Candidate for 1st district focuses on battling U.P. pipeline

ISHPEMING — A candidate running for the first congressional district seat has been traveling across the U.P. to discuss the focuses of his campaign.

In June of 2015, Lon Johnson announced his candidacy for the seat held by Doctor Dan Benishek for the last four years.
Since then, Johnson has been promoting his intentions of investing and protecting what he calls the greatest assets the UP has to offer: the land and the Great Lakes.

“One, we need to create a place where our families can stay and succeed. We’re losing way too many of our kids and grandkids to downstate and out of state. Second, we need to keep us both beautiful and profitable and third, we need to create a government that’s every bit as honest and hardworking as the people who pay for it and that’s us.”

Johnson is in favor of returning passenger rail services and creating a fresh water institute. In addition to the policies he’d like to implement, Johnson supports shutting down Line five.

“There’s smart places to put a pipeline and there’s not such smart places to put a pipeline and the Straights of Mackinaw and those currents, it’s just not a good idea. If we were to have a leak there, the damage to our economy, our ecology, our health, the risk is just too great. This is a Canadian pipeline running through and just using Michigan as a shortcut. So Canada gets its oil, Enbridge, the pipeline company, gets its money, and Michigan is taking all the risk here.”

Johnson will be continuing his campaign on the west side of the U.P. tomorrow.