Sen. Carl Levin, 78, Powerful Voice For Michigan, Won't Run For Re-Election

[Purveyor]

Source: Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, who has been a force for progressivism in the Senate since 1979 and made his mark in recent years as chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee, will not run for re-election next year, likely setting off a political avalanche of interest in the seat.

Levin, 78, released a statement Thursday afternoon saying he made the decisions believing “I can best serve my state and my nation by concentrating in the next two years on the challenging issues before us … in other words, by doing my job without the distraction of campaigning for re-election.”

Speculation had been running high that Levin might decide not to run for reelection, but Levin had repeatedly said he hadn’t made up his mind. Last month, his office staff knocked down speculation that he might not seek a seventh 6-yeaer term in 2014 after filing a small fundraising report for the last quarter of 2012.

Levin told the Free Press a few weeks ago he would make up his mind soon.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20130307/NEWS15/130307089/Sen-Carl-Levin-78-powerful-voice-Michigan-won-t-run-re-election

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Oh FUCK!!!

[brooklynite]

1. If only he'd decided this before the vote on filibuster reform.

[Purveyor]

2. He is by no means my favorite senator but the current political climate here in Michigan

concerns me we can fill the seat with another democrat.

[etherealtruth]

3. This is horrid news

Our state government has been over-run with right wing knuckle dragging inbreds ... it pains me to think who or what might replace him

[Purveyor]

5. I've heard talk that Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township may be interested in the seat but I've

also heard about his interest in the governors race.

No, this is bad, bad news...indeed!

[etherealtruth]

7. Gary Peters would be good (though not in his district ....

... i donated heftily to his first campaign).

I just don't trust my "fellow" residents to do the right thing. Look at our state government, it is nothing less than frightening!

I am still reeling over michigan becoming a 'right to work state" ... Michigan!

[busterbrown]

11. Jesus Christ Michigan..You don’t have one freaking rising democratic star.

Please find one...Please...

[MADem]

31. I agree, nt

[UrbScotty]

4. I have looked up to Levin since I was a kid.

It has been an honor to call him one of my Senators.

I haven't always agreed with him, but I have admired and respected him.

[Faygo Kid]

6. One of the greats. I remember him on the Detroit City Council.

Seems like Carl has always been there - a shoo-in for re-election, but at 78, he's earned his retirement.

Lot of whackjobs in the Michigan GOP, and they will come out of the woodwork for this seat.

[MjolnirTime]

8. Make room for Granholm.

[tarheelsunc]

14. My first thought. She would be a great Senator. eom

[DissidentVoice]

15. I would say yes...

I would have absolutely no problem with it.

However, for whatever reason, by the end of her second term, Jennifer Granholm was vilified here in Michigan...which led to the election of the Governor we're stuck with now, Rick Snyder.

[Faygo Kid]

19. It won't be Granholm. But the GOP will run somebody nuts.

This is not the Michigan GOP of George Romney or Gerald Ford. This is a Michigan GOP of Ted Nugent, who just may run (even though he moved to Texas).

[DissidentVoice]

41. O'bloody 'ell...

If Nugent runs, there are just enough NRA disciples here that would probably give him a boost.

However, he does have a lot of skeletons in his closet (shitting himself to avoid the draft, becoming legal guardian of an underage girl for his "own purposes," etc).

Agreed 1000% on the screwed-up Michigan GOP, especially our excuse for an Attorney General.

[SugarShack]

28. That would be great, but she's living right now, teaching in Calif.

[DissidentVoice]

42. I wonder if she's just had enough

After what she went through being crucified for every little thing that went wrong in Michigan, I wonder if she's just had enough of the whole sordid affair.

[frazzled]

9. Are we seeing an unprecedented number of Senate retirements these past few years?

Or am I just paying more attention to them? It seems to me that, on both sides of the aisle, more senators are giving up their seats.

I realize Levin will be 80 by the time of the next election, but that never stopped people like Helms or Byrd or Thurmond in the past.

[slackmaster]

10. I've always regarded him as one of the most intelligent people in either house of Congress

I wish him health and happiness in retirement.

[dsc]

12. If he wasn't going to come back

then why in heaven's name did he block filibuster reform?

[harmonicon]

21. Because he's a bought and paid for politician?

I have mixed feelings about this one. On a number of things, he's been a good Senator, but he's also a war-mongering piece of shit. I've voted for him a number of times because there hasn't been a better alternative, and I'm afraid that whoever runs for the open seat will be even worse.

[JNelson6563]

33. He fought hard against Iraq war.

He's been a very good Senator.

