ELECTION 2024: GOP candidates seek 103rd nomination

Jordan Travis, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·4 min read

Jul. 12—TRAVERSE CITY — Three Republicans are campaigning for a chance to unseat a Democrat in her first term serving the state House of Representatives' 103rd District.

Tripp Garcia, Katie Kniss and Lisa Trombley are facing off in the Aug. 6 primary for the GOP nomination:

Tripp Garcia

Garcia said he's running because he believes politicians are out to enrich themselves and they don't listen to the people. He's not a politician, he said, and wants to focus on what people want, mainly lowering costs — that includes the cost of health insurance.

His wife's health struggles showed him how hard it is to afford good coverage, and how much even the insured have to pay out-of-pocket.

Garcia also said he believes the government should do more for veterans. After serving, they need help transitioning to civilian life, especially from other veterans who understand what they're going through.

"We taught them to fight, we taught them to kill, now we need to teach them to live back in the civilized world, now we need to help them heal their scars — not only physically but mentally," he said.

Education is another important topic for Garcia, he said. He believes students need to be taught more life skills like car maintenance, balancing a checkbook and sewing, while being taught less politics. Garcia also believes teachers need to be more engaging for students.

Katie Kniss

Kniss said she's running because she's frustrated at what she called Coffia's failure to represent the district's true interests. She accused the representative of running as a moderate, but voting for a liberal agenda that advances more control in Lansing.

Major issues for Kniss include tackling the cost of living, housing and high inflation. She said she wants to make the state affordable for young adults so they don't have to move away. To that end, she supports eliminating property taxes to help people grow their wealth, and stay on property they inherited.

Kniss said she would replace that lost revenue by eliminating reckless spending on pet projects, and looking for ways to support schools aside from property taxes.

Election security also is an important issue for Kniss, who said she believes far too many people don't trust the election system.

"We just need to address those concerns in a satisfactory manner, because when people lose faith in the elections process, they don't go vote. And we need people to vote," she said.

Lisa Trombley

Trombley said she's running because she wants to make a difference. She's an active citizen who believes her skills in team-building to address critical challenges would be useful in Lansing.

"I have been accountable to many folks over the years, and I want to go be accountable to the people of the 103, let their voices be heard in Lansing and then to hold those around me equally accountable for the state of Michigan," she said.

Michigan needs to get its financial house in order, Trombley said. She backs cutting wasteful spending while making needed investments in energy and critical infrastructure, like bridges, roads and dams.

Energy policy also is important, Trombley said. It's crucial for business and everyday life, she said, but the state's plans are lacking. Mandates are one thing, but the state needs a plan to reach its energy goals, she said.

Trombley said she's concerned about plans to divert money from the school pension system, and that faltering reading levels for fourth-graders prove that schools need proper investment.

Garcia, Kniss and Trombley all had opinions on illegal immigration: Garcia said he wants the money spent on assisting people in the country illegally to be spent instead on helping people who are on Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.

Both Kniss and Trombley said they have no problem with immigrants who follow the law. Trombley said immigration has economic and cultural benefits. Both backed state-level measures, such as not issuing driver's licenses to those immigrants who are in the country illegally.

In November, one of these candidates who wins the Republican nomination will face state Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City, who has no primary challenger.

Betsy Coffia

Coffia said she's proud of the work she's done in her first term, and was excited that some of those accomplishments had bipartisan support — that includes the $15 million for the Freshwater Research and Innovation Center with backing from state Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs.

Damoose and state Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, also joined Coffia in supporting $5 million for an educator housing initiative for several school districts across northern Michigan.

Coffia pointed to her busing equity formula for rural school districts that helped to make up for outsized transportation costs.

"So that was my first standalone bill, and we actually did get the equity formula into the state budget and we kept it in this year," she said. "So those are the kind of things that I have been working on — and will continue to work on in my district."

Along with Traverse City, the 103rd District includes Leelanau County, Benzie County's Almira and Platte townships, and Grand Traverse County's Acme, East Bay, Garfield, Long Lake and Peninsula townships.