politics >> on the cover
Race
It's experience vs.
new ideas at the
top of the Oakland
County ticket.
Harry Kirsbaum I Contributing Writer
CONTINUED FROM THE COVER
County residents voted a straight
Democratic ticket, while 125,000 voted
Republican. Brenda Lawrence, Patterson's
2008 opponent, only garnered 42 percent
of the vote, which he called an anomaly.
"There were a lot of Democrats not
supporting her," Howley said, citing
Democrats' strong showing in the county.
Treasurer Andy Meisner won with 52 per-
cent, Prosecutor Jessica Cooper with 54
percent and President Barack Obama with
56 percent.
"The challenge for me is not convert-
ing right-wing or hard-core Republicans,
or even the majority of independents, it's
keeping the people on the Democratic
side of the ticket, and making sure when
they feel comfortable voting for Jessica
and Andy, they feel comfortable voting
for me."
Howley, who lives in Huntington
Woods with his partner and two young
children, said that Patterson has not
"articulated a vision for Oakland County
and has told voters that he is simply run-
ning on his record."
"While it is wonderful that Oakland
County has been blessed with the resourc-
es to balance its budget, Oakland County
is being left behind in so many other cat-
egories," Howley said, citing 175,000 jobs
lost in the county from 2000-2010, and
the number of children on Medicaid ris-
ing from 10 to 25 percent. "I have higher
expectations:'
Part of the problem is related to image,
he said. "Young families are not choos-
ing Oakland County as a place to settle,
and entrepreneurs are not establishing
businesses here. The real challenge is that
we are not acknowledging these trends
or creating solutions to move Oakland
County forward and adjust to the dynam-
ics of the 21st century."
Patterson disagrees.
"Mr. Howley has no record to run on,
so he manufactures issues and com-
plaints," said Patterson, who is still recov-
ering from injuries sustained in a car
accident in August. "The business corn-
munity is quite satisfied with our efforts
and best attempts to promote business,
and we're attracting new business every
Jewish Candidates
To Look For In
Oakland County Races
Oakland County
Prosecuting Attorney
Name: Jessica R.
Cooper (D), incumbent
Hometown: Beverly
Hills
Family: Divorced, no
children
Synagogue: No syna-
gogue affiliation
As prosecutor,
Cooper instituted intense, low-cost, in-
52
October 25 • 2012
house training for trial prosecutors to
boost the quality of litigation as well as
trial conviction rates; made integrity,
ethics and the pursuit of justice in each
case the highest priority; and has regu-
larly taken aggressive leadership roles
and stances to proactively protect
the public, such as leading the state
in strenuously opposing early parole
release of violent criminals.
Running against: Mike Bishop (R),
Steven Afton (Lib)
month. We've got the evidence to prove
that claim, so I just think it's unfortunate
that he runs such a negative campaign
because he can't run on his own perfor-
mance."
Patterson Makes His Case
Patterson spoke
briefly by phone
from an undis-
closed rehabilita-
tion facility, and
was expected to
leave there this
week and return
to work. His staff
provided bullet
points and back-
ground information on why he should be
re-elected:
• Despite negative media coverage that
has pinned Metropolitan Detroit as a
declining region, Southeast Michigan is
positioned ahead of Boston, Seattle and
Austin in almost every measure analyzed.
• The Anderson Economic Group in
Lansing says in its 2011 Technology
Oakland County Clerk &
Register of Deeds
Name: Lisa Brown (D)
Hometown: West
Bloomfield
Family: Three children
Synagogue: Adat
Shalom Synagogue
Elected in 2008,
Brown is serving
her second term in
the state legislature representing
the communities of West Bloomfield,
Commerce Township and Wolverine
Lake.
Her goal is to make the Oakland
County Clerk's office a model that
other counties in Michigan could aspire
to. She is committed to defending vot-
ers' rights and ensuring that every citi-
zen has access to the ballot on Election
Industries report that our region is now
second only to Silicon Valley in engineer-
ing and architectural jobs.
• In the years before the auto industry
meltdown, Patterson began to diversify
Oakland County's economy.
• In 1997, he launched Automation
Alley to market the region as a center for
high tech. Today, it has more than 1,000
member companies across eight counties
— the largest high-tech business associa-
tion in the Midwest. Since its inception,
Automation Alley has conducted 15 trade
missions to other countries, garnering
more than $188 million in contracts for
companies participating in the missions.
• Southeast Michigan has the highest
number of advanced automotive industry
jobs, accounting for 9.3 percent of all the
advanced automotive jobs in the U.S.
• University of Michigan economists
George Fulton and Donald Grimes fore-
cast that over the next three years of a
Patterson administration, about 34,000
jobs will be created in Oakland County.
When Fulton and Grimes forecasted
11,500 jobs for 2011, Oakland County
Day. Brown also is committed to mak-
ing the clerk's office more accessible to
the people of Oakland County by coor-
dinating with local city and township
clerks and utilizing the mobile office
to visit senior centers, campuses and
other venues all over the county.
Running against: Bill Bullard Jr. (R),
incumbent
Oakland County Treasurer
Name: Andy Meisner
(D), incumbent
Hometown:
Huntington Woods
Family: Married, no
children
Synagogue:
Woodward Avenue
Shul
As Oakland County Treasurer,