Gov. Snyder To Endorse Hoekstra In Senate Race
LANSING (WWJ/AP) - As expected, Gov. Rick Snyder plans to endorse former Congressman Pete Hoekstra in the GOP race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Debbie Stabenow.
Snyder and Hoekstra are scheduled to make the announcement Monday in Southfield.
It's unusual for a governor to endorse a favorite in a contested primary.
The five-person Republican field also includes charter school executive Clark Durant, former Kent County Probate Judge Randy Hekman, Roscommon businessman Peter Konetchy and Midland resident Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan.
Durant has been endorsed by three former heads of the Michigan Republican Party: current Republican National Committeeman Saul Anuzis, Betsy DeVos and Spencer Abraham, who lost the Senate seat to Stabenow in 2000.
The primary election is next August.
Hoekstra spent 18 years in Congress after a career at furniture maker Herman Miller Inc. and considered a Senate bid after stepping down from the House early this year. He chose instead to become a senior adviser at Dickstein Shapiro LLP, a law and lobbying firm in Washington, DC.
Hoekstra issued a statement in July, in which he said: "After a good deal of reflection, I've decided that I cannot sit on the sidelines while the President and U.S. Senate mortgage our children and grandchildren's future. For these reasons, I have made the decision to file the appropriate paperwork to build an organization and begin a campaign for the U.S. Senate."
First elected to Congress in 1992, Hoekstra was born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States when he was 3 years old. He spent much of his time in Congress focused on intelligence issues, becoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee in 2004, a post that gave him oversight of the CIA and exposure to the country's top secrets.
He voted against President George W. Bush's landmark education law, No Child Left Behind, because he said it put public schools under Washington's thumb, but tea party groups criticized him for supporting the bailout of the financial industry.
Hoekstra opposes abortion and gay marriage rights, and is a fan of home schooling and a constitutional amendment that says parents have a "fundamental right" to raise their children without government interference.
Stabenow lost her own bid for governor in the 1994 Democratic primary but has never lost to a Republican during her 16 years in the Michigan Legislature, four years in the U.S. House and 12 years in the U.S. Senate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
