CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH DAVE PRESTIN
CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH LARRY JOHNSON
Dave Prestin will be the next state senator for the Upper Peninsula.
The Cedar River Republican defeated Democrat Kelli VanginHoven and independent Sara Cambensy to win the 38th district seat that covers almost all of the U.P.
So how was he able to win on what was otherwise a huge night for Demorcrats?
“I think on the local level, it’s just realizing that the state legislature is different from the federal legislature,” Prestin told RRN News early Wednesday. “We ran into it when we were out talking to people. They confuse the federal legislature with our positions in the state legisature, when the things really grinding at people, gas prices, the war in Iran, are out of the purview of the state representative and state senator.”
Prestin will replace fellow Republican Ed McBroom, who was prevented from running again by term limits. He says his top priority is to improve the Upper Peninsula’s access to reliable and affordable energy, and he says that Michigan needs to do better in helping to improve mental health services up here.
“We are a health care desert here in the U.P.,” Prestin said. “We need with beds and hospitals and care givers, instead of sending people seven, eight, nine hours away from their families. We have a lot of work to do.”
Meanwhile, in the 108th state house race, Republican Larry Johnson was elected to replace Prestin in the state house, defeating the Democrat Rachel Keys.
“There’s a heck of a fight to keep up here on the energy front,” Johnson told RRN News early Wednesday. “Access to health care, especially mental health care. That’s been a big concern of mine since my time as a Menominee County commissioner. There’s a lot of balls rolling that we want to keep pushing with.”
Both men thanked their families and campaign volunteers for helping to make the victory possible.
“It was a concentrated effort by an awful lot of people,” Johnson said. “From door-knocking to just helping out with events, passing out literature. It really was a group effort.”
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