FeedsWhyman touts experience in primary race for Senate
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Deborah WhymanDeborah Whyman said she was enjoying being out of the public eye.
The Canton resident and former state representative earned a law degree and opened up her own practice after she was term-limited out of office in 1998.
“I was done with politics,” she said. “I had thrown out all of my stuff. I like practicing law. But eight years of (Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s) policies and lack of ideas infuriated me.”
Whyman knew, of course, that State Sen. Bruce Patterson would be term-limited out of office this year and noticed what she called a lack of qualified candidates to replace him, so she threw her hat in the proverbial ring.
She’s one of four republicans vying to face former State Rep. Kathleen Law in November.
She said her top priorities would be job creation and the economy, reducing state spending and focusing on higher education.
Jobs are on everyone’s minds these days, she said as she described an afternoon of campaigning where she met people that had been out of work for a year or more in three consecutive houses.
“It’s frightening,” she said. “People have left the state to find work and those that stayed behind are struggling.”
She said the key to creating jobs was to reduce the tax burden on businesses and streamline the process to start or expand a company. She wants to eliminate the Michigan Business Tax and reduce the overall tax rate.
“It was hard to find a worse tax than the Single Business Tax, but lo and behold, (Granholm) found it.”
She said Michigan also needs to overcome an image problem to attract more businesses to the state. In many circles, the state is considered a crime-intensive state with too many strong unions.
“We have businesses that are afraid to located here,” she said. “We need to erase that perception. This is a great place to live, but people want to come here.”
She said the state could save money to offset the lower tax rates by consolidating some services, privatizing others and trimming budgets throughout the state.
“Increasing taxes when there is still fat in the budget is just not acceptable,” she said. “You have to go through every budget and cut the fat.”
“I got a fairly varied experience for someone who only served three terms,” she said. “Experience is a good thing; it really takes two years to figure out how to do this job. If I’m elected I’ll be ready to go on day one.”
