The DCCC Has Proven They Can't Win Seats In Michigan; Maybe Haley Stevens Can Teach Them How To

Last year the most winnable Republican-held seat in Michigan was the 11th district, cut out of Oakland and Wayne counties northwest of Detroit and Dearborn. It carefully skirts Pontiac but stretches awkwardly from Troy and Birmingham in the east to Novi and Livonia to the west. Trump didn’t do as well as Romney did but he narrowly beat Hillary, 49.7% to 45.3% in the district. Although the incompetent and corrupt DCCC chose to waste millions of dollars in other districts, promoting Blue Dog conservatives with no chance to win, they steered clear of MI-11 where a progressive, Anil Kumar, did better against David Trott than any of the DCCC did against their opponents. Kumar held Trott to a 52.9% win and the district looks like to flip-- unless the DCCC sabotages the Democratic candidate again-- in 2018.

The most prominent candidate to emerge so far is Haley Stevens, who was born and raised in Rochester Hills. That she lived in DC while working as chief of staff for the Obama administration’s auto bailout, has caused Trott’s desperate campaign to try to label her a “carpetbagger.” No one’s buying it, especially not from the out-of-touch former foreclosure king. Her expertise in manufacturing is sorely lacking inside the halls of Congress and she’s an excellent fit for the district. We asked her to introduce herself by explaining a little about what she is offering folks in MI-11 that Trott isn't providing. Her guest post is below and you can visit her website here and if you’d like, contribute to her campaign as well.

In Michigan, I See the Future of America
-by Haley Stevens

The great innovation, export and import engine epitomizing 20th century economic might rises today to tell a new story.

Today, Michigan boasts 75% of the country’s autonomous vehicle research and development. In 2006, Google’s first office outside of Silicon Valley moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. And our freshwater lakes still remain the envy of the world.

Michigan innovation, and occasionally our natural resources, are just as connected to Silicon Valley as they are to us; and Silicon Valley needs Michigan a great deal.

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, in his Harvard graduation address declared, “We should have a society that measures progress not just by economic metrics like GDP, but by how many of us have a role we find meaningful.”

As a policy maker, I invite this conversation and opportunity to shine a light on the true spirit of human capabilities and our future economy.

Many people live to work and are lucky enough to find community and passion in their work. The men and women I have met in manufacturing offices and on shop floors over the past decade stand proud of their daily output. At the same time, the United States maintains a skills gap as defined by hundreds of thousands of open manufacturing positions that go unfilled each year. There is an overwhelming demand from companies of all sizes for welders, computer numerical controls operators, and technicians, but there are just not enough qualified people to fill these jobs.

Many emerging and mid-sized companies driving the maker economy are fighting for technology and manufacturing talent just to stay afloat. We are in a newfound competitive skills environment where computer and coding skills meet traditional manufacturing work.

Coding and computer science must make their way into school curricula from an early age, whereas we can make skills obtainment in these fields universal and affordable. We can lower the barrier to entry and even the playing field so everyone competes fairly for jobs and available work.

During my years spent running a multi-million-dollar future of work agenda funded by the Department of Defense, I frequently cited the importance of analog skills meeting digital requirements. I’ll tip my hat to Mark Zuckerberg on this point, who also said last month, “as technology keeps changing, we need to focus more on continuous education throughout our lives.”

Overnight global technology advances more rapidly than policymakers can put their pens to paper, and as a result we find ourselves going into the quarter 21st century mark with profound questions looming.

What is the role and value of human work? Now more than ever we can encourage, foster, and place value on the bounty of human work and human driven experiences.

These questions centralize on the critical role policy makers play working in tandem with industry leaders to determine outcomes, catalyze growth and ultimately the value of our work.

I’m prepared to be one policy maker leading the charge. Alongside the Michigan innovation story, my central motivations to run for Congress in Michigan’s-11th district comprising metro-Detroit are to promote a true progressive agenda that holds current and reckless leadership accountable. As a lifelong Democrat running for Congress my message for the party and to voters is: The value of work matters, each individual life matters, and that is why we do what we do; because your health, our environment and the richness of our economy for everyone matters.

While the economy has been growing in Michigan since coming out of the Great Recession, it has only been growing for a few. Incomes have remained stagnant.

We feel it: we could all be a little better off and our children’s future could appear brighter, student loan debt not as burdensome or non-existent if we choose to address this looming problem vis-à-vis collaborative, industry driven solutions before debt is even incurred.

By coming together with industry leaders, chambers, universities, and associations for pro-growth, inclusive solutions; government leaders are in a poignant position to address the challenges that have left so many hard-working people behind. And to top it off, government can find a way to remove itself as necessary and promote efficiency. Identifying where the government can come in as a strategic partner is where leading policy makers can make a proven difference.

By seeking an office in the nation’s capital and asking everyone I know to support me in any way they can, I am also making a bet on the future and declaring it exists right here in southeastern Michigan with our world class workforce, technology hubs, and our overwhelming ability to innovate. Something my opponent, two term Republican incumbent Dave Trott who has profited off his peculiar and disappointing foreclosure business does not know much about.

“Detroit hustles harder” is the saying that emerged in the throes of the Great Recession, and today that note continues to ring throughout our region. And that’s because in Michigan we know the value and meaning of hard-work, it is in our blood and we don’t stop.