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Sunday, April 26, 2015

PRIMARY Colors: Will Geoff Haveman Run Against Daniela Garcia?

Geoff Haveman, center, with supporters at a fundraiser last year


 By Brandon Hall
(Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com)


With State Rep. Daniela Garcia backing Prop 1, pushing bills in the legislature for donors, and refusing to do a townhall 6 months after being elected, some area residents in what MIRS calls "the most conservative house district in Michigan" are beginning to become immensely upset with the freshman legislator.

The 90th District includes Zeeland, Hudsonville, Jamestown, and Holland.

Rumors are beginning to swirl that Garcia's main opponent from 2014, Zeeland lawyer Geoff Haveman, will run against Garcia in the 2016 90th District State House primary.

"I would support Geoff," said Ray Reifsnyder, a resident of the 90th District who is active in local politics.

Haveman, who interestingly enough graduated from U of M Law School the same year Justin Amash did, also helped draft last year's Part Time Legislature amendment. Haveman was at a Prop 1 debate hosted by the Ottawa County Patriots this week. I caught up with him and asked Haveman about the issue, pushing for some answers to the rumors.

"When I talked to families during the campaign last year, I had a lot of great conversations throughout the 90th District," Haveman said. "Voters shared their dreams and ideas for a more free, more prosperous Michigan, and debt garnishment reform was not a part of that conversation. Yet that was Rep. Garcia's first bill, legislation changing the debt garnishment process."

Haveman continues:

"It's disappointing to see Rep. Garcia care more about a couple campaign donors who gave her thousands of dollars and benefited from that law than the almost 100,000 people of the 90th State House District who elected her and who she took a Constitutional oath to represent.

Make no mistake, our community deserve a legislator who wakes up everyday and works as hard as they can to stand up to Lansing, fighting for the future of our families-not for donors, lobbyists, or special interests. Rep. Garcia, while supporting the biggest tax increase in over 50 years, among other problems, has simply not shown the type of real conservative leadership our community expects and deserves."

Will Haveman primary her?

"All options are on the table," Haveman said. "That's all I can say currently. It would be a large time and money commitment, but an improved Michigan, rooted in liberty and prosperity,  is something that's worth fighting for. All options are on the table"

Stay tuned... A  Garcia/Haveman race would be a fiercely bloody battle as important as it is interesting. It would not be in any way easy, but Garcia is definitely vulnerable in Michigan's most conservative House district...

State Rep. Daniela Garcia
  __________________________________________________________

Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.
>>>Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com 

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Photo By Darlene Dowling Thompson

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