Map of Michigan's Seventh Congressional District from Wikipedia. Incumbent Mark Schauer is fending off a challenge from former Representative Tim Walberg.
This past week's news, including the latest news on debates, polling, and endorsements, after the jump.
Crossposted to Michigan Liberal.
U.S. Representative Mark Schauer will be debating challenger Tim Walberg four times this month.
Examiner.com: Schauer, Walberg set time and location for two debates
By Vince Lamb, Washtenaw County Elections 2010 Examiner
On October 6th, the Adrian Daily Telegram reported that the times and locations for two of the four upcoming debates between incumbent Mark Schauer and challenger Tim Walberg have been set.
The first debate will take place on Wednesday, October 13th, from 7 P.M to 8 P.M. at the Charlotte Performing Arts Center. WLNS (Channel 6 in Lansing) and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) are co-sponsoring the debate. The public is invited to attend. The Performing Arts Center's address is 378 State Street in Charlotte.
WLNS will be broadcasting the debate live, so residents of Washtenaw County whose cable systems carry WLNS Channel 6 will be able to watch the debate. Those who do not have cable but do have broadband can follow the debate on WLNS's website as the station will stream it live.
The second debate will be held the next morning at 8:30 A.M. on October 14th at the Lexington Lansing Hotel on 925 South Creyts Road, Lansing. The Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the candidate forum. Anyone wishing to attend the forum should call (517) 487-6340.
More at the link, including information on the other two debates and how Walberg picked a fight with debate sponsor AARP before he accepted their invitation. Smooth move, Ex-Lax, especially in a district with a lot of retirees (I should know, I used to live there) and a year in which Social Security and Medicare are such big issues.
WILX reports on how Social Security and Medicare have become major issues in the race between Mark Schauer and Tim Walberg.
Examiner.com: Poll by The Hill finds Schauer and Walberg tied for Seventh Congressional District
By Vince Lamb, Washtenaw County Elections 2010 Examiner
With less than a month to go before the general election, a poll by The Hill/America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) found Representative Mark Schauer and his challenger former Representative Tim Walberg tied at 41 percent each in the contest for Michigan's Seventh Congressional District. Four percent of the respondents planned to vote for minor party candidates, and 13 percent reported they were undecided.
Partisans have mostly lined up behind their candidates, with only six percent of Democrats and eight percent of Republicans still undecided. The contest will hinge on independents, 19 percent of whom are still undecided. Currently, Walberg has a slim lead among independents, with 37 percent to Schauer's 35 percent.
The incumbent has to leap over two gaps, the gender gap and the enthusiasm gap, to defend his seat.
More at the link, including details about both gaps and how this race was one of a dozen surveyed for this poll.
Schauer endorsed by Schwarz; campaign releases poll showing Schauer in lead
By Vince Lamb, Washtenaw County Elections 2010 Examiner
Today, incumbent U.S. Representative Mark Schauer picked up the endorsement of former Republican Representative Dr. Joseph Schwarz, who held the seat from 2005 to 2006. It was the second time Schauer received the endorsement of Dr. Schwarz, who also endorsed the current incumbent when he challenged Tim Walberg for the seat in 2008.
Also, Schauer's campaign responded to yesterday's release of a poll by the The Hill finding that Schauer and Walberg were tied by releasing their own internal poll on the same day, which showed that Schauer was in the lead by four points, 44 percent to Walberg's 40 percent.
Details about the endorsement and the poll at the article via the link in the headline.
Just a reminder for readers who are new or have forgotten since I last posted about this race: I lived in the Seventh District from 1999-2010, only moving out of it in May. My wife and I met Schauer in 2007 and happily voted for him in 2008. We donated money to his campaign this year, which is the least we can do since we moved out of his district and can't vote for him. We also live too far away to volunteer for his campaign. Instead, we're working for Gary Peters in Michigan's Ninth District. We've been delivering lawn signs for his campaign for the last three weeks.