RUNNING MATE
Word is that Republican gubernatorial front runner Bill Schuette has decided on his lieutenant governor, and it’s Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller. The former congresswoman (R-Harrison Township), Michigan Secretary of State, Macomb County Treasurer and Harrison Township Supervisor would bring not only a wealth of experience, but she may well be one of the most popular Republicans in the state. The question is, would she do it? She retired from Congress a

STRATEGIC EXIT
We heard this rumor right after the 2016 elections and it’s making the rounds once again in the Oakland County government complex on Telegraph Road: following the 2018 midterm elections, long-time Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson (1992-present; before that, county prosecutor for 16 years) is planning on resigning. Why, after all these years? Since being seriously injured in an auto accident in 2012, and still winning re-election by a landslide (while in a coma), P

UNION PLOY
What if you gave a party and no one came? Or, to put it another way, what if you joined a union and no one cared? That seems to be the reaction of folks to 11th Congressional District Democratic candidate Dan Haberman after he announced that his campaign was the first in Michigan to unionize with the Campaign Workers Guild. “Politicians should lead by example,” Haberman said in a release. “Some may say they support their workers, but the proof is in their actions.” Haberman,

KNOW MY NAME
Polling done on the Republicans running in the 11th Congressional race to replace David Trott (R-Birmingham) in Washington had some interesting results. With state Sen. Mike Kowall (R-White Lake) now officially in the race, his long record of hard work – and just being around – as White Lake supervisor, state representative and state senator – came in first in the name recognition poll, followed by perennial candidate Rocky Raczkowski (Troy), once a state representative (1997

TAKING IT TO THE STREETS
Democrat Elissa Slotkin, who is running to challenge incumbent Rep. Mike Bishop (R-Rochester/Rochester Hills), is making gains in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District. On Thursday, March 8, Slotkin announced she would be hosting a “Snowboots on the Ground” event the following Saturday, at the Rochester Mills Beer, Co., in Rochester, in order to gain enough signatures to get her name on the ballot. The event was a show of Slotkin’s boldness to take her campaign to Bishop’s ow

FOOT IN MOUTH DISEASE
“Bring your own gun or rent something new,” read an invitation to a March 15 fundraiser for 39th District State Representative Republican candidate Ryan Berman at the Target Sports II shooting range in West Bloomfield. The email invitation was sent on Wednesday, February 21 – a scant one week after 17 people were slain at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Berman, a former special deputy with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and certified firearms

TSL
Political pandering during an election year or sincere concern for constituents? That's the question one Birmingham resident posed to Oakland Confidential after receiving a "Save the Date" reminder from state Sen. Marty Knollenberg (R-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester, Rochester Hills). Knollenberg, who spent $5,504.76 on his latest mailing, has spent tens of thousands of dollars on print mailings – also known as “franking” – during his first term. Postage and printing