Gary McDowell Concedes Election to Congressman Benishek

SAULT STE MARIE – A majority of the county boards of canvassers in Michigan’s 1^st district have completed their work and have likely confirmed the outcome of the race for Congress in Northern Michigan.

“I am proud of the campaign we ran to fight for good-paying jobs, protect Medicare and defend our Great Lakes, “said Gary McDowell. “I called Congressman Benishek tonight to congratulate him on his successful campaign and wish him luck in his next term in Congress.”

Though volunteers in every county will continue to observe the canvassing of ballots in each county, new results are unlikely to change the outcome of the race in any significant way. Congressman Benishek’s margin of victory will likely continue to hold at about half of a percent of the vote.

“With only six tenths of the vote separate me and Congressman Benishek, we felt it was our duty to ensure that every vote was counted,” McDowell continued. “That has been done to our satisfaction and we believe that every vote has or will be counted in this election.”

“I want to thank every voter in Northern Michigan for taking part in this critical election and give my heartfelt thanks to everyone who worked so hard on this campaign,” said McDowell.

Gary McDowell will spend the weekend with his family in Rudyard, MI.

McDowell Campaign Calls for Every Vote to be Counted

SAULT STE MARIE, MI – As county boards of canvassers convene today and tomorrow, the McDowell campaign is calling for every vote in Michigan’s first district to be counted and certified.

“This is a very close race and we owe it to all the voters of Northern Michigan to ensure that every vote is counted,” said Zach Knowling, campaign manager for McDowell for Congress. “County boards of canvassers are meeting this week to review the result of the election and certify the vote. We will let that process continue so that every vote is counted.”

The McDowell campaign expects that most county boards of canvassers will complete their work by the end of the day Friday. At that time, the campaign will release another update.

Currently the race is separated by only .6 percent of the vote.

 Race for Michigan’s 1^st Too Close to Call

SAULT STE MARIE, MI – Gary McDowell and his campaign team are working together to ensure that all absentee, provisional and military ballots are accounted for as the canvassing boards in each county begin to meet this afternoon.

The campaign is looking to resolve discrepancies between AP-reported numbers and tallying errors in some counties.

“I am so proud of the grassroots campaign we built to fight for hard-working middle class families in Northern Michigan. We owe it to them and our overseas military to let the process continue and make sure that all absentee and provisional ballots are counted,” said Gary McDowell.

More information will be released as soon as it is available.

###

Gary McDowell: As a small businessman myself, I understand that small business is the backbone of our local economy. I will fight to protect them

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Gary McDowell and Congressman Gary Peters held a roundtable discussion today with small business owners and community leaders in the Grand Traverse area. McDowell shared his plans to support small businesses and listened to the concerns and ideas of area small business owners.

“As a small business owner, I understand that small businesses are the backbones of our local economy,” said Gary McDowell. “We need to continue to tout Northern Michigan as the best place to start a new business, keep taxes low on small businesses and middle class families and make sure that community banks have the ability to provide credit to businesses looking to expand and hire in our communities.”

“I’m proud of my work to help Michigan’s small businesses grow and succeed, but there’s still a lot of work left to be done,” said Congressman Gary Peters, a member of the House Small Business Committee. “To help our local entrepreneurs succeed and create jobs, we need to elect leaders like Gary McDowell who will put Main Street small businesses before Wall Street special interests by fighting to cut taxes on Michigan’s small businesses.”

Those taking part in the small business roundtable today included:

Gary McDowell
U.S. Congressman Gary Peters
Derek Bailey, Former Chairman of the GTB of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
Judy Barrett, Wild Birds Unlimited
JT Hoagland, Cherry Capitol Foods
Phil Anderson, Diversions

At Traverse City Debate, Gary McDowell takes apart Congressman Benishek’s two years of Failure in Washington Vote by Vote

Gary McDowell: Congressman Benishek went to Washington and became part of the problem. He voted to cut Medicare, release mercury into our lakes and put our jobs in jeopardy

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – In their second of three scheduled debates, Gary McDowell laid out his vision for Northern Michigan and held Congressman Benishek accountable for failing to look out for Northern Michigan in Congress.

