Attorney General candidate visits Marquette
With November fast approaching, candidates for various offices are making their way around to meet their constituents. One such candidate arrived at the Marquette County Democratic Campaign Headquarters to talk about why he believes he’s the right person for the job.
Mark Totten, a law professor from Michigan State University who also served as a Federal prosecutor, spoke about the issues that he will pursue if elected to the office of Attorney General.
“The Attorney General has jurisdiction over a broad range of issues, but certainly at the top of that list is fighting crime, protecting consumers, and making sure that our very precious environment here – our Great Lakes – are protected as well, and each one of those are going to be priorities for me,” said Totten.
Totten stressed that he wants to protect the foundations set up by former Michigan AG Frank Kelley, who served in that position for a record 37 years. Drugs and the environment in the Upper Peninsula are concerns that Totten’s supporters hope will receive more attention if he is selected by voters in November.
“Some of the issues that impact the Upper Peninsula really should have some influence with the Attorney General,” said 109th District State Representative John Kivela. “The meth problem that we have here, some of the drug issues we have, we haven’t gotten a lot of support from our current Attorney General on some of these issues, so I’m hoping that with the change, we get a little more focus in the Upper Peninsula.”
“I think the biggest thing for those of us in the U.P. is to make sure that we have a safe, clean environment, and I know that he will make that one of the top priorities of his administration,” said Marquette County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Wiese.
Totten also said that as Attorney General, he would hold public hearings to carefully scrutinize the pipeline running below the Straits of Mackinac to keep the state from ever being in the position of cleaning up an oil spill in the Great Lakes.