With the candidate filing deadline for the November election fast approaching next Tuesday, the picture is getting clearer on who is running for a number of offices.
Four Niles area residents have filed to run for the 78th State House seat currently held by Dave Pagel of Berrien Springs. Pagel is in his third and final term in the state house and is term limited from running again for that seat.
Pagel himself doesn’t look to be done with politics. He’s announced he is running for the 21st State Senate seat currently held by John Proos who is also term limited.
Pagel is vying with 79th State Rep. Kim LaSata for the Republican nomination for the 21st State Senate seat. LaSata is finishing her first term in the state legislature. The winner of the Pagel-LaSata race will face Democrat Ian Haight in November. Haight is the former Hagar Township clerk.
In the 78th State House race, Republicans Dana Daniels, David Mann and Brad
Paquette are vying for the Republican nomination, while Dean Hills is the only Democrat to file to run. The 78th State House district covers central and southern Berrien County and parts of Cass County.
Daniels, 61, has served on the Niles Board of Education for the last 15 years and is currently the board president. He has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and Christmas in April as well as the Berrien County/Niles-Buchanan Relay for Life.
Daniels has worked in the information technology field for 30 years as a principal business analyst. He has worked for Fiserv, Data-Vision, Inc. and Vibe HCM. He and his wife, Barbara, have one grown daughter.
He said issues of importance to him center around education, auto insurance, limited government, infrastructure and gun rights. He said it’s time to reexamine the no-fault auto insurance program as people’s car insurance costs continue to rise.
Although just 26, Mann is making his second run for the 78th state house seat. He ran previously in 2012, losing to Dave Pagel in a three-way race in the Republican primary that year. He has held elected office before, serving five years on the Niles City Council from 2011-16.
Mann currently works at Andrews University in the religion and history department. He received his bachelor’s degree in religion from Andrews in 2013 and his masters degree in divinity from Andrews in 2016.
He said his campaign will focus on less government and more opportunity. He’s opposed to the state taxing online sales, is a supporter of the right to carry guns, favors reducing the state income tax and car insurance premiums. He would fund more infrastructure spending by cutting other parts of the budget and not by raising taxes.
Paquette, 30, is making his first run for public office. He has been a teacher at
Niles New Tech, a project based learning program of the Niles Community Schools, for the last five years. He is also a member of the Niles Planning Commission.
A native of Marquette, Paquette graduated from Northern Michigan University with a degree in political science and pre-law. Other family members live in the Berrien Springs area and he moved here after college, working briefly for the Benton Harbor public schools before getting his master’s degree in education from Andrews University.
Issues important to him include empowering parents to have more options relative to their children’s education and empowering municipalities to have more control. He’s in favor of simplifying rules and regulations and streamlining government. He said he would leave issues such as repealing term limits or making the legislature part-time up to voters.
Hill ran previously for the 78th State House district seat in 2016. He retired last year from Dowagiac Union High School where he was an art teacher and coach for 44 and a half years. He was a Michigan Association Education member and a building representative for several years. He is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University.
Previous to his 2016 run for the state house, Hill ran unsuccessfully for the Niles City Council Second Ward seat in 1985. He currently resides on Yankee Street in Howard Township east of Niles with his wife, Lorrie, and three grandchildren.
Hill said his campaign will focus on limiting or eliminating for-profit schools, providing state supported internet access for everyone and less state regulations on public schools. He can be reached at Elect Dean E. Hill on Facebook.
The filing deadline is past for ballot proposals for the May 8 election. The deadline is April 24 for partisan and nonpartisan candidates for the Aug. 7 primary. May 1 is the deadline for proposal petitions for the August primary while May 15 is the deadline for ballot wording for proposals for the August primary.
Deadlines associated with the Nov. 6 election include July 19 for candidates without political party affiliation, July 24 for local school boards and village candidates, July 31 for proposal petitions and Aug. 14 for proposal ballot wording.
By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
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