politics

Senate Battle

Two Jewish women vie against incumbent for the chance
to represent the 11th District in the State Senate.

Harry Kirsbaum
Contributing Writer

T

wo Jewish women face a first-
term incumbent in the 11th
State Senate district in the
Democratic primary on Aug. 5. The win-
ner will face Republican Boris Tuman,
who is running unopposed.
Vicki Barnett, state representative
of the 37th District, and Ellen Cogen
Lipton, state representative of the 27th
District, are both term-limited and
vying for the seat held by Sen. Vincent
Gregory.
Gregory planned to run for the con-
gressional office vacated by Gary Peters
— who is currently running for U.S.
senator — but decided to run for re-
election after Lipton and Barnett had
already filed to succeed him.
The State Senate 11th District includes
Farmington, Farmington Hills, Ferndale,
Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Lathrup
Village, Madison Heights, Oak Park,
Pleasant Ridge, Southfield and Royal
Oak Township.
All three of the candidates have
worked together before, and by all
accounts, the race has been cordial.
Their views are similar on what needs to
be done, but each takes a different path
on how to get it accomplished.

VINCENT
GREGORY
Gregory, 66, is a
retired detective
with the Wayne
County Sheriff's
office and served
10 years on the
Vincent Gregory
Oakland County
Commission.
While in office, he has become a voice for
the downtrodden.
Gregory is a member of the Senate
Appropriations Committee and serves
on the Appropriations Sub-Committees
of the Departments of Community
Health, Human Services and State
Police and Military Affairs. He holds
the positions of the associate president
pro tempore of the Michigan Senate
and Democratic whip in the Senate
Democratic Caucus.
Gregory's vote was instrumental
in expanding Medicaid coverage in
Michigan, providing health insurance

44

July 31 • 2014

to nearly a half-million uninsured resi-
dents. He's fought against cuts to public
schools and wants to change Michigan's
"unfair retirement tax on senior citizens
and restore tax credits for low-income
families:'
Gregory has the endorsements of
the UAW and the Michigan Education
Association. He wants to increase state
road funding and create a separate fund
to ensure gas tax money goes exclusively
to fixing roads and bridges.

ELLEN
COGEN
LIPTON
Ellen Cogen
Lipton said she
is most qualified
to serve the 11th
District because of
Ellen Cogen Lipton
her effectiveness
in the legislature
and leadership on issues like education
and the environment.
"Any legislator can vote the right way,
but I am proud to have led coalitions
that included legislators from across
the aisle that passed critically impor-
tant legislation," she said. "I believe my
effectiveness in the legislature and my
leadership on issues like education, the
environment and issues of concern for
working families are what sets me apart
from my opponents in this race?'
The two most important issues facing
the 11th district are Gov. Snyder's cuts
to education funding and the terrible
condition of the state's roads, she said.
"I would work to increase education
funding and end the state takeover of
public schools, and I would push for
new funds to repair potholes first and
then restore our other statewide infra-
structure," she said. "In the past, I have
had success creating coalitions of like-
minded legislators and believe my previ-
ous success in the House would be the
basis for my continued success in the
Senate."
Lipton said more than 36 local offi-
cials in the senate district, including
the mayors of Ferndale, Hazel Park and
Pleasant Ridge, and the supervisor of
Royal Oak Township, endorse her.
Lipton is a graduate of Williams
College and Harvard Law School. As an
attorney, she has specialized in patents
in medicine and technology. She served

on the Community Services Division
Committee of Federation from 2006 and
is a member of Temple Emanu-El, and a
former board member of the temple.
Lipton said she can help stop gridlock
in Lansing.
"Politics starts with relationships, and
I have strong ones on both sides of the
aisle," she said. "I have formed coalitions
to pass several bills that were important
to my constituents, including legislation
to reform Michigan's juvenile justice
system and to prevent bank skimming
fraud. I plan to build on my successes as
a representative in the Senate?'

VICKI
BARNETT
Vicki Barnett
feels qualified to
represent the 11th
District because of
her political expe-
rience.
Vicki Barnett
As a former
mayor and city council member of
Farmington Hills and as former presi-
dent of the Michigan Municipal League,
I have local government as well as state
government experience," she said.
Like Lipton, she said the two main
issues facing the district are road repair
and education.
Decades of neglect to the roads "is
dangerous and hurts our ability to
attract commerce," she said. "Michigan
needs to be investing in sustainable
solutions to prevent future pothole
debacles and ensure we can afford road
and bridge maintenance over the long
term."
Her proposals include replacing the
19 cents per gallon tax on gasoline and
the 15 cents per gallon tax on diesel fuel
with a 6-8 percent tax on the wholesale
fuel price; increase permit fees for heavy
loads starting at 27 cents per mile for
loads of 95,000 pounds and up to 47
cents per mile for loads up to 160,000
pounds, as is done in Florida.
As far as education, Barnett's solu-
tion would include restricting use of
the School Aid Fund to K-12 education;
passing the Mainstream Fairness bills to
collect sales tax on Internet purchases;
and requiring that any offset given to
economic development in the state
through property tax incentives be made
up by a general fund appropriation to

the State School Aid Fund to keep it
whole.
"But funding is not the only problem,"
she said. "We need to reduce class size
to increase individualized student atten-
tion; provide resources for intensive
tutoring programs for students falling
behind — especially at K-3 grade levels:'
As for college access, she introduced
a bill that would, with a vote of the peo-
ple, increase the sales tax by 1 percent to
pay for college or training programs for
Michigan high school graduates.
Barnett has received endorsements
from more than 30 local elected officials
and school board members from across
the 11th Senate District, the Michigan
Professional Firefighters Union and the
Michigan Bankers Association.
She graduated from the University
of Michigan-Dearborn in 1981 and
received an MBA from UM-Dearborn in
1993.
She is a member of Temple Kol Ami, a
board member of the JCRC and a former
board member of Hebrew Free Loan.
She said her previous experience
in building consensus around com-
mon issues could stop the gridlock in
Lansing.
"I have always worked to bring people
together — from my early days on
city council to my successful years as
mayor," she said. "We were able to pass
Medicaid expansion, modernize Act 312
arbitration proceedings for police and
fire fighters, and pass the Detroit 'Grand
Bargain' package?'

❑

Election Information

The Oakland County Elections
Division is responsible for the
supervision and certification of all
elections that take place within the
county.
Voters can logon to www.oakgov.
com/clerkrod/elections/Pages/
default.aspx for an official candidate
and proposal list, view past election
results, view campaign finance infor-
mation and a list of polling locations
within the county.
The site is also linked to other vot-
ing resources, such as the League of
Women Voters, Oakland County area,
Project Vote Smart and the Federal
Voting Assistance Program.