Republican Parker Fairbairn and Democrat Jodi Decker are facing off in the 107th District race, a Republican-leaning district where voters may already be familiar with the candidates.
Both Fairbairn and Decker ran in 2022, losing to eventual winner Neil Friske in the primary and general elections respectively.
This year, Fairbairn ousted Friske in the Republican primary.
Fairbairn is a business manager from Harbor Springs and member of the Emmet County Farm Bureau. Decker is a social worker and a single mom from Sault Ste. Marie.
The candidates say that economic concerns rank among the top issues for voters in the district.
“Housing and just the condition of the economy right now, inflation’s record heights,” Fairbairn said. “It’s hard to find housing. Groceries are more expensive than they ever have been.”
Decker emphasized the need for low income housing in the upper peninsula, which she says the state should help fund.
“Housing shortages, childcare shortages, affordable childcare, and just the prices of things in general,” Decker listed as priorities of hers.
Both candidates expressed a desire to intervene in changes to Michigan’s tipped wage that would go into effect in February.
The policy, originally diluted by republicans but restored by the Michigan Supreme Court, would move to eliminate the state’s tipped wage over the coming years, which would be replaced by a raised minimum wage.
“I’m not hearing anybody saying that they want the minimum wage,” Decker said. “In fact, I was talking to some servers the other day and asked them what they thought about it, and they told me, ‘I don’t come here for my wage. I come here for the tips.’”
Fairbairn says he’s concerned about the impact on the hospitality industry and workers alike.
“This is going to affect businesses in Northern Michigan, the eastern Upper Peninsula, I think, much worse than across the state, because we are so focused on tourism and and people coming up here,” he said.
The candidates also discussed Line Five, the oil and gas pipeline running through the straits of Mackinac and directly through the 107th District.
Decker raised concerns about the 71 year old pipeline’s reliability.
“The great lakes hold 21% of our world’s fresh water reserve, and why would we risk that?,” she said. “Enbridge, I believe, is a bad actor.”
Enbridge, the operator of Line Five, says that the pipeline could operate indefinitely if properly maintained.
Fairbairn says that he would support Line Five’s continued operation and the construction of a protective tunnel that has been approved by Michigan regulators.
“If you get rid of Line Five, we’re still going to be having to truck propane and truck fuel over the Mackinac Bridge,” he said. “And you look at the environmental factors of that and the impact that that would have if one of those tanker trucks spilled over on a windy day on the Mackinac Bridge.”
Voters have until election day on Nov. 5 to cast their ballot. Absentee ballots are available now, while in-person early voting will begin by Oct. 26 statewide and earlier in some communities.