“Congressman Benishek went to Washington and immediately became part of the problem,” said Gary McDowell. “He voted to cut Medicare and make seniors negotiate with private insurance companies, he voted to allow cement companies to release more mercury into the lakes and he refused to stand up to Chinese currency manipulation which makes their products cheaper than ours.”

At the debate, Congressman Benishek failed to explain his votes to cut Medicare, pollute the Great Lakes and was unable to explain why he said the reason there is high unemployment in Northern Michigan is because “people don’t want to work.”

Congressman Benishek did try to separate himself from his plan to cut Medicare and previous statements he has made including: The Ryan/Benishek Budget is “…sort of a gradual phasing out of the Medicare and Social Security plan.”

Congressman Benishek even argued at the debate that the Ryan/Benishek budget “isn’t a Medicare voucher” but the other week in Gaylord Congressman Benishek said: “the Republican Premium Support Plan for Medicare would save money by allowing senior citizens to use a system of vouchers…by purchasing health care coverage through private insurance companies.”

“The truth is that Congressman Benishek’s plan to cut Medicare would force seniors to pay $6,400 a year out of pocket and make them negotiate with private insurance companies to provide for their health insurance,” McDowell Continued. “The Ryan/Benishek plan is bad for seniors in Northern Michigan – the last thing we need to do is hand Medicare over to private insurance companies who want to profit off our seniors.”

McDowell spoke at length about his plan to reduce the cost of Medicare by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. Doing so would save Medicare $156 billion a year according to the House Committee on Government Oversight.

“Right now the VA, which negotiates with pharmaceutical companies, pays $250 for a script of Lipitor – Medicare pays nearly $800 for the exact same quantity,” said McDowell.

###

Congressman Benishek’s remarks on Medicare, Social Security and Jobs:

The Ryan/Benishek Budget is “…sort of a gradual phasing out of the Medicare and Social Security plan.”http://articles.petoskeynews.com/2012-09-21/dan-benishek_34008510

“The Republican Premium Support Plan for Medicare would save money by allowing senior citizens to use a system of vouchers…by purchasing health care coverage through private insurance companies.”http://articles.petoskeynews.com/2012-09-21/dan-benishek_34008510

The reason there is high unemployment is because “people don’t want to work”.http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/536840/Benishek-swings-through-district.html?nav=5003

I am running for Congress because no one in Washington is looking out for Northern Michigan Some Democrats aren’t serious about cutting the debt and it seems like Republicans don’t care about regular people who have to work for a living. I will fight for Northern Michigan and our way of life.

In Northern Michigan the number one issue is jobs. We want to work. We are ready to work. We just need a Congressman who will work with us to fight for U.P. jobs – we don’t have that right now. I am also very concerned about protecting Medicare and Social Security for current retirees and for future generations and protecting our Great Lakes and the 500,000 jobs they provide right here in Michigan.

Our economy is still recovering from the worst economic collapse in a generation. Banks on Wall Street are now earning record profits and taxpayers are stuck footing the bill and are out of work. We have got to get our economy back on track by creating jobs. We can do that by standing up to the Chinese to stop them from manipulating their currency, ending job-killing free trade deals that send U.P. jobs to Mexico and make sure that we have the best schools for our children to learn the skills needed to compete.

Congressman Benishek went to Washington and immediately became part of the problem. He promised us he would protect Medicare but one of his first votes was to end Medicare in order to give more tax breaks to the wealthy. Congressman Benishek voted to shut down commercial air service to Chippewa County Airport, he voted to let cement companies release more mercury in Lake Superior and he said the reason there is high unemployment in Northern Michigan is because “people don’t want to work.” We need a Congressman who will look out for Northern Michigan – Congressman Benishek is not.

I have lived and work my entire life in Northern Michigan I know what it takes to make a living here and how it is so important to protect our way of life and what we have here. I will do just that in Congress. I would be honored to earn your vote.