The Scene
T h r i ll
Not a year out of college, Ray Wert quit his job
— to make his mark in the race for governor.
Cam paign
ERIN PODOLSKY
Special to the Jewish News
S
hortly after the terrorist attacks on America
last Sept. 11, Ray Wert took stock of what
he was doing and decided that he could be
doing more.
He gave notice at his financial advisor's job at
Merrill Lynch, began checking out the various candi-
dates running for Michigan office this year and told
his mother that what he really wanted to do was vol-
unteer on Michigan Attorney General Jennifer
Granholm's gubernatorial campaign.
Needless to say, she was a little surprised.
"I'm still planning to go back at some point," says
the 23-year-old bachelor says of his private sector job,
but for now he's knee-deep in politics and strategy.
He had been working at Merrill Lynch since his May
2001 graduation from Michigan State University, but
after his father's death the previous February and 9-
11, the Bloomfield Hills resident felt he needed a
change.
"A lot of [what had happened] built up and I said,
`You know what, I've got to - get away from it.' I want-
ed to do something new, that was exciting and had
short-term goals as opposed to the long-term goals
offered by attempting to plan for people's futures.
" I wanted something that was going to have a
more immediate impact on the most amount of peo-
ple that I could find."
Wert found what he was looking for with the
Granholm campaign, where he joined the finance
team as an unpaid worker. Working out of their
Livonia offices, he helps organize
fund-raisers. He's currently setting
up a picnic in Muskegon — the first
event he has been completely in
charge of — and does whatever else
is needed to help ensure the cam-
paign's success.
Most of his responsibilities are
administrative and behind-the-
scenes: preparing lists of past and
present donors, dealing with referrals
from supporters, or connecting
potential givers with Granholm via
brief phone calls. "If they need me
in some kind of an aspect that is not
fund-raising related, I'm happy to
help," Wert says.
That includes everything from
handing out balloons at the Detroit
Red Wings' victory parade to licking
envelopes for mass mailings: "The
self-sealing envelopes are too expen-
sive."
Politics Suits Him'
.
WARR
PRESCRIPTIONS
1g 4,4
6/28
2002
60
Ray Wier
t, 23, lines up contributors for gubernatorial candidate
The ,campaign does, however, have
Jennifer Granholm.
enough funds to employ Wert with a
small salary. He was hired full time as
"I think politics suits him. It's always being able to
a finance assistant in January, making him one of just
adjust and to change and do things on your own —
10 paid staffers in the finance office.
there's not a lot of time for bureaucracy in campaign-
"The great thing about Ray is it's in his personality
ing.
And Ray is very good with that."
to take things and run with them," says Granholm
Wert
comes to politics, and life in general, with a
campaign co-finance director Vivian Leung.
special perspective. He helped run a "Rock the Vote"
•Gifts •Toys • Cards
•Jewelry • Camp Accessories
32910 Middlebelt • Farmington Hills • (248) 8551177
agr
INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE
Voted #1 Market by the Detroit News Readers
Farmington
hills
Kcl
(2+8) 855-5570
32906 Midcliebeit
Middlebelt & 14 Mile Road
6835
T11,9
3 .
Rochester Road
(2+8) 879-9222
St. Clair 5kores
,
27900 harper
(58 6) 788-350