By Brandon Hall
(Email Him At WestMIPolitics@Gmail.com)
Standing with President Trump is nothing new for Matt Hall, who has backed "The Donald" since he first announced his campaign in 2015.
Hall ended the #NeverTrump movement while serving on the Rules Committee in Cleveland.
Hall chaired the 3rd District for Trump's Michigan campaign.
And when Wendy Day used her official MIGOP title to go on TV and bash President Trump just weeks before the election, Hall led the fight to have her removed.
That's why it shouldn't surprise anyone watching the 63rd State House primary battle that Hall has made the President a focal point in his race against State Rep. David Maturen, a #NeverTrump, establishment backed legislator who is weak on life and other issues important to conservatives.
Hall is well funded, a fact that has the Lansing swamp on edge. Hall is destroying Maturen in fundraising, sporting a $170,000 haul to Maturen's nearly $75,000
With Hall on the verge of a major win, the establishment empire is striking back, using shady groups with secret donors to attack him for misguided emails that are nearly 20 years old. Hall has apologized.
Allies of Maturen are also on TV desperately trying to link Maturen with President Trump, trying to mitigate Hall's strong Trump credentials.
Maturen's own words tell the real story.
He recently told Gongwer that "Mr. Trump is shaking things up and "maybe that is good to some extent," but overall his thoughts on the president have not changed."
What were those thoughts exactly? TRASHING our President!
According to WMKU:
"Asked about the Presidential election, Maturen says he never tells anyone how he’s to going to vote. But Maturen says he won’t endorse the Republican nominee Donald Trump. Maturen says Trump’s misogynistic comments don’t sit well with him. He has been married for 45 years and has three daughters. Maturen served in the army from 1971-73 during a time when John McCain was being held prisoner in Vietnam. Maturen says Trump is out of bounds to say McCain wasn’t a hero. Maturen is also bothered by Trump’s comments about Mexicans because his son in law is a Mexican national. Maturen says it would be hard to face his family if he endorsed Trump."
Maturen's legislative record is completely horrendous.
To start, he has voted for the gas tax hike, vehicle registration fee increases, and multiple other terrible money grabs. He responded to criticism from Hall, “how else are you going to pay for the roads?” Wow!
Maturen has a D rating with NRA, and has said questionable things about gun rights.
"I don’t think someone needs to be able to just buy a gun... We think there should be some training to get it," Maturen said recently. Hall sports an Aq NRA rating...
Maturen was part of the "dirty dozen," 12 GOP House members who voted against a marginal income tax cut in 2017
As if problems with the Trump crowd weren't enough for Maturen, he is also the only sitting Republican legislator who did not receive the endorsement of Right To Life.
Even outside of politics, controversy hounds Maturen.
According to MLive:
" State Rep. Dave Maturen "traumatized" a family he narrowly missed before getting into a fiery car crash a week ago.
The wreck occurred while Maturen was headed to Battle Creek to meet Legislative Director Sherry Sofia and participate in the Grand Cereal Parade on Friday, June 9. According to an incident report from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office, Maturen was ticketed for being unable to stop in an assured clear distance in the crash.
At approximately 5:33 p.m., Vicksburg resident Julie Kuber, carrying her fiancee's 9-year-old daughter and a friend's 10-year-old daughter, began to slow down at the intersection of 38th Street and MN Avenue north of Climax Township. Her fiancee, 15-year-old son and his friend began turning their 27-foot-long recreational vehicle left onto 38th Street when Maturen approached them from behind.
Undersheriff Paul Matyas said Maturen wasn't paying attention to the roadway. By the time he noticed the vehicles stopped ahead of him it was almost too late.
"I (told the girls) bear down, because this guy is going to hit us," Kuber said. "I'm watching and there's nothing I can do."
At the last second, Maturen swerved out of the way and lost control of his vehicle, which turned off the road and hit a tree. Kuber said the impact sent Maturen's vehicle sailing through the air before landing on its side.
"The whole car flew," she said. "Thank God that he swerved the last minute. If he hit us something very bad would have come out of it."
Hall made the right choice choosing to primary Maturen instead of Rep. Justin Amash, the seat he originally filed for.
Hall, a longtime Republican activist who recently became a lawyer, is on the brink of defeating an incumbent State House member in the primary.
Before Lee Chatfield bounced Frank Foster in 2014, it hadn't happened in a long time. .MIRS has labeled Maturen the most at risk Republican incumbent of 2018 for good reason, possibly headed for the same fate as Foster.
Before Lee Chatfield bounced Frank Foster in 2014, it hadn't happened in a long time. .MIRS has labeled Maturen the most at risk Republican incumbent of 2018 for good reason, possibly headed for the same fate as Foster.
When voters in the 63rd cast their ballots Tuesday, they won't just be choosing between Hall and Maturen, they'll be choosing between the conservative, "Trump Republican" brand, or the establishment status quo, and the failed politics of the past.
The elites are petrified voters will choose a new direction-it could be an omen for 2020 and beyond.
Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.
