Libertarian Jeff Pittel and Democrat Rosemary Bayer are running unopposed for their party nominations for District 12, Michigan Senate, in the Aug. 7 primary.
Jeff Pittel of Bloomfield Hills, 54, is a product design engineer who has lived in the district for one year, 30 years in Oakland County.
“I am running to provide voters with an alternative to the big government policies offered by the Democrats and the big business policies offered by the Republicans,” Pittel said. “As the Libertarian candidate, I advocate individual rights and freedoms versus special interest benefits and corporate cronyism.”
His top issue is education reform due to spending and poor educational performance of students, he said.
He is the only candidate proposing a reduction in the size and scope of state government, he said.
“As a citizen you should vote for me if you believe government at all levels should be limited to the essential services necessary to uphold individual rights, maintain public order, and adjudicate disputes,” he said.
Rosemary Bayer of Beverly Hills, 59, has lived in Michigan all her life; in District 12 for 32 years. She is a lifetime computer engineer, now a computer software small business owner.
“I’m running to actively listen to and represent its people. I’m not a career politician. I’m a business leader who sees divisiveness and inaction in our state senate today, just when there is so much to accomplish,” Bayer said. “Our citizens face so many negative challenges on a daily basis. I feel a duty to be of service, to work to make Michigan better for the people of State District 12 and all Michiganders.”
Top issues include equitable access to high quality education for everyone; affordable healthcare for everyone; infrastructure we can trust: water we can drink, roads that don’t destroy our cars and the protection of our community and individual health and well-being through responsible environmental stewardship, she said.
She would ensure equitable access to free quality public education; listen to Michigan education experts and experts in states who have successfully implemented excellent educational systems; eliminate excessive testing; create a long term, effective educational plan; leverage new technology for educational content delivery; revise how we fund schools; and leverage the statewide research from the Michigan School Finance Research Collaborative to ensure equity. She would also provide affordable healthcare for everyone; and reinvest in infrastructure so we can safely drive, swim, drink water, and breathe.
“We must pay to fix our roads, our bridges, our pipelines, and our protections including appropriate, skillful engineering. We must ensure compliance to regulations,” she said.
“As an engineer, I excel at listening, evaluating challenges, problem-solving, applying innovation, and cooperating with diverse people and organizations,” she said. “My long technology career is based on analytical, action-oriented skills that can be applied to make our state government far more responsive and efficient. My experience in education, information technology, business leadership, entrepreneurship, environmental stewardship as well as my lifetime of service to the community are the foundation that will help me collaborate in Lansing, to ensure that all aspects of our government work better for Michigan citizens.”
She is an empathetic fighter, she said.
“I will fight for children, families, seniors, the most vulnerable among us, and all our citizens,” she said. “The people of Senate District 12 have not been listened to and represented for a long time. As a private sector leader with a mission, I will listen to, and fight for, the people of SD 12, and for all of Michigan every day.”