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Peter Hoekstra on Principles & Values

Republican Representative (MI-2)


I will either debate her or an empty chair; it's her choice

It appears Stabenow and Hoekstra will campaign for Michigan's Senate seat without meeting for formal debates. Stabenow issued a statement saying she is "ending the ongoing debate over debates, due to Congressman Hoekstra's refusal to accept the traditional U.S. Senate debates and his constant political attacks."

Stabenow had accepted debate invitations at the Detroit Economic Club and Grand Valley State University, which have held U.S. Senate debates in recent Michigan election cycles. Hoekstra said he wanted debates with more exposure.

Hoekstra responded with a comment issued through his campaign: "Michigan families should be appalled that Debbie Stabenow is attempting to cancel all debates." Hoekstra said "she clearly now feels that she can't defend her record."

Hoekstra plans to attend what his campaign called a health care debate in Lansing--but he likely will be the only candidate in attendance. Hoekstra said: "I will either debate her or an empty chair. It is her choice

Source: Michigan Live on 2012 Michigan Senate debates , Oct 10, 2012

Accused of anti-Chinese racism in Super Bowl TV ad

Clark Durant said, "The Super Bowl ad reflected everything wrong with Washington and it will make it impossible for him to beat Debbie Stabenow. It demeaned people. It so demeaned people, the actress came out and asked for forgiveness for participating in Pete's ad."

Actress Lisa Chan, who portrayed the young Asian woman in the ad, apologized via Facebook last week for her role. Hoekstra did not address Clark's accusations or his television ad, which has since been replaced. Pete Hoekstra's Super Bowl advertisement featured a bike-riding Chinese woman thanking incumbent Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow (called Spend-it-now in the promo) in broken English for helping support deficit spending that is aiding the Chinese economy. The ad received national criticism from both sides of the aisle.

Source: Petoskey News on 2012 Michigan Senate debate , Feb 20, 2012

AdWatch: It's not racist to note that US funds help China

In Hoekstra's Super Bowl ad, a young Chinese woman rides a bike through a rice paddy. As a result of Debbie Stabenow's spending, she informs us, the US has to borrow more money from China and "your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs. Thank you, Debbie Spenditnow!"

Hoekstra addressed claims that his ad is inappropriate and plays on racially-charged stereotypes: "The only group of people that this ad is anti" Hoekstra said, "it's anti-Debbie Stabenow, it's anti-Barack Obama, the spending policies of the liberal left."

"You'll notice that the ad," he continued, "points to the opportunities that America's dumb economic policies--deficit spending, trillion dollars of deficits & debt--it creates the opportunities for counties like China and others to take advantage of our weakness."

When asked about the young woman speaking broken English, Hoekstra responded, "it's not a stereotype at all. This is a young woman in China who is speaking English. That's quite an achievement."

Source: Mediaite.com's 2012 MI Senate ad review , Feb 6, 2012

Religious affiliation: Christian Reformed Church.

Hoekstra : religious affiliation:

The Adherents.com website is an independent project and is not supported by or affiliated with any organization (academic, religious, or otherwise).

What’s an adherent?

The most common definition used in broad compilations of statistical data is somebody who claims to belong to or worship in a religion. This is the self-identification method of determining who is an adherent of what religion, and it is the method used in most national surveys and polls.

Such factors as religious service attendance, belief, practice, familiarity with doctrine, belief in certain creeds, etc., may be important to sociologists, religious leaders, and others. But these are measures of religiosity and are usually not used academically to define a person’s membership in a particular religion. It is important to recognize there are various levels of adherence, or membership within religious traditions or religious bodies. There’s no single definition, and sources of adherent statistics do not always make it clear what definition they are using.

Source: Adherents.com web site 00-ADH2 on Nov 7, 2000

Rated 0% by the AU, indicating opposition to church-state separation.

Hoekstra scores 0% by the AU on church-state separation

OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2006 AU scores as follows:

About the AU (from their website, www.au.org):

Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. AU is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving the constitutional principle of church-state separation as the only way to ensure religious freedom for all Americans.

