By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-978445.mp3
LANSING, MI –
Former west Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra filed the paperwork Wednesday to seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. He joins a handful of Republican candidates who want to unseat Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow next year. Michigan Public Radio's Laura Weber has more.
AUDIO:
Hoekstra says he announced in April that he would not run for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination because he had just come out of a "grueling" campaign to be Michigan's governor. But now he is definitely back in the race, and he says recent unfavorable poll numbers for Senator Stabenow did not drive his decision.
"Actually I think her ratings are very very good, I mean if only 51 percent of people disapprove of what is really a dismal voting record in Washington D.C."
Hoekstra says he is entering the race because he believes he can help set Michigan on a better track in Washington D.C. He says a field of lesser-known Republican candidates did not play into his decision. But political insiders say Hoekstra was encouraged by Republicans to run because they thought he would have a better chance at defeating Stabenow than the other candidates.