Five Democratic candidates vying for a seat in the 54th district of the Michigan House of Representatives flexed their political muscles on Thursday night April 26 in a debate held at Pray-Harrold.
Sponsored by the Political Science Department, the College Democrats of EMU and WEMU 89.1 FM, the debate focused on a variety of questions that remains unanswered for voters and residents in this state alike.
The two-hour-long debate was moderated by EMU political science department professor Jeffery Bernstein.
With 110 seats up for reelection, the five Democratic candidates, Michael White, Ronnie Peterson, Greg Peoples, Lisa Cardenas and Bill Krebaum laid out their respective platforms as well as goals for the Democratic Party in Michigan. With Michigan one of ten battleground chambers, the candidates look to shake things up in the currently Republican-controlled house. Health care, taxing seniors pensions, the legalization of cannabis, black lives matter, gun contro and making the state as well as the city of Ypsilanti more green were just a few of the topics discussed.
The 54th district covers Ypsilanti the city and township, Superior Township and Washtenaw County.
“I think the candidates were on the right track,” EMU Student Government Vice President Josh Starr said. “It's unlikely that dems will win back the house, but give it four to six years and they have a chance.”
There weren't any vicious attacks or mudslinging of any kind during the debate as the candidates seemed poised and focused.
“I had a lot of fun moderating it, and I was struck by the civility and the kindness that the candidates displayed for each other,” Bernstein said. “One of the challenges in a primary election is where the candidates are fundamentally in agreement with each other, so that forces the voter into a harder job figuring out who to vote for. I thought the candidates did real well.”
Almost all of the candidates, have graduated from EMU or spent a considerable amount of time living in Ypsilanti. In 1994, Peoples established the LGBT board here at EMU aiming to give those students a safe and freeing environment to be themselves. No surprise that Eastern is one of the most LGBT-friendly colleges in the state of Michigan. Cardenas has raised all five of her children here, and before her run in politics, she was a small business owner in town. White, a former EMU grad, doesn't consider himself to be a career politician but a community servant, similar to Bill Krebaum’s campaign platform. Ronnie Peterson was a civil rights activist marching with the who’s who of the movement back in the mid to late 1960s before his run on the Ypsilanti City Council.
“The 54th district is home,” Peoples said. “I've lived here 35 years and raised my four children here. It's home.”
With the primary election capping off this summer, and the general election on Nov. 8, the candidates look to hit the streets, shake hands and kiss babies as they promise to undertake a grassroots campaign to help the democrats win back the house and even the senate.
“When you really can relate, as I believe I can to just about anything because of all of the different experiences and jobs that I've had, then it makes it more me,” White said after the debate. “That’s all I try to do as a community servant.”
