By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Goodrich — Last week a village resident announced his write-in campaign to become the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s 68th House district. The votes were finalized by the Genesee County Clerk following a statutorily-required canvassing of write-in ballots. As of Thursday, Oakland County Clerk has not finalized their votes.
Matt Schlinker, joined the race following the passing of former State Representative Tim Sneller, who was running as the sole Democrat for the 68th House in the Aug. 6 primary. Following Sneller’s death on July 11, Schlinker moved forward with a short two-week write-in campaign and secured 1,216 write-in votes, exceeding the 456 votes needed. The electoral threshold, or minimum share of votes that Schlinker required was 5% of the Democrat vote for the U.S. Senate within the area. In this case, Michigan Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin run for the U.S. Senate which topped Hill Harper for the Democratic nomination.
Schlinker will face incumbent challenger Republican Rep. David Martin in the November election.
“I hadn’t planned on any of this, but when my friend Tim passed away, I knew that we had to continue his legacy and vision that he had for our community and our state,” said Schlinker.
A 47-year employee with General Motors as both an hourly and salaried worker, Schlinker has been a resident of Genesee County for years with his wife of over 40 years. During his career he also served on the Flint City Council, the Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Board, and the Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission, and currently serves on the Goodrich Planning Commission.
“I am honored and humbled by the vast support that I’ve received in the last few weeks,” he stated. “I know that Tim was fighting for the values to ensure Michigan moves forward and I will be taking that fight to Lansing after November.”