The 2016 election may be well over a year away. but political chess pieces are already being slid into place.
Once again, the 1st Congressional District representing Northern Michigan in Washington will be a hotly contested region.
Already, former Michigan Democrat Party Chair Lon Johnson has resigned his post to run against incumbent Republican Dan Benishek.
And now, Benishek’s previous opponent Jerry Cannon appears set to run again though he lost in 2014 with a 52-45 split.
Benishek insists he is not focused on campaigning so early.
The Iron Mountain Republican may not be willing to talk about campaigning for next year’s election. but that doesn’t mean his campaign his sitting idly by.
They just released his 2nd quarter fundraising results and his representatives are calling it his largest quarter ever by raking in $414,000 for a total of $426,000 cash on hand.
In an email to potential donors, Benishek said he must raise twice as much money as his Democrat challengers since he expects there to be two of them in Johnson and Cannon.