GLEP Endorses Peabody and Whiteford in House Races

Leading education advocacy group makes significant campaign announcements

Lansing, MI – The Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP) today announced their endorsement of Jan Peabody (R-Lapeer) and Mary Whiteford (R-Casco Township) in special election campaigns to fill vacant seats in the House of Representatives. 

“We’re very proud to endorse Jan Peabody and Mary Whiteford in these races,” said Gary Naeyaert, GLEP Executive Director.  “We expect these crowded and short-term special elections to be hard fought contests. We urge every voter in Lapeer and Allegan counties to take a good look at their past records and positions on key issues and make the important decisions about which candidates to support,” Naeyaert continued.

Peabody is running for the Republican nomination in the 82^nd House District (Lapeer County) which was vacated when former Representative Todd Courser resigned on September 11; and Whiteford is running for the Republican nomination in the 80^th House District (Allegan County),  which was vacated when former Representative Cindy Gamrat was expelled on Friday, September 11.

“We’re confident Jan and Mary will be forceful advocates for children in the Michigan Legislature, and we’re pleased to endorse and support their campaigns,” said Beth DeShone, GLEP Advocacy Director.

GLEP’s endorsement process includes an examination of past voting records, personal interviews and results from the organization’s extensive candidate questionnaire. It should be noted that priority issues for GLEP include school choice and early literacy, while there are a number of education policy issues for which endorsed candidates may hold a variety of positions, including K-12 funding, education standards, student assessments, etc.

The primary elections in the 80^th and 82^nd districts will be held on November 3, 2015 and the general elections will be held on March 8, 2016.

During the 2014 election cycle, GLEP-endorsed candidates were successful in over 90% of State Senate and State House races.

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For more information about the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP), a bipartisan advocacy organization supporting quality choices in public education, please visit www.glep.org.

Click here to download this release in PDF format.