‘Friske Had Nearly 100% Name ID In The District,’ MIRS Meets Fairbairn Of HD-107

Michigan Freedom Caucus member Rep. Neil Friske (R-Charlevoix) carried nearly 100 percent name recognition across Northern Michigan’s 107th state House district, says Parker Fairbairn, the Republican challenger who defeated Friske in the primary elections.

“People knew who he was, and they had an opinion on who he was, and I think it’s clear via the doors we did and the result … people knew who he was and didn’t want him as their state rep, and their vote in the House anymore,” said Fairbairn on Monday’s episode of the MIRS Monday podcast.

The 107th House district covers Northern Michigan communities like Charlevoix, Petoskey, Bliss Township, Mackinac Island and the Upper Peninsula’s Drummond Island.

The district’s Republican primary became highly watched among political observers in Michigan, due to its incumbent, Friske. The legislator is part of the House’s Freedom Caucus, which is considered the ultra-conservative bloc of Republican lawmakers, with members often affiliated with the grassroots followers of former President Donald Trump.

Friske kicked off his legislative term as one of eight Republicans to oppose the ceremonial vote that made Rep. Joe Tate (D-Detroit) the Speaker of the House, and has not served on any legislative committees as of March 2023. Additionally, as of late June, Lansing law enforcement was looking into an arrest made on Friske, and reports of him chasing an adult dancer with “possible shots that were fired.”

Fairbairn, 25, of Harbor Springs, defeated Friske with more than 63 percent of the vote in a Republican primary that 16,751 voters participated in, representing a nearly 5 percent increase in voter turnout from the district’s 2022 Republican primary, in which 15,954 residents cast ballots.

“I truly believe the ‘no committees’ was a big thing, the constantly voting no,” Fairbairn said. “I serve on our Emmet County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, a few different boards across the district, and just overwhelmingly, people were so dissatisfied with a rep who says they’ll do something, and then (goes) down to Lansing and (doesn’t) pursue those requests or those asks from the people in the district at all.”

A part of Fairbairn’s strategy was targeting Friske’s no votes, like him being one of two House members to oppose HB 5569 and HB 5570, outlawing the creation and circulation of deep fake pornographic images, artificially portraying a non-consenting individual.

Also, Friske was one of five representatives to oppose a three-bill Senate package allowing the spouses of disabled veterans to continue to receive property tax exemptions, even for a new home they purchase as a widow.

In August 2022, Fairbairn lost to Friske by 1,061 votes, coming in second place in a five-person primary arena. This year, it was a head-to-head match between Fairbairn and Friske.

When asked on the podcast if his Aug. 6 win signals that the 107th House district is over MAGA spectacles, Fairbairn said he believes the election “was a resounding result that the people just want someone who’s going to go down there, do the job, no nonsense, sit on committees, listen to the needs of the district and execute down in Lansing.”

“So I do believe that people are tired of all talk and no performance,” he said, later adding that while he believes he’ll be voting for a Republican House speaker after this year’s elections, he “won’t have a problem” taking the ceremonial yes-vote for a Democratic speaker if Democrats are in the majority.

Fairbairn additionally raised and spent more than Friske. As of July 21, Fairbairn’s candidate committee had brought in $132,185 in total contributions and had spent $127,124.93. Meanwhile, Friske’s campaign raised $68,485.15 and spent $57,193.04 this election cycle.

As for his own background, Fairbairn has served as chair of the Emmet County Republican Party since December 2022, and is a member of the Emmet County Farm Bureau’s board of directors. Moreover, his family runs a five-generation hardware, plumbing and heating company in Alanson, a village about 12 miles away from Petoskey.

In July of last year, he graduated from Northwood University’s DeVos Graduate School with a Master of Business Administration degree.

When discussing challenging moments on the campaign trail, Fairbairn said he was bitten by a dog for the second consecutive election cycle.

“It happens … you’re in your car at the end of their driveway. You’re walking up to their house, and you just get chased down by a German shepherd. And not fun,” Fairbairn said, adding that, “we knocked on 11,000 doors … and of course, our district goes into the U.P., so (there are) different needs across the district.

“But at the end of the day … people just want to be heard, and that was what I (resoundingly) heard at the doors, is: ‘we have a state rep who isn’t listening to the needs of us’ or ‘we tell them something, and then we don’t hear back.’ Canceling coffee hours … all sorts of stuff like that, and I think it’s just the job of the state representative to listen and serve, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

In terms of the issues, Fairbairn is looking at regulations and housing. Furthermore, he believes Republicans have an opportunity to make the distinction between illegal immigrants and migrant workers in their rhetoric, as workers from overseas participating in the federal H-2A and H-2B labor programs are relied upon by Northern Michigan’s farming and tourism communities.

With the 107th House district easily considered to be a Republican stronghold, Fairbairn will now be spending the general election season campaigning for Lisa Trombley in the Traverse City area.

Trombley, the retired government contractor for the Lockheed Martin aerospace and defense company, will be competing against Rep. Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City) in the competitive 103rd House district, containing Traverse City, Glen Arbor and Suttons Bay.

Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter

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