LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Michigan’s primary election day is less than a week away. In Michigan’s 109th State House District, both parties have 3 candidates to choose from, but only one Republican and one Democrat will make it to the November ballot.
The 109th contains Baraga, Marquette, Alger, and parts of Dickinson County. It’s the only primary race for a State House seat in the Upper Peninsula, and with 6 candidates it’s an unusual race for the district.
KI Sawyer resident, Melody Wagner, has been campaigning for the seat since 2018. She said this year she’s ready to win it for her party.
Wagner explained she experienced a fraudulent real estate transaction while purchasing a home when she moved to the U.P. in 2013. She said it inspired her to run and change regulations so no one else would have to go through a similar situation.
“Folks know how much I care. They know how dedicated I am.” Wagner said. “They know I’m not gonna let the wool be pulled over my eyes again in this state, not after what happened to me. They realize that I’ll stand up to the lobbyists and the lawyers, and the crooked legislation that is running this state.”
All three candidates brought reversing up renewable energy legislation passed last fall that would put solar and wind farm citing responsibilities at the state level.
Meteorologist Karl Bohnak spent more than 30 years working at news stations in the U.P. He said he hopes to address the energy legislation because he’s concerned renewables wouldn’t be dependable enough to support the Upper Peninsula. He said he hopes to unite U.P. lawmakers in finding a solution.
“We need to work together, that’s been the tradition. It didn’t matter, party didn’t really matter.” Bohnak said. “What mattered were the interests of the Upper Peninsula, but that changed this last legislative session.”
L’Anse resident Burt Mason has held positions as a manager in business development, sales, and production. He explained one of his main concerns is the cost of living for people in the U.P. He said his business background will help in negotiations and working with other representatives on solutions in Lansing.
“People are hurting, Young people can hardly afford to buy a house or a car anymore,” Mason said. “They’re struggling. Rather than sit around and complain about what I’m seeing is the future for our people, I decided to make a change to make a difference.”
Mason said he also hopes to address the U.P.’s lowering population and small business regulations.
All three candidates are hoping to turn the seat from blue to red for the first time in decades.
Question: Tell us about your background?
Melody Wagner: “My background is farming and law enforcement. I moved here to Michigan back in 2013 and through a fraudulent home purchase, I found out many entities state and local weren’t functioning properly like what I was used to in other States. The state was involved with what had happened with our family and other families and the tragedy that happened and I stepped out with a broken heart to run, 2018 was really my first time. Winning [theRepublicannomination] in 2018, 2020, and 2022, working hard, I ran on my own finances in 2018 and ‘20 and I spent a lot in ‘22. I’m staying the course. I’m running on what I know. I’m extremely persistent, passionate, and determined to win this. I’m giving it my all again.”
Karl Bohnak: “I worked on television for over 30 years here in the Upper Peninsula, 33 1/2 to be exact. I was the chief meteorologist at TV6. I also broadcast on radio for a number of years in the Marquette area and I’m still on radio in the eastern end of the U.P. at Newberry and also Sault Ste. Marie. I’ve written books on weather and also the history of the Upper Peninsula and, I love the U.P. and I choose to live here even though I’m not working full time on television anymore.”
Burt Mason: “My background is in business development. I was a National Sales Manager for Sony, I was an International Business Development manager for a company called AutoCon Technologies, and I was a Product Line Manager for Hexagon Metrology. I’m on the hospital board in Baraga County, that’s where I live, and I’m on the Chamber of Commerce Board and I’ve actually started three companies. I’ve got an extremely strong business background and I would like to see us bring some common sense to Lansing. I would like to see us run Lansing more like a business than a place that gives away our tax dollars.”
Q: What made you want to run for office?
Wagner: “The campaign I’ve got going now has had its a filing from 2020 and running after the shutdown right in April. I filed this term on August 1st of last year, some folks said I just decided to throw in again at the last minute because I announced in May, but I’ve run hard.”
Bohnak: “I do not like the direction that the state is heading in. It really comes down to energy legislation which was passed last November. Our current representative, Jen Hill was the deciding vote on this energy legislation that mandates that we power our grid with intermittent weather-dependent wind and solar. In 2040 we have to have 100% renewable energy, and the natural gas turbines that we now have are legislated to be turned off then, and we’re going to use battery backup. There has never been a modern society that has powered their grid on nothing but intermittent wind and solar, that puts our livelihoods and our very lives in jeopardy because we need a constant flow of energy to power our grid.”
Mason: “People are hurting. Young people can hardly afford to buy a house or a car anymore. They’re struggling and rather than sit around and complain about what I’m seeing in the future for our people, I decided to make a change, to make a difference. and so that’s why I’m running.”
Q: What are some issues you’d like to address if elected?
