Hot House Race

Four Republicans, one Democrat compete for Rep. Marc Shulman's seat.

BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News

T

here's an old political adage
that "a little name recogni-
tion never hurt any candi-
date." Most of the candidates in
Oakland County's 39th District
State House of Representatives race
in the Aug. 3 primary probably will
agree, such as:
• Lois Shulman, the wife of the
incumbent state representative;
• David Law, the son of a county
supervisor and a township clerk;
• Olga S. Meyer, the wife of a
library board member;
• Debbie Squires, a school board
vice president.
These are the four Republicans
vying for a spot in the state
Legislature — one of 37 House seats
up for grabs because of term limits.
State Rep. Marc Shulman is stepping
down after three, two-year terms to
practice law and be a consultant.
The 39th District covers most of
West Bloomfield and all of
Commerce and Wolverine Lake.
Shulman's wife, Lois, of West
Bloomfield, the only Jewish GOP
candidate, wants to succeed him by
being nominated to run in the Nov.
2 general election, presumably
against Democrat Michael Alan
Schwartz of West Bloomfield, who is
unopposed in the primary. But so
does David Law of West Bloomfield,
son of four-term West Bloomfield
Clerk Sharon Law and Oakland
County Commissioner Thomas Law,
who is not seeking re-election. Also
in the race for the $79,000-a-year
post are Olga S. Meyer of West
Bloomfield, whose husband,
Thomas, is a longtime West
Bloomfield Library Board member,
and Debbie Squires of Commerce,
vice president of the Huron Valley
School Board.

Lois Shulman

Shulman, a lawyer and real estate
salesperson, doesn't think she has the
right to automatically succeed her
husband as state representative. She
grew up in a political family and
always has been "passionate about

7/23
2004

14

politics," now "fighting for every
vote" in her "own name and own
right" to get nominated by cam-
paigning door-to-door. Her father,
Meyer Warshawsky, 83, is a retired
Van Buren County circuit judge and
once unsuccessfully ran for state
attorney general.
"The term-limit law works both
ways," she pointed out. "It gives new
people a chance to come into the
state Legislature, but it results in the
loss of many good lawmakers. In the
past six years, I've learned a lot
about how things work in Lansing,
and I want to go there and make a
difference in my own right. I believe
I have a firmer grasp on state issues
and the budget and appropriations
process than my opponents. We
need more Jewish Republican
women in politics, and I'm proud
that Marc is the first Jewish
Republican to chair the State
Appropriations Committee.
"I've raised four children in this
community and was a stay-at-home
mom for many years, working with
the PTA and getting involved in
local school issues. I've always made
community service and education
my top priorities. We must have a
strong education system that is held
accountable to parents and taxpay-
ers. To achieve a topnotch school
system, we have to spend tax dollars
wisely — not freely."
Shulman was an unsuccessful can-
didate for Oakland County commis-
sioner in 2002 and attributes her
loss to not "getting out and meeting
the people," which she is remedying
by going door-to-door throughout
the district.
She wants to get rid of the "unfair"
Single Business Tax and reduce busi-
ness regulation to make it more
"economically feasible" for business-
es to come to the state and create
jobs. "I also oppose tweaking
Proposal A [which capped property
taxes] — in order to keep property
taxes low. Some liberals want to
tweak it."
Shulman describes the state health
care program, which has risen to
$2.2 billion for Medicaid alone, as
being "frayed," saying, "we need
innovative methods to improve the

system and a safety net to protect
the vulnerable, elderly people." She
supports multi-state bulk pharma-
ceutical purchasing to reduce costs.

Shulman, 51,
is a lawyer
and real
estate sales-
person, has
been married
to State Rep.
Marc
Shulman for
26 years and
has four chil-
dren ages 9-
Shulman
21. She was
born in South
Haven and
got a bachelor of science degree from
Kalamazoo College and a law degree -
from the Michigan-based Thomas M.
Cooley Law School. The family belongs
to Congregation Shaarey Zedek. She is
active in Hadassah, Kadima, JARC,
the Sinai Guild, the West Bloomfield
Optimist Club and the Friendship
Circle.

David Law

An assistant Oakland County prose-
cutor, Law has handled about 2,000
felony cases, and has been especially
aggressive in prosecuting criminals
who prey on elderly residents.
"Senior citizens deserve every ben-
efit they've earned throughout their
lives, especially health care, and the
state Legislature needs to prioritize
spending to care for them," he said.
"The state should purchase pre-
scription medications in bulk and
pass along the savings to senior citi-
zens. We also must allow new med-
ical facilities to be built in our com-
munity so they no longer have to
drive to downtown Detroit for treat-
ment."
Law, making his first run for elec-
tive office, says he's very proud of his
parents' long record of public serv-
ice, but "I want to be elected state
representative so I can continue my
own public service record and
become better known as my 'own
person.' In the county prosecutor's
office, I'm proud to be protecting

the public and standing up for
what's right."
Like his opponents, he's been cam-
paigning door-to-door in the district
and telling voters to "check the pre-
vious job histories of the candidates
to help determine who's best to rep-
resent the district." He added: "If
they do, I'm confident they'll vote
for me because I feel I'll make a dif-
ference in Lansing. The culture there
seems to be to spend first, then fig-
ure out if it's needed. We must stop
the continual needless spending in
Lansing."

Law, 35, is
single, a
lawyer and
moved to West
Bloomfield
om Berkley
in March,
although he
lived in the
community
for 27 years
before that.
He
was on the
Law
football and
golf teams at
Detroit Catholic Central High School,
got a finance degree at Notre Dame
University and a law degree at the
Detroit College of Law. He was in pri-
vate practice before becoming one of
more than 100 assistant prosecutors in
Oakland County six years ago. He
belongs to the Prince of Peace Catholic
Church in West Bloomfield.

Olga S. Meyer

Making her fourth bid for the 39th
District State House nomination on
the GOP ticket, Meyer points our
that Abraham Lincoln also ran
unsuccessfully for office a few times
before being elected. She has been a
teacher for 28 years in the Warren
Consolidated School District, which
includes parts of Warren, Sterling
Heights and Troy.
She says her teaching background
has helped her deal with "people
problems" and would provide her
with insights into the handling of
issues on a state-wide basis. "Small