This is perhaps old news, but still worth looking at.

As former State Rep. Tim Walberg (R) began to make the transition to Congressman Tim Walberg, he named outgoing State Rep. Rick Baxter as his district director.

Baxter, R-Concord, will oversee constituent services and projects for the 7th District's seven counties, which stretch from the Ann Arbor suburbs to Battle Creek.

Jackson will be his main base of operations; Walberg expects to sign a lease here and hire additional staff within the next two weeks.

Pollster Ed Sarpolus said he wasn't surprised Baxter got the nod from Walberg, who won a narrow victory.

Across the state, legislators lost elections when congressional candidates in their districts didn't get out and campaign for them, notes Sarpolus, vice president of Lansing-based EPIC-MRA.

"Tim Walberg cost Baxter the election," Sarpolus said. "It's fitting he gave him a job."

He'll also be the new chairman of the Jackson County Republican Party.

So who is Rick Baxter? As might be expected, he's very close to Congressman-elect Walberg.

He volunteered in Walberg's last legislative race in 1996 for extra credit in his Lenawee Christian High School government class.

When Baxter, 27, ran for his own state House seat in 2004, he hired Wicks as his campaign manager.

Wicks, 27, served as Baxter's chief of staff until this spring when he left to run Walberg's campaign.

He was mentioned at one point as a potential primary challenger to Joe Schwarz, only to step aside in favor of Walberg's challenge. Narrowly elected in 2004 to a state House seat in Jackson County, Baxter filled the vacancy left by Clark Bisbee-- Bisbee was one of the other Republican candidates in the 2004 primary, coming in fourth place (2,600 votes behind Walberg). Baxter was defeated in November by Jackson Mayor Martin Griffin.

So what did Rick Baxter do during is term in the state House?

For one thing, he fought against fiscal responsibility. Following the demise of the Single Business Tax, Republican and Democratic leaders in the state-- including both Governor Granholm and Dick DeVos-- struggled to find a fair way to replace the $1.9 billion in lost revenue (or, in DeVos' case, pretend that he had a plan). What did Baxter say?

This November, I hope the Cit-Pat remembers that Jackson-area state Rep. Rick Baxter (R-Hanover) has proclaimed that NONE(!) of the $1.9 billion should be replaced - and says any possible replacement revenues would be a "tax increase."

Let's just be clear: when a $1.9 billion hole was left in our budget, nearly all responsible leaders recognized that the revenue would have to be replaced in some fairer, more business-friendly way, or else we'd face a fiscal catastrophe. But not Rick Baxter.

Of course, we all have our good days and our bad days. During this legislative session, Baxter had one particularly bad day. What day was it?

LANSING-Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer criticized State Representative Rick Baxter (R-Concord) today after Baxter told a Lansing newsletter that the “worst day” of his first term was when the State Legislature approved raising the minimum wage.

“Rick Baxter’s comments are despicable and an insult to our hard working families in Jackson County and throughout the state,” said Brewer. “The minimum wage increase will help thousands of working families. Even Republican House Speaker Craig DeRoche realized the benefits and voted to increase the minimum wage. Baxter’s comments show Jackson County and the entire state just how out-of-touch he is with our working families. Jackson deserves someone in office who understands the people and Baxter is not that person.”

In the July 6th issue of the Lansing-based newsletter MIRS, Baxter was asked about his worst day in the Legislature. He said, “Quite honestly — I'm sure my party will hit me for this — the worst day was when we passed the minimum wage. That was one of those days when I sat back and thought, this day will never come while we're in power. That's pretty easy as far as the worst.”

(Emphasis added. Thanks again to Michigan Liberal.)

Rick Baxter, District Director for Tim Walberg. Fighting for the families of the 7th District?

Labels: Walberg Staff