Michigan’s 10th Congressional District: Alan Sanborn

Conservative combines legislative, law enforcement background

Three of the five Republican candidates running in Michigan’s 10th Congressional District primary on August 2 have legislative experience, including Alan Sanborn. The Mount Clemens native spent almost 13 years in the Michigan Legislature, where he earned his reputation as a fiscal and social conservative. Sanborn was one of the first to enter the race to succeed Congresswoman Candice Miller. He says he’s running because the United States has moved away from traditional values and the Constitution.

“Our Founding Fathers knew what it was they were writing, and it is not a living, breathing document,” Sanborn says. He cited the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage as a misinterpretation of the Constitution. “The Supreme Court didn’t establish marriage, why would they establish gay marriage?” Sanborn asks.

Military spending is something Sanborn says he would restore if elected to Congress. He says cuts have made the country less safe and more prone to terrorism. He also supports Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump‘s call to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to keep people from entering the country illegally. Sanborn says he would introduce legislation to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving government benefits such as Social Security (Editor’s note: The Social Security Administration says noncitizens who are in the country illegally are not entitled to benefits under federal law. A 2013 actuarial memo details also shows unlawful immigrants and their employers paid an estimated $13 billion in Social Security taxes. You can read the report here. U.S.-born children of unlawful immigrants are eligible for public education and other government services and benefits because they are citizens.–pb). Click on the audio player to hear the conversation.

 

Melissa Mason

 

Author

  • Pat Batcheller is a host and Senior News Editor for 101.9 WDET, presenting local news, traffic and weather updates during Morning Edition. He is an amateur musician.