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FEATURE<br />
The Heat is On<br />
Mansour and Arbit square off in redrawn Michigan 20th<br />
BY PAUL NATINSKY<br />
The stage is set for November’s<br />
general elections, and the race<br />
in Michigan’s state House 20th<br />
District promises to be a close one.<br />
The new 20th is an open seat, with<br />
former incumbent Ryan Berman (R-<br />
Commerce Township) throwing his<br />
hat in the ring for state Attorney General.<br />
It’s also a newly reconfigured<br />
district combining the old 39th (Commerce,<br />
western West Bloomfield), 40th<br />
(eastern West Bloomfield), and 29th<br />
(Orchard Lake, Keego Harbor, Sylvan<br />
Lake) districts, according to Democratic<br />
primary winner Noah Arbit.<br />
Arbit, a former Governor Gretchen<br />
Whitmer staffer, will face-off against<br />
Albert Mansour, a conservative real estate<br />
professional who just happens to<br />
be Chaldean.<br />
“I am honored to be a first-generation<br />
Chaldean American,” said Mansour.<br />
“I am extremely proud of my Chaldean<br />
heritage and my wife and I work<br />
hard each day to honor and instill the<br />
values to our children by passing on the<br />
positive lessons and moral standards<br />
we were taught growing up.”<br />
The new district favors Democrats<br />
by 53 to 55 percent, according to pollster<br />
Ed Sarpolus, so Mansour will have<br />
his work cut out for him. Democrats<br />
tallied double the number of total<br />
votes in the primary contests, from<br />
7,515 to 15,413.<br />
It’s a Democratic seat, so the conventional<br />
wisdom is that it stays that<br />
way, said pollster Steve Mitchell. “But<br />
the Chaldean community really rallies<br />
behind its candidates. It’s an uphill<br />
struggle for Mansour, but Arbit is a<br />
very, very liberal Democrat and I think<br />
Mansour may do better than people<br />
think.”<br />
But can the seat flip to Republican?<br />
“I think if (Mansour) can raise money<br />
he’s got an opportunity. It’s going to<br />
be a very uphill battle, but yeah,” said<br />
Mitchell.<br />
Arbit plans to emphasize mental<br />
health, hate crimes, and support for<br />
Noah Arbit<br />
small businesses in his campaign.<br />
“These issues are very personal to me,<br />
and to our community,” he said.<br />
“I am committed to confronting<br />
Michigan’s mental health crisis and<br />
ensuring every kid, every senior, and<br />
every Michigander in between—from<br />
Keego Harbor to Copper Harbor—has<br />
access to the resources and treatments<br />
that will enable them to achieve their<br />
potential.”<br />
“In addition … I will be laserfocused<br />
on tackling skyrocketing<br />
hate crimes and violent extremism<br />
by strengthening and supplementing<br />
Michigan’s outdated, ineffective, and<br />
weak hate crimes statute and actually<br />
protecting our communities.”<br />
Arbit, bolstered by a Detroit Regional<br />
Chamber of Commerce endorsement,<br />
plans to address rising costs and<br />
supply chain issues. “We need to elect<br />
Albert Mansour<br />
small business champions who will<br />
actually make the lives of small business<br />
owners easier, not harder.”<br />
Parental rights in education and<br />
strengthening the local economy are<br />
atop Mansour’s agenda.<br />
“As elected officials, the school<br />
board should be held accountable<br />
to the parents and teachers. There<br />
should be transparency in what is being<br />
taught to our children. Parents and<br />
teachers should not have to walk on<br />
eggshells around the school board,”<br />
he said.<br />
He also emphasized job growth<br />
and getting people back to work as top<br />
priorities, as well as mitigating the rising<br />
rate of inflation and fuel costs.<br />
The economy<br />
Mansour’s positions on the economy<br />
come from an insider’s perspective. As<br />
a businessman living in the district, he<br />
daily confronts the issues he hopes to<br />
alleviate.<br />
“As a small business owner coming<br />
from a family of business owners, I understand<br />
the importance of a strong local<br />
economy and the impact that small<br />
and local businesses have on the community.<br />
I am in favor of legislation that<br />
supports and encourages the opening<br />
of new businesses or helps to create<br />
growth in existing businesses,” said<br />
Mansour.<br />
“I think incentivizing start-ups<br />
can be beneficial in creating jobs and<br />
spurring and strengthening the local<br />
economy. In speaking with business<br />
owners, a top priority for many is getting<br />
people back to work.<br />
“The employee shortage has destroyed<br />
a number of businesses and<br />
has disrupted numerous others. Stopping<br />
unnecessary government spending<br />
can help to curb the shortage. I intend<br />
to work with both sides to find a<br />
way to get people back to work.”<br />
For Arbit, ensuring the strength<br />
“I am honored to be a first-generation Chaldean American … I am<br />
extremely proud of my Chaldean heritage and my wife and I work hard<br />
each day to honor and instill the values to our children by passing on<br />
the positive lessons and moral standards we were taught growing up.”<br />
– Albert Mansour<br />
and competitiveness of the economy,<br />
on the local level in greater West<br />
Bloomfield and Commerce, across<br />
Oakland County, and in all of Michigan<br />
will be one of his top priorities in<br />
the state House.<br />
“I will work relentlessly to support<br />
our vibrant small business community<br />
by reducing overbearing regulatory<br />
burdens, cutting red tape, and swiftly<br />
connecting local businesses with the<br />
resources they need within state agencies,”<br />
said Arbit. “I will advocate for<br />
state funding to boost economic devel-<br />
24 CHALDEAN NEWS <strong>OCTOBER</strong> <strong>2022</strong>
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