READY FOR BATTLE

Dave Potts

While he is waiting to formally announce his candidacy to be the Republican state House 40th district nominee in 2020, Birmingham resident Dave Potts, an attorney and former Oakland County commissioner, is priming the pump. He’s hiring a “big guns” consultant to help him win what he terms “a very winnable campaign” to return the district, won by Democrat Mari Manoogian in 2018, a first for the 40th, made up of Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township and the eastern part of West Bloomfield, and said the Republican Party is determined to put a lot of money behind him to take it back – at least if he makes it past a primary. But the district may have changed from the days of yore – in 2016, it went for Hillary Clinton, not Donald Trump, who is proving more and more to be a Republican liability. Manoogian, also of Birmingham, appears to be taking nothing for granted, already knocking on doors and letting residents know what she is doing in Lansing. She is also very active on social media. Word is folks won’t see Potts going door-to-door, as he said he has a disability (diabetes) but he assures us he will have surrogates out on the trail. He also is very eager to debate Manoogian, and show up her “youth.” Potts will be 79 during the 2020 campaign, so a word of caution – youth can sometimes outshine past experience.