"Huck" vies in Montcalm, Ionia
          for open 70th State House seat

"It's time to get somebody on the side of Montcalm and Ionia in Lansing for a change!"

With that promise, community activist and small-business owner Mike "Huck" Huckleberry has thrown his hat into the ring for 70th District State Representative.

Huckleberry, 59, has been a bi-partisan leader in the fight to retain and attract jobs in the region. "Our future is bright here, but only if we work together to get past partisan bickering.

"We can grow 21st Century jobs in Montcalm, Ionia and all of Michigan by working together," Huck said. "Jobs in renewable energy, agriculture and education-re-training should be encouraged now.

"I've proven I work well with everyone - Republicans and Democrats, city folks and farmers, shopkeepers and the owners and workers at big companies too," Huckleberry said. "I'll take that spirit of bi-partisanship to Lansing."

Huckleberry is a lifelong resident of the Montcalm-Cedar Springs region. He rose to national prominence with his leadership against Electrolux's abandonment of 2,800 jobs in Greenville. In that fight, Huck worked with local officials, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, UAW and AFL-CIO leaders and rank-and-file attempting to dissuade the company from slinking off to Mexico.

That activism inspired Huck to run for U.S. Congress in 2004 and 2006 where his "Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!" campaign caught the attention of the national media -- like TV newshost Lou Dobbs. His restaurateur background and nationally-famous "placemat campaign" won him the support of many Republicans and Independents, although Huck ran as a Democrat.

The owner of Huckleberry's Restaurant in Greenville, Huck is married to Linda and is the father of five -- including Raymond Huckleberry who serves on the Cedar Springs City Council. Huck is the former general manager of the Red Flannel Company in Cedar Springs and has "lobbied" in Lansing and Washington, D.C. while serving on the Executive Board of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, and on many local chamber of commerce and economic development boards.

Encompassing all of Montcalm County and the northwest part of Ionia County (with the cities of Belding and Ionia), the 70th Michigan State House District will have an open seat up for election in November. The District voted for both Granholm and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2006. Huck carried the majority of Montcalm County's precincts in 2006.

Grant Hole, a noted retired businessman in Montcalm County, will serve as Huckleberry's Campaign Chair. "Huck's independent thinking and 'get-the-job-done' attitude appeals to moderate Republicans like me," Hole noted. "Nobody has given more of his own time and effort to protect, diversify and encourage jobs in this part of Michigan than this restaurant-owner."