CLICK TO LISTEN TO JACK HALL’S INETRVIEW WITH DAVE PRESTIN
The new 108th state house district will remain red.
The seat held by the term-limited Beau LaFave will now be held by Dave Prestin of Cedar River, after he easily defeated Democrat Chris Lopez 65-percent to 35-percent. With nearly all of the votes counted, Prestin had more than 23,000 votes, compared to roughly 12,000 votes for Lopez.
Prestin says he was “plessantly surprised” by the large margin of victory in a district that, thanks to redistricting, stretches from Norway all the way across the peninsula to Newberry.
“I just want to thank everybody for the incredible support tonight,” Prestin told RRN News. “I’ve done everything I can to serve my local community (paramedic, Menominee County Commissioner) and I look forward to doing my best to serve this new 108th district to the best of my ability. You have my word on that.”
Prestin, who used to run the Cedar River Plaza on M-35 until selling it five years ago, says that listening to Yoopers’ concerns was key to his landslide victory. And he thanked his wife and daughter for going door-to-door with him.
“We must have knocked on 7,500 to 8,000 doors,” he said. “We got to know the district. We just kept introducing ourselves and spreading our message throughout the district.”
The 108th seat used to cover all of Delta, Dickinson, and Menominee Counties, but now includes parts of six Upper Peninsula counties, with Dickinson County cut into two different districts.
“I’m here to do the work to make a difference for the people of the U.P.,” Prestin said. “I moved to the U.P. because I loved it. I loved it as a kid. It was a childhood dream to be able to move back. I see so much potential in the U.P. that gets squandered, and not because of Yoopers, but just because of representation in Lansing. Just a sustained effort to bring relevancy back to the U.P.”
Prestin says that he will work in the state legislature to keep the Line Five pipeline open in the Straits of Mackinac, and he supports the Back Forty mine project in the Stephenson area.
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