By Alethia Kasben
Managing Editor
Posted: October 30, 2017 4:39 PM

Michigan Republicans are making a push in the 109th House District in the Upper Peninsula’s Marquette area and their candidate is not relying on ideology, instead trying to align himself with the late Democrat who held the seat, former Rep. John Kivela.

Mr. Kivela took his own life earlier this year, which has led to next week’s special election. Republican Rich Rossway, who has spent nearly two decades on the Marquette School Board, is running against a Democratic Marquette City Commissioner Sara Cambensy.

Mr. Rossway does not necessarily advertise he is a Republican, and is relying on a U.P. voter tendency to look at people, not candidates. On his Facebook page he notes the endorsement of Mr. Kivela’s sister and even nodded to Mr. Kivela’s political style during a debate last week.

Another move by Mr. Rossway is a letter of support from his daughter Rhonda, who is gay and spoke of the immediate support she received from her father when she came out.

“When I told him I wanted to go to graduate school, he helped me research programs, and when I told him I liked women, he immediately mailed me some rainbow colored accessories and offered to drive down to meet by girlfriend,” Mr. Rossway’s daughter wrote in a letter supporting her father’s candidacy.

Mr. Rossway’s support of Medicaid expansion also makes him different from many Republicans in the state.

When I asked Mr. Rossway earlier this year what made him decide to run as a Republican, he said for him it came down to abortion, which he opposes. But in interviews with me and others he has emphasized that he would be a lawmaker who votes on principle not party.

“The rest of the platforms, I am going to do my best,” Mr. Rossway said of other issues outside of abortion.

Mr. Rossway still has more than a half-century of history against him with Democrats holding the 109th House District since the 1950s. And his position on abortion will turn away many Democrats. The 109th House District has elected Democrats who support abortion rights for a long time.

Republicans know the district and are expecting this race to be closer than it has in the past. Democrats are confident this seat will stay in their column for the time being.

The Upper Peninsula’s politics have shifted in the past 15 years toward the GOP. The exception has been the heart of the 109th District – Marquette and environs, which remain Democratic turf. Mr. Rossway has done enough to make it worth the GOP’s while to support him financially. Whether he could actually win? There’s plenty of doubt in both parties, but if ever a Republican fit the profile to make the Democrats not take the seat for granted, Mr. Rossway is it.