Long-time Hillsdale resident, Brad Benzing is running for State Representative of the 58th district in Michigan. He graduated from Hillsdale High School and studied at Western Michigan University and majored in Psychology. He now owns Brad Benzing Inc., an appliance store off of west Carleton road in Hillsdale. Benzing lives in town with his wife on a small goat farm.
Why are you interested in running for State Representative?
I’ve been a county commissioner for five years now, and I’ve noticed that there is a tremendous amount of burden put on the villages, small cities, and townships by the larger state government. My reason for running is to go to Lansing and be a representative for these small local governments. I’ll tell Lansing that if they keep putting pressure on them, they need to either supply the money needed to survive or loosen the burden.
What else are you hoping to accomplish as a state representative?
There are several areas. A lot of people recognize me as a gun guy. I’ve been involved with firearms policy for a few decades now, as the legislative liaison for Shooter’s Alliance for Gun Rights, work with the Michigan Gun Owners, etc. This issue is obviously near and dear to me. I’ll be working on ways to improve and increase benefits for gun owners and gun rights for everyone in Michigan. My wife and I are both farmers, so there are a number of issues regarding agriculture that we need to work on. Another is in regard to giving power back to businesses. The government’s role should be getting out of the way of businesses to allow them a free market. We need to look at places where the government is interfering and move them out of the way.
Are there any examples of your giving back to businesses as the county commissioner?
A good example of this is a run-in we had about five years ago with some people who wanted to begin a local farmer’s market. This group needed a location to hold their market, but the city of Hillsdale required a $250,000 liability payment. I realized that we had a parking lot in front of the courthouse, which was unused on Saturday, the day they planned to host the market. They asked what they would have to do, and I told them to police themselves and clean up and the lot was theirs. Otherwise, they can use the lot as they see fit. The lot is public, it’s their house, their rules.
What advice do you have for someone who plans to run for office?
Be informed, get involved. Too many people I meet say that they aren’t interested in politics, and I always say that politics is interested in you. It does touch every one of our lives, whether it’s regulatory burden or laws or costs and compliances on businesses that increase the price of goods. So I guess the advice I would give to you would be to get informed, whether that means reading your local newspaper or reading an online news blog, or even attending city council or city government meetings. I’ve been to hundreds, and it is rare to see members of the public. This will give you a reason to run, and information about your government.
-Complied by Philip DeVoe