Julie

[DissidentVoice]

13. This SUCKS

I live in Michigan, and Senators Levin and Stabenow have helped me on many occasions.

My Representative, Candice Miller, who toes the Tea Party/Norquist line, sure as hell hasn't been any on the times I've contacted her.

[Faygo Kid]

16. I bet Candice Miller runs.

Sorry to say it. But, she's not enough of a whackjob to win a GOP primary. Which is incredible.

[llmart]

36. She's my rep too.....

and every time I write her about how I don't agree with her positions, she writes back with the standard party line on everything. She doesn't have a mind of her own. She just does what she's told to do by the GOP RWingers. She's useless as far as I'm concerned. Why she keeps getting reelected is beyond me.

[DissidentVoice]

40. Why she keeps getting reelected

Why she keeps getting reelected is in no small part due to redistricting in 2003 (I didn't move here until '07).

Also, there are a lot of Ted Nugent gun nuts around, but I'm sure I don't need to tell you that.

I don't even bother writing to her anymore.

[llmart]

44. Yeah, I know.

I wrote her about the shootings at Sandy Hook and how I fully expected her to join President Obama on strengthening the gun laws and I got back some nonsense about how she didn't think gun laws were the answer but that the only answer would be better mental health. What a load of crapola.

I remember the redistricting very well. When I moved here in 1992 we had Dave Bonior for our rep and he was terrific!

[DissidentVoice]

45. Which is a crock

That's a crock, because Republicans have always opposed universal ANY kind of care, let alone mental health care. Like you've said, Candice Miller just toes the far-right party line.

I grew up in Northern Indiana and remember David Bonior...Limbaugh used to call him "the Pit Yorkie" and I figured that anyone who could draw an insult from Limbaugh had to be OK somehow!

I saw a pickup truck yesterday in Port Huron covered with NRA and GOP bumper stickers ("Charlton Heston is my President," even one for Jim DeMint). It's jokers like that who keep these far-right extremists in office.

[llmart]

48. Port Huron = RW central

I worked with someone who moved to Port Huron from Minnesota for a job and she said she only stayed one year because it was right wing nutjob territory and she couldn't stand it any longer.

And, a dead man for President? They're too stupid to know he's dead or they just never removed the bumper sticker.

Dave Bonior was passing out little evergreen trees when he went door to door campaigning right after I moved her and I figured anyone who cared enough about the environment to pass out tree seedlings would get my vote. He wrote a book about hiking from one side of Michigan to another. It was pretty good.

[DissidentVoice]

49. Not quite RW central...

We moved here from Indiana in '07.

Port Huron is a socialist wet dream compared to rural Indiana, where my wife comes from. There are right-wingers, of course, but it's not like downstate Indiana (my wife's old territory; I'm from the South Bend area) where you see Confederate flags all over the place and hear Limbaugh blasting on every gas station/convenience (party) store you walk into.

At least in the '08 and '12 elections I saw a fair amount of Obama/Biden yard signs/bumper stickers here...do that where my wife is from, and where I spent six miserable years living, and you're asking for house/yard vandalism.

[DissidentVoice]

17. Are you sure?

She hangs out with Michele Bachmann...

[Ian David]

18. Farewell, Dungeon Master....

[Ter]

38. I loved that show

[tokenlib]

20. I say beg Granholm to come back and run...

After the way she has been trashed so unfairly by the repukes--I think it would be a great campaign. Energy and fiery speeches for sure. A lot of people have had indigestion since they saw their MI income tax forms..

And fire and energy might help the statehouse candidates...

[Purveyor]

22. She couldn't win. Just the sad state of things but a fact just the same. eom

[Qutzupalotl]

23. Granholm would be excellent.

I'd support her.

[cyclezealot]

24. Idiots often vote for pretty faces with nice hair cuts.

Brian Calley is a hard right banker. Still , if he combs his hair right and smiles ,tames his real views; lots of idiots will go for the pretty face. Can he be stopped. Gary Peters might be the strongest candidate , if he can find himself in attack mode.

[RandySF]

29. Granholm has had problems with Detroit from the beginning.

I think that's partially why her 2002 election was much closer than it should have been.

[FarCenter]

25. Who will fill Levin's seat? Rare Senate opening to draw frenzied field

The decision by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin to leave his job rather than seek re-election in 2014 is opening a rare door for a new generation of politicians to ascend to the highest levels of the nation’s government. And the line is expected to be long on both sides of the political aisle.

...

