HOW ‘BOUT DEM ROADS

Pete Lucido

Michigan Senator Pete Lucido (R-Shelby Township) in November announced on a Michigan syndicated radio show that he would run for governor in 2022. The announcement came prior to the finalization of the state’s 2020 budget, at a time when Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) line-item vetoed $947 million from the spending plan in hopes of negotiating additional transportation funding into the budget. A portion of funding was restored under a deal with GOP leadership, with the final budget being finalized in December. So, is Lucido still considering a run at the state’s top office? “Yes – 100 percent,” he told Oakland Confidential. “I’ve seen no leadership. Absolutely no governing. What have we gotten done over the last 12 months?” Lucido pointed to bi-partisan support for his “Raise the Age” plan to raise the age of legal adulthood to 18 in the state’s court system; his work reform civil-asset forfeiture; and his bills to protect elder adult accomplishments, as well as his own experience as an attorney. “After 30 years of real practice with real people, we need people that understand people in the government that will do the people’s work and not the government’s work. I’m sick and tired of watching from the sidelines. If this is your best shot, you have another thing coming,” Lucido said of the governor, whom he said he wishes he could debate immediately. “She plans on rolling out ‘round two’ in January, and I hope she is thinking of serving the people of Michigan better... A 45-cent per gallon gas tax is unsustainable... the city of Detroit put the world on wheels, and it will continue to do it, but it won’t be with petroleum. It will be with electric. If people aren’t going to the pumps anymore, it isn’t going to be funding the roads. I’ll still drive on the damn roads, but I ain’t paying at the pumps... I’m anxiously waiting with bated breath about what she is going to say for her next idea, because the first one didn’t go anywhere.” What do you really think, Pete?