Dingell vs. Kallgren

U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, and his Republican opponent, Cynthia Kallgren, disagreed on issues ranging from health care to the federal deficit at a Wednesday afternoon candidate forum hosted by the West Washtenaw Business Association. Read the story.

TBD: To Be Destroyed

With less than a week to go until Tuesday's primary, congressional candidate Daniel Marcin acknowledges his bid to unseat U.S. Rep. John Dingell is a long shot. In an interview with AnnArbor.com, the Ann Arbor Democrat conceded he'll be happy if he gets 15 percent of the vote against the 29-term congressman from Dearborn. "But he's raised like 500 times more money than I have, so he has to get 500 times more votes than me for it to be a success," he said half-jokingly. Read the story.

The Congressman And The Mayor

I found these old candid shots of U.S. Rep. John Dingell and Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje from Oct. 18, 2010, when funding was announced for the reconstruction of the East Stadium Boulevard bridge spans in Ann Arbor. Figured I'd post them for posterity.

83-Year-Old Bridge

With sledgehammers in hand, Ann Arbor officials joined U.S. Rep. John Dingell today in taking a ceremonial first whack at the Stadium bridges. The 83-year-old spans over South State Street and the nearby Ann Arbor Railroad tracks will be completely demolished starting next week as part of a $22.8 million project. Dingell said the federal funding almost didn't happen. "We had to yell twice as loud to get this one," he said during today's groundbreaking ceremony. Read the story.

One Week To Go

With one week to go before the Nov. 2 election, Democrat Virg Bernero told a crowd gathered on Eastern Michigan University's campus Monday night that education will be among his top priorities if elected governor. "I'm not here to say, 'Elect me and it'll all be peaches and cream,' but I am here to tell you these are my priorities: education, public safety, economic development — meaning jobs," Bernero told a crowd of about 140 gathered inside EMU's Student Center. Bernero was joined by U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, who discussed a fight for education he says the Democrats are leading. Read the story here.

Big Willy Style's All In It

Former President Bill Clinton arrived in Ann Arbor today to stump for U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, who is being challenged by Republican Rob Steele on Nov. 2. This is one of those times as a photographer when you want to scream. No, not because Bill Clinton is scary. But because I was stuck in a press section in the back of a very large auditorium and told I couldn't move up closer. That forced me to have to shoot straight on against a gaudy orange background from far away the entire afternoon. Ugh. Anyway, it was an interesting rally. Lots of politicking and Tea Party bashing. Read the story here. Oh, and that last photo is of a U-M a cappella group called Gimble that was probably the highlight of the day for me. They opened with this cover of "Far From Home" by the Gabe Dixon Band, one of my favorite bands in the whole wide world (I didn't think anybody knew who they were). Oh, and I have to give a shout out to Bill for looking pretty healthy these days (it's that new "almost vegan" diet of his). He has followed in daughter Chelsea's vegan footstep in hopes of becoming healthier (he had a quadruple heart bypass in 2004) and has reported losing 24 pounds since starting the diet. "I live on beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer recently. "I drink a protein supplement every morning — no dairy — I drink almond milk mixed in with fruit and a protein powder so I get the protein for the day." Viva la vegan.

Two For The Money

U.S. Congressman John Dingell, D-Dearborn, and Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje appeared side-by-side today during a press conference in the shadow of the 93-year-old East Stadium Boulevard bridge span over South State Street in Ann Arbor. They celebrated a nearly $14 million federal grant on its way to the city to help reconstruct the bridge and another span over the nearby railroad tracks. "This project sort of hung on the cusp for a while, and it is one of two I'm told that are going to be coming into this state," Dingell said, holding up two fingers to indicate how lucky Ann Arbor was to receive the funding. Read the story here.

Million-Dollar Man

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, led by CEO Michael Ford, accepted a $1 million federal grant today to help rebuild the Blake Transit Center in downtown Ann Arbor. Here, Ford applauds Congressman John Dingell. Read the story.

Democrats Unite

Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean told a crowd of mostly University of Michigan students Wednesday night that a victory for Democrats in the November midterm elections is anything but assured. "You caused a revolution in this country two years ago. We are in danger of losing everything that you worked for," he said. "We can't let that happen. All I'm asking is, for the next 55 days, that you get your friends involved like you did two years ago." With less than two months to go until the Nov. 2 election, Dean urged the crowd gathered at Rackham Auditorium in Ann Arbor to sign up to volunteer for the campaigns of Democratic Congressmen John Dingell, Mark Schauer and Gary Peters, shown in the pictures below. Read the story here.

Election Night

This was the scene at the victory party at Vie Spa & Fitness in downtown Ann Arbor on Election Night. Mayor John Hieftje cruised past his opponent, as did Council Members Margie Teall and Carsten Hohnke. Sandi Smith, who celebrated over at Braun Court, barely squeaked by in a close race. U.S. Congressman John Dingell, D-Dearborn, was in attendance, as was a long-lost former council member who lost by six votes last August.