Dick Posthumus
Lieutenant Governor, State of Michigan
1999-2003

November 15, 2006

To all of my good friends:

While Pam and I no longer send out our annual Christmas card picture of our family, it does not mean we don't think about you often. The twenty years I spent in public service was rewarding because of the friendship and support of people like you.

While I did not have the opportunity to serve as your Governor, if I step back in time to my youth, I would never have dreamt that I would have had the opportunity (with your help) to serve as the Leader of the Senate and in Michigan's second highest office as Lt. Governor. For that I thank you again.

As we are about to finish our third year of private life, we have so much to be thankful for. Since leaving office, Pam and I have been blessed with four grandchildren; I have become a cancer survivor; have become an owner and operator of a small manufacturing facility; and still we get to spend a lot of time on our farm and at our cottage.

Today, I am writing to you because a battle has already started for the Chairmanship of the State Party. It is unfortunate that before the dust has settled from the election and a thorough analysis of it can be made, a challenge to Saul's leadership began. But the dye was cast and now it is for you to decide who should lead this party in the next two years.

I am urging you to support Saul Anuzis for reelection. He has earned it, and we need his enthusiasm, hard work, and leadership.

There is no question this was a bad year for the Republican Party. But the real question is `how did we do in Michigan relative to the national trend?' It is better to judge a leader when things are bad, not when things are good. How did that leader take you through the bad times? By any objective standard, Saul took the Michigan Republican party through this tough year with a better outcome then the nation and all of the states around us from Pennsylvania to Minnesota.

While Michigan took its losses, it maintained every one of its Congressional seats; it reelected a Secretary of State; it reelected an Attorney General; it reelected Maura Corrigan to the Supreme Court; and it elected a majority of State Senators to control the Michigan Senate. This is a tribute to the hard work of each of these campaigns, as well as the organization and hard work of Saul and what he was able to do with your help in this kind of a year. While we should not be satisfied with this, we should recognize we did better than nearly any other State Party around us, and we should build on that-not tear it down.

Recently, you may have received a letter from some of the Kent County party leaders. While they are my good friends and I respect them deeply, I have to respectfully disagree with them on several counts. First, party leaders have the right to support whoever they choose. However, they should not have the right to use party letterhead to further that position without a vote from the county executive committee. Even then, I think it is wiser to use personal letterhead, not party letterhead. The party is the tool to unite us not to divide us.

Secondly, I think the approach of attacking Saul in such a way was unworthy of them and certainly runs against President Reagan's 11th commandment to not attack fellow Republicans.

Finally, they said they were not supporting Saul because the state party sent a brochure intended to help elect a State Representative in Grand Rapids, but instead caused his defeat and the defeat of a county commissioner. This brochure was said by our opponents and some in the press to have racial overtones and caused the African American community to vote for the Democrat candidates. The facts and the pollster who followed the House race simply do not support this accusation. Did a large number of African American voters turn out in Grand Rapids? Yes. Did they vote overwhelmingly for the Democrats? Yes. Was it because of the brochure? Absolutely not!!! The fact is a large number of African American voters turned out in Detroit where Dick DeVos made many concerted efforts to reach them with our message yet they voted against us with the same kind of margin as in Grand Rapids. The Republican candidates will begin to win these and other minority voters only when they are seen as working on their behalf day-in and day-out while not abandoning their principals. That is where we must direct our efforts; from working with African Americans in the inner cities of Detroit and Grand Rapids to working with the Arab American community in Dearborn to working with Hispanic citizens in Holland, Lansing, Saginaw, and other communities

The Republican Party of Michigan has a big job ahead of it. We need a leader who has been proven under fire. Saul Anuzis has proven himself to be that kind of leader. He has led us through a very difficult year with better outcomes then most other State Party Chairs in the nation. His enthusiasm, hard work, and dedication to principals are what we need right now. Please give him your support.

His supporters have put together a web site where we can all sign on to show are support. It is www.anuzisforchair.com. Please go to it and sign on now.

Sincerely and with deep respect,

Dick Posthumus