New Candidate Alert: Jon Hoadley Is Taking On Fred Upton In Southwest Michigan

Michigan's 60th HD is entirely within the boundaries of the 6th congressional district, and the state Rep. from the 60th, Jon Hoadley, announced yesterday he will be running for the congressional seat against very vulnerable Republican Fred Upton. The 60th includes Kalamazoo and a small part of Portage. Last November, when Republican William Baker challenged Hoadley, Hoadley pulverized him 26,772 (76.6%) to 8,181 (23.4%).

The congressional district, which is the southwest corner of the state, is a purple district that Obama won in 2008 with 53.1% but that Trump took in 2016 with 51.3%. It's more a Bernie kind of place than a part of the state that would get behind Hillary. In the 2016 primary, Bernie beat Hillary handily in the district and, on the same day, also beat Trump. Kalamazoo County, for example went strongly for Bernie- 20,146 (60.6%) to 12,593 (37.9%). On the same day, Trump came in third in the GOP primary, with just 8,655 votes. It was the same story in smaller Allegan County, where Bernie beat Hillary 5,545 (60.3%) to 3,489 (38.0%) and also got more votes than Trump (5,327). Bernie also took Van Buren, St Joseph and Cass counties. The kind of legislative record and record of leadership that Hoadley has demonstrated will give him an edge over whichever conservative Democrat EMILY's List winds up recruiting to run against him.

The 35 year old Hoadley is openly gay and a member of People for the American Way's Young Elected Officials network. He announced his candidacy yesterday evening at the Portage District Library, noting that "We have people that are worried about living paycheck to paycheck right now. We saw that with the government shutdown. We know that to solve the problem about access to clean drinking water in our district is going to take significant support from both the state and federal government." This is how the NRCC welcomed him to the race, something every Democratic candidate should be prepared for:

Hoadley's campaign called it a "meaningless, laughable attack" that shows the GOP os "petrified." So how did the Republicans come up with this silly attack? Perhaps it was because of how Hoadley articulated his legislative priorities last year when he kicked their candidate's ass:

Invest in education for today and tomorrow: Let's invest more in our students, give teachers the freedom to teach to the individual students-- not the test, reduce class size, lower or eliminate student debt, and help us compete globally with the best trained talent and skilled labor.

Build an economy that works for everyone: Let's make sure more people are benefiting when productivity and the economy improve. It's time to stop giving away our tax dollars to the most profitable companies through tax breaks that aren't creating new jobs. Let's strengthen unions, raise the minimum wage, and help rebuild the middle class.

Champion social justice and protecting the environment: Let's prohibit discrimination in Michigan based on sexual orientation and gender identity by expanding the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, protect a women's right to choose, end mass incarceration and reform the criminal justice system, promote a caring economy to deal with issues related to long-term care, earn paid sick and family leave time, and make our hospitals safer by improving our laws related to nursing and healthcare. Let's work together to protect our drinking water from lead, PFAS, and other contaminants, while tackling global warming.

Unrig our Democracy: Let's end gerrymandering, improve access to the ballot, end the legislator-to-lobbyist pipeline caused by term-limits, and reduce the role of money in politics.

...I am running for office because I believe in a Michigan that invest in people. I fundamentally believe that government has the power to do good in the world when good people power the government. Coming from a family of teachers, I have work to continue fighting for education for today and tomorrow, lowering class size, and reducing student debt.

As a small business owner, I know we need to do more to raise wages, make sure economic improvements reach the pockets of working people, and end giveaways to the most profitable companies. Finally, we need to protect the environment, promote social justice, and unrig our democracy. There's a lot of work to do, but together we can get it done.

Yeah... none of that is exactly music to Trumpist ears. And this will be the new GOP attack, along with accusing every Democratic candidate of being Nancy Pelosi. Well, since Fred Upton is another privileged trust fund baby like Trump and backs all the same disastrous policies that Trump does against working families, it would be a lot more honest if the NRCC just comes out and admits that Fred Upton is just basically Donald J. Trump.

UPDATE from Paul Clements

Paul Clements, who ran for the MI-06 seat twice, first introduced us to Hoadley. This afternoon he reiterated that Jon's "a strong progressive, a great organizer, and a good friend. Over all the years I have known Jon he has worked hard to build the Democratic Party in Kalamazoo and across Michigan, not just as an institution, but as one with a living commitment to social justice. Jon shows up. He consistently brings a clear strategic vision,  he has been an effective legislator, he has inspired many activists young and old, and he is eminently trustworthy. I am happy to offer him my enthusiastic endorsement."