GOP insiders pointed to members of the state’s congressional delegation, including U.S. Reps. Candice Miller of Harrison Township; Mike Rogers of Brighton; Dave Camp of Midland; Fred Upton of St. Joseph; and Justin Amash of Cascade Township, as potential candidates. Other names mentioned by Republicans include Lt. Gov. Brian Calley; Attorney General Bill Schuette; former Gov. John Engler; metro Detroit charter school founder Clark Durant, who sought the U.S. Senate nomination in 2010, and west Michigan billionaire Dick DeVos, who was the GOP candidate for governor in 2006. State Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw Township, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has expressed interest, as well.

The first name on most Democrats’ minds was U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township. He ran a close statewide race for attorney general in 2002. He won his congressional seat three times, beating longtime Republican congressman Joe Knollenberg in 2008. And he has retained his seat in two tough re-election battles. He also already has $500,000 in his campaign war chest. Other Democratic names that have been mentioned as possible candidates are former Govs. Jennifer Granholm and James Blanchard; former U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer of Battle Creek, and, as a long shot, Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger.

http://www.freep.com/article/20130307/NEWS15/130307103/

[apocalypsehow]

26. He will be missed in the Senate. I wish him nothing but the best in a well-earned retirement.

[graham4anything]

27. I hope whoever runs is 100% anti-gun and very vocal about it

So that they get mega millions in financing.

That way it won't matter who runs, they will win if they are anti-gun.

Too bad Tom Daschle is not from Michigan. Always loved Tom.
And he almost died because of his opposition to Bush. Would be perfect symbolism if he moved to Michigan and came back.

[JNelson6563]

34. You're not from MI, are you?

Sure fire way to lose here in MI (where many a kitchen is turned into a meat processing plant in the fall) is to base your campaign on an anti-gun message.

Opening day for hunting season here is like a holy day.

If you want uninformed political advice, DU is THE place to go!

Julie

[llmart]

35. You couldn't be more wrong on this....

The gun control issue can't even be brought up in Michigan if you're trying to win. Michiganders are gun crazy.

You clearly don't know anything about Michigan. I'm with you about sensible gun control, but no one would win an election in Michigan who made that the focus of their campaign.

[DissidentVoice]

46. What they said

This state is so full of not just hunters, but people who think it's cool to take all the hardware they can find and blow hell out of their back 40 on weekends.

Remember, Ted Nugent is from here, though he buggered off to Crawford, Texas to have his nose up GWB's butt.

A politician who even tries to buck the NRA here will fast be searching for a new career.

Also, remember the "Michigan Militia?"

[RandySF]

30. Schuette's not running.

On the GOP side, Attorney General Bill Schuette, who lost to Levin in 1990, is considered a possibility but posted on his Facebook page Thursday night that he "plans to keep working as your Attorney General for six more years." A Republican official suggested Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and Rep. Mike Rogers might also be interested in running. GOP Rep. Justin Amash was also reported to be interested in a bid if Levin retired. State Sen. Roger Kahn's name has also been mentioned as a possible candidate.


http://www.nationaljournal.com/blogs/hotlineoncall/2013/03/carl-levin-not-running-for-reelection-07

[DissidentVoice]

47. I don't know whether to be thankful or not

Schuette is so far to the right as an AG that he'd be a nightmare on the national level...yet I sure as hell don't want him as AG either! He's done enough damage to the state already!

[davidpdx]

32. I've never been a fan of Levin

He's part of the old boy's club in the Senate. His inability to support filibuster reform by joining the "spinless 7" (Feinstein, Boxer, Pryor, Leahy, Baucus and one more I can't remember who). Michigan needs to find a true progressive to replace Levin.

[maddogesq]

39. The problem with your argument:

Michigan hasn't had a "true progressive" since Phil Hart (senate) or Soapy Williams (governor).

The problem with this state is that there is a large--and I mean large--faction of conservative voters on the west and north sides of the state that pols must play to in order to survive. And Yoopers? That's a whole subject for another thread.

I haven't always agreed with everything Levin did, but he is a fierce fighter for vets and exposing the scheisters that hide money overseas.

We have a huge order to fill in order to get rid of Tricky Ricky and replace Levin at the same time. This ain't gonna be pretty.

[davidpdx]

43. Oregon has a large conservative population

In the Southern and Eastern part of the state, yet we elected Merkley. Every state has conservative areas. Merkley was elected winning only 8 of 36 counties and Governor Kitz was elected winning only 7 of the 36 counties in Oregon.

[llmart]

37. Can we get David Bonior out of retirement????

n/t