All seem to acknowledge a need for rural healthcare, including mental health; fighting for the U.P. to be considered in Lansing; and reducing wasteful state spending. All said they support a wolf hunt. So how is a person to decide who to vote for in the Republican primary?

Recently, a forum organized by the GOPs of both Menominee and Delta Counties brought together all but one of the six for a series of questions that each candidate had one minute to answer. The following summary of the candidates and their positions has been produced from the forum held at the Legion Hall on Delta Avenue in Gladstone on June 25.

CASEY HOFFMAN

The youngest in the race, 37-year-old Hoffman is currently the mayor of the City of Menominee. He touched on his age: “We need…someone with the youth and the vigor to do this, someone who is focused just not on the next four years, but on the next four decades, and is interested in making sure that we have a plan.”

A moderator reads a question to be answered by five Michigan House candidates. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

Hoffman also said that Lansing should be operated the way the state’s best cities are, and highlighted some of what he’s done for Menominee: “I inherited a $500,000 budget shortfall, and I turned it into a $300,000 budget surplus within three years,” he said proudly, and added that half of the voting positions in the city are now held by women.

One priority he said he has is to make Michigan a constitutional carry state and eliminate taxes and fees on guns and firearm permits.

“Taxes on firearms — I don’t believe it to be constitutional,” Hoffman said. “If elected, I would introduce a constitutional amendment that would eliminate concealed carry fees in the state of Michigan.”

Hoffman mentioned that getting rid of pay step increases was one way to keep qualified public safety workers, in addition to better funding, hours and equipment.

He said that RICE generators should be reclassified as renewable energy. “The far left radical mandates coming out of Gretchen Whitmer’s office have completely crippled our ability to make RICE generators a future long-term source of energy,” Hoffman said.

Daryl Schroeder dials in after a Mackinac County Commission meeting. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

“We need to have a real conversation about data centers,” he said, stating that he supported a moratorium against them. “They’re loud, they hurt the environment, they use a ton of water, and they are an impediment on our natural natural resources.”

LARRY JOHNSON

Menominee County Commissioner since 2019, Johnson lives in Spalding. He’s the county finance chair and sits on the health department board. One of the ways he defines himself is by his “blue-collar background.”

Johnson said that we need to “make it easier for businesses to do business (and) expand. …We’re dealing with a dwindling population pretty much across the board in the U.P., and that’s one of the ultimate drivers behind it.”

Another priority of Johnson’s is the establishment of a centralized mental health facility. “There’s no reason for somebody who’s having these issues to have to travel six hours away from home and be away from their loved ones,” he said. “I would really love to see something come down from the state to increase the access as far as facilities for mental health treatment here in the U.P.”

Lisa Pieczynski of the Delta County Republicans holds up a paper plate printed with a number to show candidates how much they have left. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

The biggest tax issue Johnson has a problem with is property tax, he said. Though he said that the Ax Mi Tax initiative is “great,” we need to start small.

“I think that we need to see simple cuts right off the bat. I think we need to start worrying about the most vulnerable of us, the elderly — there’s no reason you should have to worry about losing your house at retirement age. I think that there’s enough waste, fraud, and abuse out there right now that we could work on to trim this budget down to start funding some of these more concerning areas.”

When asked about infrastructure — specifically roads and bridges — Johnson remarked that there is a lot of transportation funding flowing downstate, and “we really got to work hard to try and advocate for the funds … fighting for our fair share of it up here in the U.P.”

Johnson said that the education system has gotten worse — with decreased performance — since the federal government became involved. He said that local control should be the way, and that parents should have a say in the curricula their children learn.

Another area where he would like to see more value placed locally is in law enforcement and emergency medical responders.

Christopher Reynolds of Rock replies to a question while seated next to other Republican candidates running for the 108th House district. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

“I think that the MSP is great for certain things, more specialized …but I think that as far as out there patrolling, we definitely need to shift a lot more funding away from them into our local control,” Johnson said.

CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS

Reynolds comes not from a political background. He’s a teacher at Mid Peninsula School in Rock.

