The following is a short entry from Stephen Wooden, our Chief of Staff.

The Original Republican

When I moved to East Lansing from Grand Rapids in 2009, the first thing I did was find an internship in the Capitol.  I did it to cure homesickness in my own odd way.  When visiting the State Capitol for the first time, I saw the statue of Governor Austin Blair.  Again, in my own odd way, I went to my Smartphone to see who the man was.

It was here that I read how he was the Governor of Michigan during the American Civil War.  Austin Blair was originally a member of the Michigan Legislature.  He led to fight to abolish the death penalty.  He also fought to give women and African Americans the right to vote.  The most impressive thing he did was recruit 90,000 men and boys, nearly one-eighth of our state’s population, to fight in the Civil War.  He almost lost all of his life savings to contribute to the war effort.  This was done because he felt that the Union must be upheld, and it must be a totally free Union.  Not a country where half is free and the other half not, he wanted a free Republic.  He was truly a man before is time.

What’s important to remember on this day is that he was one of the founders of the Republican Party.  He was Chair of the original “Under the Oaks” Republican Party convention in Jackson.  He was a man before his time, believing that equality and human rights were more important than politics.

It pains me to say that the men and women who run this government put Governor Blair to shame today.  By passing HB 4770 the Michigan Legislature took a step back in the fight for equality and human rights.  This legislation is only after a long list of civil and human rights infractions this year.  They have tried relentlessly to say that same-sex couples are not equal to heterosexual couples.  The Michigan Senate Republicans even said it was okay to bully a child for being gay, as long as they had a religious purpose. We even said that people’s voting rights did not matter anymore.

If Austin Blair were alive today, he would have some terse words to share with the people who run the party he formed.  After sacrificing personally to make this Union free and equal, his own state put him to shame.