By BTL Staff
SOUTHFIELD – Over 80 LGBT people and a few straight friends came out on a rainy afternoon Sept. 25 to support U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow's reelection campaign. She will be running for a second, six year term in Nov. 2006 in what is expected to be a hotly contested race.
"Our goal was to raise at least $15,000, and even though not all the money has been collected yet, it looks like we should well exceed that," said Alan Semonian, the event's organizer. The gathering was at his and Dan Zavala's new home in Southfield.
Stabenow talked about her governmental priorities, and how they differ from those of the Bush administration. "They are still pushing for more tax cuts, even in the face of the billions we are spending in Iraq and now on the hurricane reconstruction. It's like we are just putting it on a credit card for future generations to deal with," she said.
Stabenow also said that the hurricane devastation has brought home to many Americans that this administration is not committed to taking care of what's really important. She said she sees a connection between the looters in New Orleans after Katrina and the huge corporations like Halliburton who are looking to make huge profits on reconstruction projects in the area.
Stabenow also talked about the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts to be the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which the full Senate will be voting on shortly. She said she is not happy that Roberts has refused to answer the most basic questions. She does not plan to join all the Republicans and many of the Democrats in voting for Roberts. "Sometimes you just have to vote out of pure conscience," she said.
The senator was accompanied by her new husband, Tom Athans. Gary Peters, the State Lottery Commissioner and former state senator and his wife, Colleen, were also in attendance, along with Michigan State Rep. Marie Donegan (D-Royal Oak) and Oakland County Commissioner David Coulter.
The event was co-hosted by Jim Rasor and Dr. Richard Cooke, Richard Chizmadia and Richard Hobson, Gerry Banister and Scott Douglas, Joy Geng, Henry Messer & Carl House, Jeffrey Montgomery, Mike and Jan Neubecker, Jan Stevenson and Susan Horowitz, Chris Swope and Brad Rakowski, Leslie Thompson and Colleen Hamlin, David Chivas, Chris Frith and Ron Baker, and Dale Morgan and Norm Silk.
