On the same day that Republican congressional candidate Paul Mitchell released his first TV ad, he was a no-show at the first true debate of the campaign. His election opponents didn’t appreciate the ad or his absence.
Seeking the 10th District seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Candice Miller, Mitchell’s 30-second spot declared that he is the “conservative outsider” running against insiders who are career politicians.
That’s a reference to three Republican candidates in the August primary election: state Sen. Phil Pavlov of St. Clair, state Rep. Anthony Forlini of Harrison Township, and former state senator Alan Sanborn of Richmond Township.
Mitchell stresses his history as a former longtime businessman, serving as CEO and then owner of the Ross Medical Education Center, a job-training firm.
Pavlov
“He got one thing right, he’s definitely an outsider – he came from Saginaw to run for an open seat in an opportunistic way,” Pavlov said. “… If you look back at the number of times he has run for something, he’s an outsider because he hasn’t won.”
After losing the August 2014 primary election to now-Congressman John Moolenaar in mid-Michigan’s 4th Congressional District Mitchell moved to Lapeer County in the 10th District last summer. At one point in 2013, he had filed to run for a state Senate seat in northern Michigan but dropped out a year before the ’14 election. He was elected to the St. Clair City Council in 2007 but quit just a few months after taking office.
The four main candidates are going toe-to-toe in a diverse 10th District that stretches from industrial areas of Sterling Heights, through northern Macomb County’s upscale subdivisions, and along Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River and Lake Huron to the tip of the Thumb Area.
Mitchell called carpetbagger
Perhaps anticipating the charge that he is a “carpetbagger,” Mitchell said in a press release accompanying the campaign ad’s debut that he has attended nearly 600 community events since moving to the district, where he has talked with workers, farmers and business people.
Meanwhile, at the genteel debate in Macomb County, sponsored by the Gratiot Avenue Chamber of Commerce, an empty chair was placed on the stage with a hand-scrawled sign that said, “Paul Mitchell.”
While he was absent for the first debate to feature questions from the press, Mitchell did attend three prior “Meet The Candidates” forums in the district.
Forlini
The newcomer has run dozens of Facebook ads for his candidacy in recent months but the fact that his first TV venture consists of a negative ad perturbed Forlini.
“I’ve had a business for over 30 years – am I an insider or an outsider?” said Forlini, a self-employed CPA. “I have also served the public and I’ve got a record to show for it.”
Political pundits view 2016 as the “year of the outsider” because of the popularity on the presidential campaign trail of Democrat Bernie Sanders and GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump (who is endorsed by all three of Mitchell’s opponents).
Yet, Sanborn took a different path while speaking to the debate audience of about 100 people, asserting that he is the most experienced candidate in the 10th District race. But, he added, “I haven’t been in the Senate in more than five years” and he has since returned to his prior occupation as a probation officer.
Three candidates, 38 years in politics
Sanborn, who comes from a prominent Macomb County family with roots dating back 180 years, was in the Senate from 2001-10 and in the state House for three years prior to that.
Pavlov, finishing his sixth year in the Senate, also served six years in the state House and two years on the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners.
Forlini is in his sixth year in the House and served six years as supervisor in Harrison Township, where Congresswoman Miller got her start in politics. She is retiring from Capitol Hill and running for Macomb County public works commissioner.
Mitchell said in a statement this morning that he is “not a politician,” but after he retired from the business world he held seven political jobs in three years.
Sanborn
In political circles, Mitchell is perhaps best known as the leader of a successful campaign in May 2015 that defeated Proposal 1, a ballot question that would have raised state taxes for road improvements.
Mitchell is viewed by many as the frontrunner in the 10th District race because the candidate — reportedly a multi-millionaire — is expected to spend more on his campaign than all his competitors combined. He ran a $3.5 million, self-financed congressional campaign in 2014 but he also drew flak at that time for “ducking debates.”
‘Where’s Paul?’ — 2014 all over again?
After today’s debate in Clinton Township, the Pavlov campaign issued a press released entitled “Where’s Paul?” and charged that the Mitchell pattern of two years ago was recurring. They offered a list of five debates and forums that Mitchell avoided over a 2-week period in July 2014.
A darkhorse GOP candidate in the upcoming Aug. 2 primary, David VanAssche of Shelby Township, also did not attend the chamber of commerce debate. The winner of the Republican nomination in the solidly Republican 10th District will face Democrat Frank Accavitti of Grosse Pointe Shores in the November general election.
The Mitchell ad began airing today in what is described by the campaign as a “substantial buy” throughout the 10th District — in a digital format and on broadcast and cable television.
You can view the ad here.
Here is the transcript:
(Narrator):
Every election…we look for something new…
And we keep our hopes high…
But the politicians are all the same.
This election, you can choose between career politicians and insiders and get the same old results…
…or you can vote outside the box.
Paul Mitchell, a tough businessman with real world experience. Leading a team, creating hundreds of jobs.
To make a difference… vote different.
Conservative outsider…Paul Mitchell for Congress.
