Despite Stupak’s retirement, many voters value effectiveness over small-government ideology

Stupak constituents seek federal aid over ideology

CHEBOYGAN, Mich. — Even as tea party activists gloat over Rep. Bart Stupak’s decision to retire after becoming one of their top targets for defeat, it’s far from certain that his constituents will elect a successor who shares their antipathy to government spending.

Michigan’s northernmost district has a history of electing moderates more concerned with getting federal money for local projects than with partisanship or ideology — as long as they stay on the right side of hot-button issues such as protecting gun ownership.

Stupak, who said Friday he would not seek a 10th term, fit the mold so well that he repeatedly was re-elected by large margins — sometimes over well-financed Republicans.

Had he run again, Stupak “absolutely” would have won, said David Carlson, a political science professor at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. “It would have been tougher, because a lot of outside money would have come in to help the Republican, whoever it was. But Bart has a real connection with the people up here, a reservoir of good will that he built up over the years.”

If so, it wasn’t apparent at weekend Tea Party Express gatherings in the area, which had been billed as “beat Stupak” rallies but became victory celebrations after his retirement announcement.

Activists credited their movement with ending his congressional tenure and pledged to elect someone who shares their zeal for curtailing government spending and authority.

“I want to get people in there that are going to repeal and replace” the health care overhaul, Curt Robertson, 54, said during a rally Saturday in Cheboygan, where he lives. “We’re tired of runaway spending in Congress. The health care bill will be a disaster for his country, the debt is going to be outrageous.”

Daniel Benishek, an Iron River physician and one of at least four Republicans seeking their party’s nomination, drew cheers at the rallies by linking big government to economic misery. Double-digit jobless rates are common across the mostly rural, blue-collar district, where mining, forest products, manufacturing and other industries that once provided reliable employment have shrunk.

“The more government there is, the harder it is for business to create jobs,” Benishek said. “People keep telling me, ‘I can hardly do business because I’ve got the government on my back about everything.’”

But even some self-described conservatives in the district — which includes more than half of Michigan’s land mass, including the entire Upper Peninsula — see a role for government in bolstering the economy and want to make sure the district gets its share of funding.

“We need someone who supports our values and puts this area first — make sure we’re not overwhelmed by the large metro areas,” Sandy Kilmer, 54, said over breakfast at a Petoskey bagel shop.

Stupak, like Republican Rep. Bob Davis before him, won the gratitude of many communities for securing federal grants for local infrastructure projects and national parks that draw tourists and create jobs, Carlson said.