michigan.”
MacMaster, a lawmaker from Antrim County, believes Michigan can increase spending on roads by more than $1 billion annually out of its current budget. He has accused his primary opponent, Wayne Schmidt, of being ready to raise taxes or charge new fees, something Governor Snyder says will be necessary to fix Michigan’s transportation infrastructure.
Last week, the state house passed a billthat mostly redirects current revenue to increase spending on roads. The measure would increase spending by less than $500 million.
Schmidt is also a state representative and lives in Traverse City. The 37th senate district stretches from Traverse City to Sault Ste. Marie. For most of the last 20 years, the district has elected a Republican from Traverse City to be its senator.
In a response to the endorsement of MacMaster, Schmidt referred to Estes as a liberal Democrat, and poked fun of his support for someone running on a platform of fiscal conservatism.
Estes ran for this senate seat in 2002 as a Democrat. He says he currently has no party affiliation and was previously active in the Republican Party.
The executive committee of the Grand Traverse County Republican Party endorsed Schmidt.
