FeedsHopgood announces bid for Senate seat
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Hoon-Yung HopgoodFormer State Rep. Hoon-Yung Hopgood said he’s ready to get back into the political arena and hopes to follow in the footsteps of State Sen. Ray Basham (D-Taylor).
Hopgood, a Democrat who was term-limited out of the House of Representatives after three terms, is seeking Basham’s seat in the Senate this year. Basham cannot seek re-election to it because of term limits.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now,” said Hopgood, who served as an aid to Basham while the legislator served in the House of Representatives before he was elected to that seat.
He said his experience in the House will give him a good starting point in the senate.
Since leaving office at the end of 2008, he has worked with the Michigan Public Transportation Authority studying ways to improve mass transit in the state.
“The idea is to help make better decisions with out transit efforts,” he said. “We’re trying to take a wider snapshot.”
He said the top issues facing the state are jobs and the economy, along with education funding.
He wants to promote job creation by focusing on retraining efforts that would feed into plans to focus on greener jobs.
“We have to do what we can to get people trained and support their efforts,” he said. “We also need to take efforts to diversify our economy.”
He said he’s in favor of granting tax breaks to lure in new businesses and help others expand-as long as it’d done intelligently.
“It has to bring us the best bang for the buck,” he said.
He said the state also needs to focus on education funding, since it is one way to help improve the overall economy.
“People need jobs, they need opportunity and hope. Working families need someone who is on their side, they need an advocate now more than ever,” said Hopgood.
