Michigan's 20^th state Senate district is expected to be one of the most contested races in this year's general election. The district, which includes all of Kalamazoo County and two townships in Van Buren County, stayed in Republican control four years ago, but the margin was just over three-thousand votes. Now incumbent Tom George is term limited. But before the showdown in the general election there are contested primaries for both parties. As WMUK's Gordon Evans reports, the Democratic contest features a well known Kalamazoo lawmaker facing a political new comer.

Robert Jones has held political office for most of the last 13 years. He was first elected mayor of Kalamazoo in 1997. He served four terms until he decided not to run for re-election to the city commission in 2005. At that time Jones launched his campaign for state House. He won election in 2006 and was re-elected two years ago, both times by large margins. The Kalamazoo Democrat says over that time he has built a record that he is proud of.

"And you can look physically and visibly at a region and look at some of the great things that are happening in Kalamazoo and in this area that I am associated with and that I that have worked and brought people together, using my abilities in the way of experience and leadership to get a tremendous amount of things done"

Jones says he wants to serve in the state Senate to continue efforts to improve Michigan's economy. His opponent Mark Totten has never held political office. He is currently a law professor at Michigan State University, and previously worked in the U.S. Justice Department. The Kalamazoo native says he's running for state Senate because he believes the Legislature isn't working, and can't be fixed by someone who's been part of the system for too long. Totten says that message is taking hold, and has resulted in him raising more than three times as much in political contributions as Jones. That's according to the latest campaign finance reports released last week. Totten hasn't received any political action committee contributions. Instead Totten has raised all of his money from individual donors.

"And I think the reason is, is because people know our system is broken. And they don't think that the answer to solving the problem is to send somebody up there who's been part of the broken system. We deserve better than that, we can do better than that in this community."

Totten's campaign has focused largely on government reform. He says the state should end life-time health care benefits for state lawmakers. Right now lawmakers who serve six years, and their families, are eligible for life-time health care benefits. Totten says that would not save a lot of money, but is important symbolically. Totten also favors changes to the state's campaign finance laws:

"Right now there are pretty stringent limits on what can be given to any individual candidate, there are no limits on what can be given to political parties and special interests. And so we have a system that is designed to concentrate powers in the hands of political parties and special interests. And that is a significant reason of why we experience so much gridlock"

Totten says he would also put limits on what can be donated to so-called "leadership PACs". Those are funds started by lawmakers themselves to donate to other campaigns. Totten's opponent in the state Senate primary, Robert Jones, had one of the largest leadership PAC's in the Legislature in 2007. However Jones' PAC has raised only $125 since last fall, according to campaign finance records.

The two Democratic State Senate candidates from the Kalamazoo area hold similar positions on many major issues. They both favor repealing the surcharge on the Michigan Business Tax, approved in 2007. Both say Michigan's tax structure needs an overhaul. Both Jones and Totten say a tax increase may be needed, but should come along with structural reforms and spending reductions. Both men say the state can save money on corrections and needs to focus on delivering the best service for citizens' tax dollars. But while Totten has tried to paint Jones as part of a broken system, Jones says experience should not be discounted:

"You need knowledgeable and experience people that have some knowledge of the state government some knowledge of local government. A knowledge of business, earning profits, and also balancing books to be able to deal with some of the massive bureaucracies and of the other things that we have in the state"

Last year Jones announced that he was being treated for esophageal cancer. But he says his health is good and the treatment has not forced him to miss any work. And Jones says he is, in his words, "absolutely confident" that he can serve a four year term in the state Senate if elected. First Democratic voters have to decide if they want Robert Jones or Mark Totten to be their party's nominee for state Senate in Michigan's 20^th District.


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