“I’m a Christian, I’m a father, I’m a husband, I’m a traditional conservative,” Reynolds said. He spoke of

“We do need to get better health care here, and a big part of that would be working with the other states. Let’s look at our certification requirements. Let’s make it easier for individuals to transfer into Michigan hospitals. Let’s make it easier for doctors to go back and forth,” he suggested.

Vocational education is important, Reynolds said, and should be encouraged in the 108th district in order to keep both education and professions in the area.

“School boards have to be hands-on within our schools. We have to find ways to give our local kids opportunities to find careers that are going to keep them home, but also allow them to raise a family and to support themselves,” he said.

On energy: “Intermittent energy, such as solar and wind turbines, they’re not the answer,” Reynolds said. “Natural gas, rice generators, and … nuclear would all be sustainable options.”

He said that the U.P. was built on mining and he’d love to see those opportunities return to the district.

DARYL SCHROEDER

School board president at Engadine Public Schools, Schroeder also serves on the Mackinac County Commission. He grew up in Engadine and has family in Escanaba.

As one priority, Schroeder said he “would like to see how the schools are funded and revise some of that funding, especially in certain categories like transportation.”

All candidates were asked about taxes, and Schroeder responded that income taxes should be reconsidered: “There’s been some economic growth in those states that have eliminated the income tax, so that would be something that is intriguing to try.”

As staffing police and fire departments can be difficult as most in the career are aging, Schroder suggested consolidation.

“We’re looking at ways that we can consolidate a lot of those (township departments) to create one big center, so that we can serve the public as needed,” he said. “And then we’ve got to work on recruitment; we’ve got to work on the younger generation.”

Schroeder said he’s like to see mining restarted with better technology: “It’s not the craters where they dig into the ground, but they can bore and get a lot of the ore out a lot better.” He added, “I’m not in favor of the big energy solar panels and windmills, there’s no exit strategy for those, and they tend to destroy agriculture, take up land.”

STEVEN VIAU

Viau said he first got into politics by attending Gladstone City Commission meetings to try to make things better for his business. He ended up becoming a city commissioner and then a Delta County Commissioner.

“One of the key aspects that we need in our community is to make it feasible for business to operate here,” he said — “small businesses with less taxes, less burden, less regulations, so that we can hire these people that want to go into the technical trades.”

A supporter of public safety, Viau said he would support exploring ways to help first responders. Training should be free, and volunteers should get a stipend, he said. “And maybe we can recruit retired military people become part of it and giving them an incentive to start a second career.”

Viau said that energy prices have skyrocketed and that cost reductions should be sought.

“I think mining creates a lot of jobs, if regulated properly to protect the environment, and we need to make sure our forest industries is done properly. Maybe we can get some energy production through burning wooden instead of just natural gas.”

While most candidates seemed at best hesitant about data centers — some said they they should be self-sufficient if they came; one was strictly against them — Viau sang a different tune.

“I love data centers,” he said. “That’s the future, the new technology.”

KURT PERRON

Perron did not attend the forum due to mandatory training, reported organizers.

Perron served as a police officer for over 20 years. He has in the past run for Chippewa County Commissioner in 2024 and 108th Hosue Rep in 2022.

Recent posts on the Facebook page “Kurt Perron for State Representative Michigans 108th District” state that he supports eliminating income tax “only as part of a bigger, long-term plan to revitalize our industrial base and modernize our economy for the 21st century.” To do this, the industrial base needs to be rebuilt and policies that incentivize companies to provide high-paying jobs should be sought, he says.

VOTING

The primary, for which election day is Aug. 4 and mail-in ballots must be sent July 20, asks constituents to select one of the above six candidates to be the forerunner for the Republican party. The nominee will then face the Democratic candidate in the November election. Only one Democrat has announced a campaign — Rachel Keys, a Navy veteran, lighthouse keeper and tribal member of Bay Mills Indian Community.

The person who ultimately earns the role will be responsible for representing the interests of the citizens of Delta, Luce, Menominee, and Schoolcraft counties and parts of Chippewa and Mackinac counties.

Serving the 108th District in Michigan’s House of Representatives currently is Dave Prestin, who is not seeking reelection but instead running for Senate.