A panel of four candidates appeared at the 1st District Candidate Forum Saturday on the campus of Northern Michigan University. There are, from left, Wayne Stiles, D; Justin Michal, R; Zebulon Featherly, I; and Kyle Blomquist, D. (Journal photo by Annie Lippert)

MARQUETTE — On Saturday, four of the candidates vying for Michigan’s 1st Congressional District seat spoke at a candidate forum at the Northern Center. Wayne Stiles (D), Justin Michal (R), Zebulon Featherly, I and Kyle Blomquist, D, were all in attendance. Callie Barr, D and incumbent Jack Bergman, R, did not attend the event.

The forum was one of many organized by eleven groups throughout the 1st Congressional District, mostly consisting of local chapter groups of the organization Indivisible.

Shirley Kriegel, one of the event organizers from Lake Superior Region Indivisible, said that the events, which have included stops in Menominee, Ironwood, Houghton and Escanaba, have been “extremely civil; everyone was polite, and the attendance was pretty good.” After Saturday’s forum the candidates will go on to speak in other cities across the 1st district such as Traverse City and Petoskey.

Kriegel also notes that “it’s possible this has never happened, at least across the whole district … that anywhere in the country any big rural area has gotten candidates to speak across the whole district.”

At the forum, candidates were asked a variety of questions generated by those who attended the event. Rather than a debate format, candidates were asked to each respond in turn, and generally did not address one another’s statements.

The first question that was asked, for example, addressed health care concerns.

“Do you have plans to help improve access to healthcare and decrease out of pocket costs for patients?,” read the question.

Blomquist, D, went first, stating that “I support Medicare for All. I believe that we need to join the rest of the developed world in providing health care, universally, comprehensively, to all its citizens.”

Featherly, I, went next, stating that “I don’t think that the health of American citizens is something that people should be profiting from. Going towards a single payer healthcare system in the first step.” Featherly also referenced using virtual appointments to expand access to health care in rural areas.

Michal, R, stated that “We have a lot of people that are suffering … What we need to do is get people together who are experts, who do understand this … to get together and have these conversations and discussions to come up with plans and solutions to fix it.” Michal also proposed expanding the amount of money that congress can appropriate to federally qualified healthcare centers.

Stiles, D, went last, and stated “We have a cost crisis. What I think that our district and the country can tolerate is, at a minimum, to restore the public option to the Affordable Care Act.” He also proposed decoupling insurance from employment and strengthening rural healthcare options.

Another question asked “What do you think are the three most important things we should be doing here in our district to increase our resilience in the face of climate change?”

Stiles, D, went first, referencing Michigan’s proximity to freshwater resources and the possibility of those resources being exploited. “We’ve had companies like Nestle come into the middle of the state and literally lower the water table for bottled water until residents’ wells are no longer deep enoch to get their own water,” said Stiles. “What we can do at a federal level is we need to make sure that our small communities have access to funds to protect themselves, so when larger corporations come from outside the state and see Michigan as an easy target, they have some money to defend themselves.”

Next was Blomquist, D, who stressed the importance of adopting a Green New Deal, “both for what it does to our carbon output and for our energy resilience, but also for what it does as a jobs program.” He went on to talk about AI data centers, stating “I oppose the location of AI data centers in places like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.” Finally, he addressed how war impacts carbon emissions. “One thing that we should do as a nation is we should move away from this constant cycle of warfare,” said Blomquist. “… We are going to leave our children nothing but ash, at this rate.”

Featherly, I, went third, speaking about the importance of energy independence. “There are a lot of countries that are converting entirely over to solar, wind, thermal, all of these different energy sources, and we are here stagnating and stuck on oil and gas,” said Featherly. “I’m not saying I want to get rid of oil and gas, because I think a wide variety of energy sources is the best way to create a reliable energy grid. What I would love to see for our country is to be energy independent.”

Finally, Michal, R, spoke about how he does not believe in the premise of the question. “They say, oh the humans, they’re putting so much carbon emissions out there, and they’re calculating it, and they’re telling us that we can’t have certain vehicles because it increases our carbon footprint,” said Michal. “But then in that, they don’t talk about when a volcano erupts, that it’s 10 times the amount of carbon that’s produced on the world stage at any given time by humans.” He went on to say that “we need … some alternative energies, but we also need to look at what’s best for us, and look at the reality of the situation for which we live, not what drives policies and positions.”

Hanging over the event was the absence of candidate Barr, D and U.S. Rep. Bergman, R. In response to the question “What is your plan to make in person public visits to the communities you represent? And how do you plan to update and keep the public informed of your activities in Congress?,” Stiles, D, responded “I think that question really needs to be directed at the other two candidates who have not signed up for any of these forums. You have your four answers right here in front of you today.”

More information about the candidates present at Saturday’s forum can be found on their respective websites : https://www.wayne-stiles.com/, https://www.zebulonforcongress.com/, https://www.justinmichalforcongress.com/ and https://www.blomquistforcongress.com/. The primary election for Michigan’s 1st Congressional District will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 5. The first day to vote in person or with an absentee ballot is Friday, June 26.

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is lippert@miningjournal.net.