Hoekstra Won’t Seek Re-Election, Will Run for Governor

Yesterday, MIRS reported that Representative Pete Hoekstra will not run for his Congressional seat in two years.

According to the report, Hoekstra will instead enter the race to become the Republican candidate for governor in 2010, joining Attorney Mike Cox in the race for that seat. In the past, Hoekstra reneged on his promises to only hold office for 12 years and not accept PAC money, so we should probably take this all with a grain of salt, but it’s still interesting.

Although Hoekstra will surely continue to adopt outlandish political positions over the next few years–such as the debate over turtles in Muskegon–we thought it would be prudent to highlight some of our favorite Hoekstra moments of the past few years:

• Hoekstra Admits Close Ties with Blackwater’s Erik Prince
• Hoekstra: Fighting “Radical Jihad”
• “No War, No Warming” Bike Ride Visits Hoekstra Fundraiser and Hummer Dealership
• West Michigan Congressman calls on Republicans to Avoid Debating Iraq
• WOOD TV 8 Hypes Hoekstra’s Iraqi WMDs Claims
• Michigan Representatives Ehlers and Hoekstra Split Vote on COPE Act; Both Vote against Net Neutrality
• Reporting Hoekstra’s Version of Iraq
• Holland Republican Pete Hoekstra named Chairman of House Intelligence Committee

Unfortunately, while Hoekstra’s politics are reprehensible to many progressives, there is little chance that a progressive or even a Democrat will be able to take Hoekstra’s 2nd District seat in 2010. Over the past several years, Democratic candidates have done quite poorly in the district.

Related Posts:

1. Pete Hoekstra Uses Twitter to Post from Iraq about Secret Trip
2. Hoekstra’s Twitter Usage Leads to Government Policy Review
3. Hoekstra Still Supporting Torture
4. Ehlers and Hoekstra Vote for Additional Anti-Immigrant Legislation
5. DeVos says he won’t take governor’s salary

Tags: congress, michigan, pete hoekstra, republicans