Current Michigan governor term-limited

Representative Hoekstra may be eyeing bid for governorship

HOLLAND, Michigan - The 111th Congress has hardly begun, and the recently re-elected Groningen-born Republican Representative Pete Hoekstra (55) of the Western Michigan district of Holland already announced retirement plans once his new term, his ninth, is over. Hoekstra, a former furniture company executive, has confirmed an interest in possibly making a bid for the governorship of Michigan.

Hoekstra told a Detroit daily newspaper he has already held meetings with Republicans across the state, laying the groundwork for a bid for governor. The state’s current governor, Canadian-born Jennifer Granholm, a democrat, will be term-limited out of her post in 2010, leaving a vacancy that Hoekstra and several other ambitious Michiganders are hoping to fill.

State Attorney General Mike Cox has formed an exploratory committee, and Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, fellow Republicans, is also viewed as a potential candidate. There are several Democrats with an interest in vying for the gubernatorial post as well. Although the state has elected Republican governors in the past, it has swung to the Democrats in recent times.