MIRS -- What you dont know about Gary Glenn Michigan Information and Research Service (State Capitol newsletter) Lansing, Michigan November 18, 2014 What you dont know about Gary Glenn by Kyle Melinn Gary Glenn came into this years campaign for the 98th state House race thinking this was his last hurrah. After staffing or consulting nearly three dozen legislative and statewide campaigns in several states throughout his professional career, Glenn was taking one more stab at elected politics before opting to find something else to do with my time. Having lost a bid for the U.S. Senate prior, the Midland resident knew he would never be the candidate of choice of the Midland power elite and that if he wanted the Republican nomination for state representative, hed have to take it. The 56-year-old Hickory, N.C., native withstood $50,000 in late spending by the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP) to win the primary with 51 percent of the vote. I was all-in, he said. Given the quantity of resources available to my primary opponent, even I was a little surprised when I pulled it off. Heavily favored going into the November campaign, he won with 55 percent of the vote. He did it by knocking on 9,000 doors personally, raising more than $225,000 and getting a little help from his wife of 31 years. During the campaign, Annette Glenn penned an eight-page letter to constituents expressing her pride in her Eagle Scout husband for his military service, among other life accomplishments. Among the stories to make the list was this one: This past March, the Glenns were checking into a Midland hotel the two were planning on staying in for their 31st wedding anniversary as a weekend getaway from the kids, dogs and house. The hotel maintenance guy came running into the lobby yelling for the desk clerk to bring the master key and run to the pool, where hed seen a boy through the big window lying motionless on the bottom of the pool, drowning, Annette Glenn wrote. The young lady checking Gary in grabbed the key and went running to the pool, and Gary ran after her. The 8- or 9-year-old boy was pulled out of the pool, but the family seemed in shock as to what to do. Glenn conducted several Heimlich procedures on the boy, water gushing from the boys mouth each time. Glenn laid the boy down and was preparing to perform CPR when the boys mother grabbed him and yelled at him to throw up more water! (T)he boy did, one more time, then regained consciousness and began crying hysterically, Annette Glenn wrote. We were so thankful -- he was alive and doing fine when the ambulance came to take him to the hospital. We found out later he hadnt suffered any brain damage. Glenn said this letter was mentioned to him more times during the campaign than just about any issue and is convinced it won him more than a good share of votes. The letter includes only one sentence on what Glenn is most known for in Michigan -- his strident and outspoken support for traditional marriage as director of the American Family Association in Michigan, which may have been the point. There are at least eight pages of stuff about Gary Glenn people may not know about him. In his latest column, Jack Lessenberry wrote, Next term, with Gary Glenn in the Legislature and moderates like Randy Richardville gone, it may be all social issues, all the time. Glenn differs with this analysis. Hes not a one-trick pony in his policy interests. Prior to the AFA, Glenn was the school choice project director at the Mackinac Center, a post he took after running the Centers school choice tax credit project, School Choice Yes! Mackinac Centers Larry REED recruited Glenn to come to Michigan from Idaho based, in part, on his work in passing a ballot initiative to make Idaho a Right-to-Work state. While on the county commission in Idaho, Glenn led an effort to pass what ended up being the countrys second local government health savings account (HSA). Hes also worked with the Idaho Cattlemen Association, where he dealt with land use and environmental issues. Thats not to mention the several legislative races he ran in the Potato State. For those who think that the only issues Im capable of addressing articulately and effectively are social issues, they are in for a significant surprise, he said. In Idaho, Im the Right-to-Work guy. In Michigan, Im the marriage guy. Im proud of both of them. To be honest, Glenn said there arent a lot of social issues left to work on in Michigan. The 2004 constitutional amendment in favor of traditional marriage is in the courts. Right to Life has succeeded in getting through much of what theyve wanted to pass in regards to pre-natal life. He said his focus would be about bringing jobs back to Michigan and continuing to improve the economy. Maybe it will improve enough to bring his oldest son back to Michigan. That brings up another fun fact about Glenn: He recruited the late Charlton Heston to do ads in favor of Right-to-Work in Idaho, which is where Glenn gathered the footage to do the beyond-the-grave endorsement ads for his 2014 state House campaign. Glenns first of five children was born shortly after he and Heston received Reeds Freedom Fighter of the Year award in 1987. The Glenns named the child Heston. Im glad he was a boy, Glenn quipped. Because the child was being named Heston even if it was a girl. Glenn does have one girl, a daughter named Reagan after you-know-who. When she was 9, the girl led the Pledge of Allegiance during a 2004 service in memory of the former president. Annette didnt mention that piece of history in her letter, but did mention that Glenn took his daughter to President Ronald Reagans funeral procession in Washington D.C. He also took her to Chicago to the American Girl Doll headquarters and to David Archuleta and Carrie Underwood concerts, she wrote. Glenns wife wrote a lot more about things you dont know about Gary Glenn. Its a lot more than were going to fit in this story.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 06:22:53 +0000
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