GOP candidate Cox knocks Hoekstra over radio address spot

By Michael O'Brien - 05/01/10 12:14 PM ET

The campaign of a Republican candidate for governor of Michigan on Saturday blasted Rep. Pete Hoekstra's (R-Mich.) delivery of the weekly GOP radio address.

A spokesman for Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox (R) chided Hoekstra and, in part, the Republican National Committee (RNC), for the address the congressman delivered Saturday before President Barack Obama's trip to the state.

"Looks like Congressman Hoekstra is just getting an opportunity to apologize to the state of Michigan for voting for the $850 billion Wall Street bailout, co-sponsoring the Bridge to Nowhere, voting to raise the debt ceiling five times from $6 trillion to $11 trillion, and voting for 12 consecutive budgets that increased the annual debt by a trillion dollars including billlions of dollars for thousands of earmarks," Cox spokesman Stu Sandler said. "I hope they gave him enough time."

Republicans settled on Hoekstra to deliver the address ahead of Obama's commencement address on Saturday at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Hoekstra, mentioning his own alumni status at the school, suggested that the president's economic policies had shortchanged graduates of the university.

Cox and Hoekstra, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, have been battling for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the state, where the GOP hopes to reclaim the top executive spot after incumbent Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), who is term-limited, retires.

An EPIC/MRA poll commissioned by the Detroit Free Press in late March showed Hoekstra maintaining an advantage over Cox.

27 percent of GOP primary voters said they would vote for Hoekstra if the election were held then, compared to 21 percent who preferred. Businessman Rick Snyder drew 15 percent, while former Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard got 13 percent.

The poll, conducted March 28-31, has a 4.9 percent margin of error for the primary sample. The Snyder campaign did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Cross-posted to the Briefing Room.