Macomb County state House seats
These are the best choices in the Nov. 4 general election.
Term-limits, restricting state House members to three 2-year stays in Lansing, will remove six Macomb County representatives from office at the end of this year, creating some spirited contests in Michigan's third most-populous county. The demographics and politics of Macomb County, once solidly blue-collar and Democratic, have shifted, with Republicans generally dominant now in the north. Macomb voters in recent years have sent some of Michigan's most liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans to the Legislature.
District 28 (Center Line, south and central Warren): Democrat Lesia Liss, 42, of Warren, is competing with Republican Jason Balaska, 32, of Warren, to replace term-limited state Rep. Lisa Wojno, D-Warren.
Both candidates are capable and informed.
Moderate and independent, Balaska is committed to open government, proposing an online record of all state spending. He understands the need for good public schools to improve the state's economic future and would work to reduce class sizes, give local districts more flexibility to manage schools, and ensure access to lifelong learning. He also favors requiring businesses that get state tax breaks to hire a certain share of in-state employees.
Liss is an emergency room nurse. Sharp, compassionate and personable, she would bring much needed expertise on health care issues to Lansing. She also has good ideas on how to improve education and mass transit.
In a close call, LESIA LISS gets the nod. She is a fresh voice focused on moving Michigan forward who would not get bogged down in political bickering.