Americans United is a national organization with members in all 50 states. We are headquartered in Washington, D.C., and led by the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director. AU has more than 75,000 members from all over the country. They include people from all walks of life and from various faith communities, as well as those who profess no particular faith. We are funded by donations from our members and others who support church-state separation. We do not seek, nor would we accept, government funding.

Source: AU website 06n-AU on Dec 31, 2006

Contract with America: 10 bills in 1st 100 days of Congress.

Hoekstra signed the Contract with America:

As Republican Members of the House of Representatives and as citizens seeking to join that body, we propose not just to change its policies, but to restore the bounds of trust between the people and their elected representatives. That is why, in this era of official evasion and posturing, we offer instead a detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print.

    Within the first hundred days of the 104th Congress, we shall bring to the House Floor the following bills, each to be given a full and open debate, each to be given a clear and fair vote, and each to be immediately available this day for public inspection and scrutiny:
  1. The Fiscal Responsibility Act: Balanced budget amendment & line item veto
  2. The Taking Back Our Streets Act: More prisons, more enforcement, more death penalty
  3. The Personal Responsibility Act: Limit welfare to 2 years & cut welfare spending
  4. The Families Reinforcement Act: Use tax code to foster families
  5. The American Dream Restoration Act: Repeal marriage tax; cut middle class taxes
  6. The National Security Restoration Act: No US troops under UN command; more defense spending
  7. The Senior Citizens Fairness Act: Reduce taxes on Social Security earnings
  8. The Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act: Incentives to small businesses
  9. The Common Sense Legal Reforms Act: Limit punitive damages
  10. The Citizen Legislature Act: Term limits on Congress
Further, we will work to enact additional budget savings, beyond the budget cuts specifically included in the legislation above, to ensure that the federal budget will be less than it would have been without the enactment of these bills. Respecting the judgment of our fellow citizens as we seek their mandate for reform, we hereby pledge our names to this Contract with America.
Source: Contract with America 93-CWA1 on Sep 27, 1994

Other candidates on Principles & Values: Peter Hoekstra on other issues:
MI Gubernatorial:
Rick Snyder
MI Senatorial:
Carl Levin
Debbie Stabenow
Peter Konetchy
Randy Hekman
Scotty Boman

MI politicians

Retiring as of Jan. 2013:
AZ:Kyl(R)
CT:Lieberman(D)
HI:Akaka(D)
ME:Snowe(R)
ND:Conrad(D)
NE:Nelson(D)
NM:Bingaman(D)
TX:Hutchison(R)
VA:Webb(D)
WI:Kohl(D)


Senate elections Nov. 2012:
AZ:Flake(R) vs.Carmona(D)
CA:Feinstein(D) vs.Emken(R) vs.Lightfoot(L) vs.Taitz(R)
CT:McMahon(R) vs.Murphy(D) vs.Bysiewicz(D) vs.Shays(R)
DE:Carper(D) vs.Wade(R)
FL:Nelson(D) vs.Mack(R) vs.LeMieux(R)
HI:Hirono(D) vs.Case(D) vs.Lingle(R) vs.Pirkowski(R)
IN:Lugar(R) vs.Mourdock(R) vs.Donnelly(D)
MA:Brown(R) vs.Warren(D)
MD:Cardin(D) vs.Bongino(R)
ME:King(I) vs.Dill(D) vs.Summers(R)
MI:Stabenow(D) vs.Hoekstra(R) vs.Boman(L)
MN:Klobuchar(D) vs.Bills(R)
MO:McCaskill(D) vs.Akin(R)
MS:Wicker(R) vs.Gore(D)
MT:Tester(D) vs.Rehberg(R)

ND:Heitkamp(D) vs.Berg(R)
NE:Kerrey(D) vs.Fischer(R)
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NM:Heinrich(D) vs.Wilson(R)
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Page last updated: Oct 17, 2012