untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Calley claims Schuette rarely works as sparks fly in governor's race
Updated Jul 24; Posted Jul 24
Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, left, and Attorney General Bill Schuette are running in the Republican gubernatorial primary for 2018 along with candidates Patrick Colbeck and Jim Hines. (MLive.com files)
By Emily Lawler elawler@mlive.com
LANSING, MI - Days after Gov. Rick Snyder released a call for more civility in state politics, Lt. Gov. and Republican candidate for governor Brian Calley attacked Attorney General Bill Schuette for an official schedule Calley says is light on full work days.
"I'd say more appropriate than 'Schuette on duty' would be 'Bill Schuette off duty,' at least when it comes to the work of the people of the State of Michigan," Calley said at a press conference where he presented Schuette's entire official schedule since becoming Attorney General.
Calley's campaign obtained the schedule through a Freedom of Information Act request. In analyzing it, his team determined Schuette had worked a full day just 104 times in the seven and a half years he's served as Attorney General. He defined that as when Schuette's first scheduled event and the end of his last scheduled event were eight or more hours apart.
He released an advertisement, below, based off those statistics.
Schuette Off Duty
Schuette's campaign has also lobbed light schedule charges at Calley, who was attending Harvard while serving as lieutenant governor. Faced with Calley's accusations, Schuette's campaign reverted to that.
"Brian Calley is losing and desperate to hide that he skipped 1/3 of his job duties while getting a Harvard degree on the taxpayer dime, during the time the Flint water crisis exploded. Meanwhile, Bill Schuette is pursing justice in Flint, fighting human trafficking, and prosecuted Larry Nassar. Calley abandoned the issues in this campaign and now he has abandoned the truth," said Schuette campaign spokesman John Sellek.
Andrea Bitely, Schuette's spokesperson in his official capacity as Attorney General, called Calley's accusation a "political attack" and pointed to Schuette's accomplishments.
Calley said his Harvard courses were mainly completed online, though he did make the trip to campus physically sometimes. He said he is confident his schedule is more robust than Schuette.
Calley said he would not release his own schedule but would be releasing comparable statistics from it. His office is not subject to FOIA and he said releasing his entire schedule would release others' schedules at the same time.
The Michigan Democratic Party used the opportunity to slam both candidates.
"We're glad Bill Schuette and Brian Calley are finally recognizing that neither of them have been doing their jobs. Of course, you don't need to look any further than our declining schools, crumbling roads, and ongoing water crisis to know Republicans in Lansing have been a failure for the past 8 years," said MDP Chair Brandon Dillon.
Also on Tuesday, Schuette in a press released challenged all four GOP primary governor candidates - in addition to he and Calley, Patrick Colbeck and Jim Hines will appear on the Aug. 7 primary ballot -- to pledge to support the winner of the primary.
"To beat the Democrats and Gretchen Whitmer in the fall, the Republican Party will need to be unified and focused on August 8th," said Schuette in the press release, pledging to throw his support behind the winner.
Calley, asked to respond, said the Republican field was better than the candidates Democrats have. Democrats Gretchen Whitmer, Shri Thanedar and Abdul El-Sayed are seeking that party's gubernatorial nomination.
"Any one of the four of us will get my support over any of the three of them," Calley said.
The governor, who has endorsed Calley, recently released a pledge encouraging civility in public discourse. It's been signed by more than 220 people, including Calley. Those who signed pledged to commit to "focus discussions and debates on the issues at hand."
The primary takes place Aug. 7. The general election takes place Nov. 6. |
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