Attorney general candidate campaigns in Upper Peninsula
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MARQUETTE -- Eli Savit, current prosecuting attorney of Washtenaw County and Democratic nominee for Michigan Attorney General, made a stop in Marquette recently as part of a larger campaign tour of the Upper Peninsula.
This was Savit's 7th campaign visit to the U.P., with stops in Sault Ste. Marie for a Chippewa Democratic Party fundraiser, Luce County for the grand re-opening of the Luce County Democratic Party office, a canvass launch in Marquette and an event at Northern Michigan University.
"As I travel the state, the number one thing that's really on everybody's mind is the cost of living," said Savit in an interview with The Mining Journal. "That's something that the Attorney General actually has some hooks to address."
For example, Dana Nessel, current Michigan Attorney General who cannot seek re-election due to term limits, has announced that she is suing Blue Cross Blue Shield for illegal health insurance monopoly, saying that their alleged violations of Michigan's anti-trust law have "significantly contributed to, or caused, many of the rising costs and negative health outcomes facing Michigan residents."
"I have pledged to create a dedicated worker's rights unit in the office of Attorney General to make sure that bosses aren't stealing from worker's paychecks," said Savit. "Especially at this time, everybody needs to get paid exactly what they earn and exactly what they are owed.
"The other thing is consumer protection authority ... The Attorney General can't bring wages up or prices down by themselves, but what I can do is make sure that bad actors aren't price gouging folks and taking advantage of this economic uncertainty to wring that last cent or that last dollar out of them. That's something I certainly intend to prioritize as attorney general."
As for issues that are more specific to the U.P., Savit is looking to address the cost of electricity and the availability of healthcare in the U.P.
"The Attorney General has the authority to challenge utility rates," said Savit. "That's something I plan to do aggressively.
"…The availability of healthcare is something I hear so much about throughout the Upper Peninsula. It's unconscionable right now, that if you live in the Western U.P. and you're pregnant, you may not be able to give birth in the state of Michigan, because the closest O.B. is in Wisconsin." Savit said that he is committed to "really making sure that we are using the Attorney General's anti-trust authorities, scrutinizing hospital mergers and healthcare consolidation and making sure that everything that is done is not just raising prices on people unnecessarily, but also assuring the continuation of services ... there's perhaps no place in the state where, in the health care space, that dynamic is more pronounced than in the Upper Peninsula."
Savit's background in environmental law is also something he plans to draw upon if elected.
"There's parts of the U.P., like parts of our entire state, which have suffered PFAS contamination, especially out in the Menominee River in the Western U.P.
"I've actually been a practicing environmental lawyer, and I've taken on corporate polluters focusing on PFAS litigation. I have a pretty simple motto with that: you make a mess, you clean it up, and that should apply to bad corporate actors just like the rest of us."
Savit is currently the elected Prosecuting Attorney for Washtenaw County, where he has prioritized taking on predators and those who commit sexual assault. In that role, he has started cold case rape kit initiatives that have investigated and prosecuted old rape cases that had remained unsolved.
Previously to that position, Savit worked as a public interest lawyer, suing the opioid industry. He began his law career working for late Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor and previously to that was an eighth grade U.S. history instructor, teaching both special education and general education classes.
Savit is running against Republican nominee Doug Lloyd. Election day is Nov. 3.
Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.