Confidence is an important asset in politics, but I wonder if Rep. Rick Jones is taking things a bit too far.
In his earthy letter to fellow House Republicans about the State Police HQ, the Grand Ledge Republican wrote, “Everywhere I go in my Senate district people are talking about it.”
Jones’ Senate district would be the 24th, currently represented by Sen. Patricia Birkholz, R-Saugatuck Township. But Birkholz is term-limited from the Senate in 2010. And Jones is term-limited from the House in the same year.
Jones, the former Eaton County sheriff, apparently is not content to end his political career in the House. Just after the 2008 elections, Jones formed a Senate campaign committee. Presumably he is raising money for that campaign even now (the most recent report filed for his committee was in January and it showed no funds raised).
The 24th Senate District covers some reliable Republican territory, as it reaches all the way from Delta Township in Eaton County to Saugatuck on the Lake Michigan shore. A Republican nominee with name ID should have a good chance in 2010, though Eaton County has been trending Democratic in recent years (just ask Tim Walberg).
