Colbeck Set To Launch Run For Governor

CANTON, MI — State Sen. Patrick Colbeck will make his candidacy to be Michigan’s next governor official Saturday with a public launch at the Yankee Air Museum near Ypsilanti. While he filed the necessary paperwork to run earlier this year, the Canton Republican hasn’t made an official announcement.

"Michigan deserves principled solutions that prioritize the best interests of all of our citizens, not an influential few," Colbeck said in an email to supporters earlier this year. "I have spent my career engineering innovative solutions that satisfy the best interests of my customers. It is about time that elected officials remember that our customers are all of our citizens, not simply the ones who contributed the most to our campaigns. The government works for the people, not the other way around.”

Political observers acknowledge Colbeck’s conservative credentials but believe he is a darkhorse candidate. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and Attorney General Bill Schuette, neither of whom have officially announced, are expected to join the race and are seen as the main contenders.

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Susan Demas, editor of Inside Michigan Politics, told the Detroit News that Calley and Schuette have better name recognition and will likely draw more attention from the state Republican establishment. Others like the Michigan Conservative Coalition’s Meshawn Maddock see Colbeck’s run for governor as an old-fashioned grassroots effort by a candidate who isn’t afraid to stand up to the establishment.

The race for the Democratic nomination for governor is likely to be hotly contested, too. State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer appears to have the early lead. Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said earlier at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference that he is a better than “50-50” shot to announced his own bid this summer.

As for Colbeck, he has served as Michigan’s 7th District state senator since 2010. The district includes Plymouth, Canton, Northville and Livonia. The University of Michigan graduate worked as an engineer for more than 20 years before moving into politics.

"Because I have been boldly leading on good policies and boldly opposing the bad policies over the past six years as a state senator, many grassroots activists across the state have been encouraging me to run for governor," Colbeck said in the email to supporters. "Today, my wife Angie and I have taken the first formal steps necessary to do so by filing paperwork with the state."

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