Ahead of the Aug. 7 primary election, 7 Action News is sitting down with candidates for governor and U.S. Senate to learn more about them and their ideas.
We spoke with Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican candidate for governor. Below are his answers to our questions. Watch the video above.
Q: What doesn't the average person know about your interests and hobbies, who you are outside politics?
A: I’m a proud family man with 2 kids originally from Midland. Skiing since I was 3. All over northern Michigan and other places across this country. Lots of fond memories with my dad, who passed away when I was young and he was only 47.
Q: What are your thoughts on current Michigan gun laws?
A: I am a proud supporter of the 2nd amendment. I’m also a hunter. You can’t strengthen communities, families, homes and schools by weakening the 2nd amendment. That said, we do need to address the mental health crisis leading to violence. Also, we need to look at training teachers to protect students.
QUESTION: Legalization of marijuana is a huge topic of debate. What is your stance?
A: We don’t need to put more drugs in the hands of children. I don’t personally support it. However I am a strong believer in democracy. Voters will have the chance to decide in November.
Q: How can we provide a better education for students in Michigan? Do you support charter schools?
A: I support options for parents and charter schools. We should grade our schools A-F. A report card so parents can know which schools are performing well and which aren’t. Second, we ought to provide grants to schools showing improvement. I believe in incentives. We also need to have a state literacy director I would appoint to work at the Capitol.
Q: Roads in Michigan are among the worst in the nation. What will you do to fix this major infrastructure problem?
A: We need to have better guarantees of warrantees just like any other product you buy for our roads. However, we also need to review the spending by MDOT, and the solution isn’t hiking taxes. We need to work with the dollars we have to better address this issue.
Q: The Flint Water Crisis is an ongoing issue for the people in that city, and a scar for the state of Michigan. What needs to be done next?
A: We are still prosecuting that case. 4 people have pled guilty. Flint is all about justice. Some would like to sweep it under the rug or maybe it’s inconvenient for them. Or they says the deaths are a statistic rounding error in an urban city. That’s nonsense. We’ll continue to fight for the people of Flint.
Q: Critics claim you are too far to the right and won’t work well across they aisle. How do you respond to that?
A: The fact President Trump has endorsed me, I guess we call that “huge.” My record of working with both parties is strong, and I’m a proven leader doesn’t shy away from tough issues.
