You can see the statewide results on the Secretary of States page at Michigan.gov. There is also TV 6's listing of winners by Mi. County.
Congressman Jack Bergman
State Senator Ed McBroom
Representative Dave Preston Michigan District 108
Delta County Winners: Delta County (DC) Prosecutor Lauren Wickman (R), DC Road Com. Dennis J. Stanek (R), DC Board 2nd District, DC Board 3rd District Steven Viau (R), DC Board Disctrict 4th District.
A Few Reasons Why: The candidates in our area are genuinely concerned with the health and wellbeing of residents. Because we are small communities (The way democracy started) anyone even remotely involved in politics can meet with them during their campaigns (I'm only remotely at this time involved in politics. That may change over time as I start to analyze certain policies for mental consumption before people vote. Because in many ways I feel I have a duty to give back and share what I have learned. At least in theory that is how passing knowledge from one generation to another is supposed to work. )
Life in rural places such as these rely on human-to-human connections on a very local level. Because of this familiarity people can create first hand knowledge of candidates beliefs and values. The more distant our politicians are from the people the more difficult it is for politicians to truly represent the granular needs of people. We don't want politics to become overly influenced by an increasingly narrow stakeholder group.
(As an interesting side note I encourage people to focus on the essentials of a candidates message and the other cues they provide in terms of their belief in such professed values. Integrity and values are important. When you get good at it you can tell who believes and who doesn't believe in what they are saying. Then you watch while some stick with their beliefs and some change them when the circumstances/environment changes. Because of this we always want to select people with values and who say what they believe and then follow up on that. Those that switch around their values based on "electability" I would consider untrustworthy in general and not really understanding the true importance of their duties that often leads to institutional devaluing later. It's ok to change if new facts come forward or if you become enlightened about a topic. Its not ok to change just because it gets votes and someone wants a career in politics. Parties should follow principles and principles should not follow parties. That is a party neutral statement and applies to any party. You may want to read this interesting study on Non-Verbal Cues and Politics)
So why might these local politicians won while some many other Republicans may have lost? (Its just an semi unsupported perspective that could be food for thought. No facts here but just a trajectory of thought based on being a student of people!) I believe it is because they are serving the needs of their people in genuine ways and they are connected to those needs on a grass roots level. Each of these candidates are good people who are trying to do the right thing. They are not too far Right and they can see their responsibilities to everyone within the community (No matter the politics. I'm also sure there are many Democrats that would also be great at the job. We might disagree philosophically but there are many good people doing their best). They are balanced in thought and walk the talk on their values.
To me the best place to be when entering the political ring is when people think you are genuine, honest, competent and have people's best interests at heart. You can stick to your essential principles but can still compromise when it is necessary to solve looming problems. We use logic, reason and wisdom to make decisions and not get swept up into the rhetoric of the moment. One can step back and see the entire system and its political structure while still understanding the importance on a micro human-to-human connection of moving the entire system forward. (Lets you think about the bigger system and how it impacts individuals. Forest and trees.).
(Congrats to all those who won no matter their party affiliation. Having good quality candidates come forward from both parties helps everyone be at their best and have their best ideas explored. Our nation needs good leaders now so people should always vote their conscious to make sure people they trust are winning. As a light R, democracy is at its strongest when we all agree to have civil, open, and positive public debate on what is in the best interest of our nation and our towns. The question that rolls around in my head is what can these candidates do for Delta County to maximize our future opportunities?)
Its really the only video I can find on the topic. I'm not agreeing or endorsing anything within it but just saying its something you can watch that has an explanation of a perspective of why statewide losses might have occurred. I encourage you to read widely if you are interested in this topic (I should read more) and make your own decisions after viewing many different sources (i.e. an informed citizen applying their critical thinking skills. Never use one source for all your facts.).
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