GROWING FIELD

When U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens announced for the U.S. Senate this year, and state Senator Jeremy Moss( D-Southfield) announced for her House seat, some political observers speculated that his entry into the Democratic primary would not necessarily clear the field of other contenders but would limit the number of candidates for this congressional district that includes most of Oakland County. Lots of luck with that theory. First came attorney Aisha Farooqi, Stu Baker of Auburn Hills and more recently former Ford engineer Don Ulford of Bloomfield. Now two more contenders have joined the primary contest, among them Anil Kumar, a Bloomfield Hills surgeon/urologist and member of the board of governors at Wayne State University who has been down this road before in failed attempts for Congress in 2014, 2016 and 2024 in a neighboring district until his nominating petitions were ruled lacking sufficient signatures. Also lining up is Waterford School District Trustee John Paul Torres. Besides a decade on that board, he’s carries a B.A. in political science and a masters in public administration, plus a decade as an adjunct professor at OCC. He worked earlier as a Congressional Fellow in D.C. contributing to the discussion on the Dream Act. With a field this large and maybe larger, boots on the ground and a thoughtful digital presence will be key elements of a winning campaign, along with a boatload of money. As of now, only two have raised anything of note – Moss, bringing in $627,000 ($471,911 on hand); and Farooqi, $114,351 ($72,117 on hand). But let’s not forget, Kumar in one of his past runs loaned himself $750,000 and his FEC filing through the end of this September shows debts/loans of $170,800, which we can only assume is a personal loan to his campaign.

Anil Kumar

John Paul Torres