W: “I support local control of wind and solar, but that’s not the only thing going on. I really concentrated on our on our corrections. Another, it’s another it’s like the car insurance. Our car insurance is corrupt. We are the only state that functions like we do and it’s twice the national average. So to call that out, to say the corruption word, that’s my other main thing. Helping folks understand what’s going on, the House and Senate are dysfunctional, unethical, unaccountable, there’s no transparency. I’ve not sat down and taken the time like this latest energy bill, but everybody’s talking about it, and I don’t want to have a negative attitude about it, but It’s just it’s being forced on us.”
B: “My general philosophy is more freedom, less regulation and. for taxes, that’s where I stand on most issues in general. I’m concerned about public safety right now. There’s also on the education front, I’m really for choice in education. It seems to me that the left has tried to take the parent out of the classroom. In other words, they believe that school administrators know better than parents, and I believe parents need to have a larger voice and choice in where students can attend, and in how schools are run also.
M: “The new energy bill will be devastating, to the U.P. and to Michigan. Going 100% solar is going to be extremely expensive. Right now you listen to the experts, and you listen to our governor, they’re saying that they have to invent things to even come close to meeting, the guidelines that are there. Housing is another issue. Housing is unaffordable to young people today. People can’t afford to buy homes, and there are things that can be done to alleviate those problems. Hospital care, if you have a serious illness, a lot of people leave the U.P. to get their healthcare because it just isn’t adequate here. We’ve got a huge part of the state that basically is in trouble, That we’re losing population, regulations on our small businesses as killing the small businesses. Those are the reasons I’m running and those are the things I would like to work on.”
Q: With 6 candidates running this time around, what sets you apart from the others running?
Melody Wagner: “I’m a person, not a politician, I gave up my life, gave up a lot. Most of my finances, they’re wrapped in here. I’m driving a 22-year-old car. People know I care. They know how dedicated I am. They know the wool won’t be pulled over my eyes again in this state, not after what happened to me. They realize that I’ll stand up to the lobbyists and the lawyers and the crooked legislature that is running this state that has made what we have right now. They know that I’m on top of this because I care about people. I’m not retired. I’m the only candidate on the Republican side that’s not retired. I’ve got to go back to work for a living. So I relate to the folks
Karl Bohnak: “I would have to say that as far as the republican side, the views that we have are really in alignment, but I would have to say that we have the best chance of winning in November and it has to do with name recognition. People know who I am, they know where I stand. I took a stance on the vaccine, it was freedom of choice, freedom to what I would put in my body and what I felt was best for me. I think a lot of people resonate with that. With climate change, I’m more of a common sense person. I am not a climate denier, which I’ve been labeled as. The climate is always changing and we do not have our hand on the control knob of the earth’s climate. I don’t believe that we have that much effect, though we do at least on a limited basis land use considerations, I am for common sense. I want want to work with our other U.P. legislators to amplify our voice in Lansing.”
Burt Mason: “My background is a key part of my campaign. it’s a key part of why I want to go to Lansing. I believe that with my background, I’ve got the experience to get a lot of things done in Lansing that maybe others couldn’t.”
Q: Voters seem to really be prioritizing candidates they feel prioritize unity and bipartisanship, how do you plan to continue working to create solutions with representatives even when you disagree?
Melody Wagner: “I’m already doing that. When I did announce and had my little event that put it in the paper so folks know, I had a Democrat opponent come to my event and a Green Party former candidate come to my event. The unity on my signs is there for a couple of reasons, one is about our our side coming together. Republicans, we’ve got constitutionalists, we’ve got conservatives, we’ve got independents, we’ve got libertarians, my pro-life group, you got your folks that they don’t want to be associated with any party. Most of my voters vote in person. Be patient. Be kind. If you have to wait in line a little bit or somebody’s not doing something exactly right, just be patient and get out there. Give it another chance. Give another chance for for the democratic process in this Republic and and get out there and vote.”
Karl Bohnak: “In the Upper Peninsula, it’s always been a tradition that the representatives have banded together because we have such a tiny voice. We are only 3% of the population, even though we’re 29% of the land mass. We’re spread out and we need to work together, and that’s been the tradition and it didn’t matter. Party didn’t really matter. What mattered were the interests of the Upper Peninsula. but that changed this last legislative session.”
Burt Mason: “There are common problems that everybody can agree on. My background gives me a skill set, in my own career I had to overcome objections and that’s the way I look at this. We can object on how a policy is put together, but finding a solution, working that solution, and coming up with a common ground and common sense compromise is what is required. That’s what I’ve done my whole life. I had to negotiate with our U.S. Commerce Department, they wouldn’t let us export easily export product. I had to negotiate with the Chinese Government to open up sales and service centers in China. It’s a skill set and that’s what I’m bringing to this campaign.”
