Rooney in Republican Primary

ADRIAN, Mich - A Michigan attorney and a retired businessman have joined the race for Michigan’s 7th District primary race in 2010.

Dexter resident Brian Rooney, brother of Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., said Monday he plans to officially announce his candidacy Thursday in Jackson. Marvin Carlson, R-Manchester, has also launched a campaign for the Republican primary election next August. Both will run against former Rep. Tim Walberg for the party’s bid.

Rooney and Carlson join the race for the seat currently held by incumbent Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek. Independent conservative candidate Scott Aughney from Jackson announced his campaign earlier this year.

Rooney said he plans to open campaign headquarters in Jackson after Thursday’s official announcement. He plans to set off on a tour later this month around the southern Michigan district, which includes Lenawee County, Battle Creek and the suburbs of Ann Arbor.

“I am running first and foremost for my children and everyone’s children and grandchildren living in the 7th District,” Rooney said Monday. “I believe that, as a parent myself, I should be leaving my next generation a country that is more prosperous than was given to me.

“With the current representation we have in Congress, that will not be the case for the first time in American history,” Rooney added. “This district needs strong leadership in Congress.”

Rooney, an Iraq War veteran, works for the Thomas More Law Center, a nonprofit law firm in Ann Arbor. He received his law degree from Florida State University in 1999.

He is also on the board of directors for the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team founded in 1933 by his grandfather Art Rooney.

Carlson, a retired business owner and real estate investor from Manchester, received his master’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan in 1971, according to his campaign Web site.

Working with the Michigan State University beef extension program, his Chelsea-area Sugarbush Farm was certified a nationally accredited embryo and breeding station by the state.

Carlson said his background and concerns as a businessman helped motivate him to run for Congress.

“Overspending is out of control on the federal level, and it’s placed a generational burden on our children and grandchildren,” Carlson said.

Carlson said he wants to reduce government spending, leave health insurance companies “free to compete across state lines, eliminating monopoly pricing” and seek “sensible, sustainable power generation starting with building many more clean nuclear plants.”

“Money must be put back in private hands where real value is created,” Carlson said. “As I have crisscrossed the 7th District over the summer talking with hundreds of folks at county fairs and town festivals, the single most common refrain I hear is, ‘Keep government out of my business.’ ”

Rooney has drawn fire from Walberg’s campaign for having only recently moved to the district.

“Brian Rooney should run in the district he has lived in and voted in,” said former state Rep. Margaret O’Connor in a statement through Walberg’s campaign office. “We are not looking for carpetbaggers. Citizens here want a proven conservative who has lived in the district and understands us, and that’s what we have in Tim Walberg.”

Rep. Schauer’s office acknowledged the other candidates’ announcements in a statement Monday, but said “now is not the time for partisan politics.”

“Congressman Schauer is focused on doing the job he was elected to do — fixing our broken health care system and creating Michigan jobs,” Schauer’s office said in a statement. “The congressman looks forward to a campaign of ideas with whoever emerges from the crowded Republican primary.”

To view the original aricle, please visit The Daily Telegram at www.lenconnect.com