ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Wednesday, the Delta County League of Women Voters held a candidate forum for three major races ahead of the November election. The second round featured the candidates running for Michigan’s House of Representatives 108th District seat—Republican Larry Johnson and Democrat Rachel Keys.
Johnson has served as a Menominee County commissioner since 2019. He listed his priorities as growing the Upper Peninsula’s economy and growing its population.
“It all starts with industry,” Johnson said. “It starts with economic growth. If we can reverse this trend and we can create jobs that draw people in here—especially keep our families here—it’s going to increase our tax base… Without that tax revenue, we can’t operate as efficiently as we have.”
Keys is a Navy veteran with experience as an anti-ship cruise missile defense weapons specialist for the Department of Defense. She said her top priority is rural healthcare.
“They’re tripping over themselves to figure out how to fix the population, and in the meantime, in 6,000 square miles and six counties, the 108 has one place that women can go to have babies,” said Keys. “That has been an issue for the last two decades, and none of our male Republican leadership seems to think that it’s an issue.”
The candidates also shared their views on the issue of data centers in the Upper Peninsula.
“This is a tough one for me because I don’t want the State to step in and issue any kind of declaration on what we can and cannot do,” said Johnson. “I believe this all lies at a local level… That being said, if there was one looking to come into my township, I would be one of the loudest ones at the meeting. I have my own concerns. I’m not advocating for them or against them; I’m just saying there’s a lot of concerns around them. I’d like my concerns addressed, the public’s concerns addressed, but I definitely don’t want to advocate for the State to get involved in our lives any more than they already are.”
“We don’t want to sacrifice our lands, our resources for data centers,” Keys said. “That’s not something anybody up here wants. I know that it isn’t universally said that we can do anything about data centers—from the very top of the legislative pyramid, they’re pushing them on us faster than we can fight back—but that’s not the case. We can make active legislation. We can make moratoriums. We can make things harder for them. Instead of opening up the path and representing business, we can represent the people by taking away those corporate tax incentives that invite them to move in.”
The forum also included candidates running for Michigan’s 38th District Senate seat and the position of 94th District Court judge in Delta County. To watch the Delta County League of Women Voters candidate forum in full, click here.
