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Independent candidate for governor eyes upset in general election

Posted at 10:37 PM, Aug 26, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-26 22:37:34-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.--  Todd Schleiger (I) never thought he'd see his name on a ballot but decided to run for governor three years ago when his hometown of Flint was hit with a water crisis.

Schleiger chose to run as an Independent, rather than a Democrat or Republican because he says the Democratic and Republican parties are part of a broken system.

“We can’t keep going down the same road and expecting change," Schleiger tells FOX 17. "We keep electing Democrats and Republicans, we’re not just electing the people that they’re putting out there. We’re electing those parties and if you really think about it and look at history, the two parties are what’s running this country and our states down.”

Schleiger is a father of seven and a grandfather to six. He currently lives with his wife in Lake Orion. Schleiger has worked in the transportation industry for the past 35 years.

“I’ve been a truck driver, I’ve been a fleet manager, I’ve been dispatcher, I’ve stayed in the industry my entire work career," Schleiger says. “I’ve averaged jobs from $30,000 to $60,000, so I’m right in that range still today.”

Schleiger says his entire campaign has been self-funded. He says he puts one-third of his earnings into his campaign. However, he says his campaign recently started asking supporters for contributions.

Schleiger says when he travels the state talking to voters, they support his platform but are skeptical about an Independent having a shot at winning in November.

“They like what I stand for. They think it’s hard for an Independent to go about it the way I’ve been doing it but like I said, I don’t believe in doing anything the easy way," Schleiger says. "If it’s hard to do, then it’s gotta be worth it in the end.”

Schleiger says his peers have been encouraging him to run for office for years.

“I never wanted to be one of those idiots and I literally said that. I mean, I’ve been asked for 25 years to run for public office and I keep telling everybody, ‘No. I don’t want to be one of those idiots,'" Schleiger says. “Both of the major parties, the Democrats and Republicans, they’re broken so bad. They can’t get anything done for the people.”

One of the things Schleiger wants to get done is change how the state spends its gas tax revenue.

“The state collects $12.5 billion annually but they’re only using less than 30 percent of it on our roads, where if you look at the other states, they’re utilizing 70 and 80 percent of their gas tax," Schleiger says. "I mean when you look at that, that’s a recipe for failure.”

According to the State Budget Office, the state of Michigan only collected just over $2.5 billion in motor vehicle and fuel taxes in 2017, not $12.5 billion as Schleiger claims. He says the state is not being transparent about how much it actually collects.

Schleiger also makes education a priority and wants to increase the current education budget by about $3 billion.

“I have a $20 billion budget that encompasses two years of community college into the, bringing it into the public school realm, something that hasn’t been done," Schleiger says. “I just believe in our public schools. They’ve went down since Engler.”

Schleiger says he hopes to expand healthcare by allowing more Michiganders to enroll in Medicaid.

“We have one of the best systems here in Michigan currently in place with Medicaid," Schleiger says. "If we open that up to the people of Michigan, not as in the welfare portion of it but open it up like Blue Cross Blue Shield because I’ve actually talked to Blue Cross Blue Shield and got laughed out of their office in Detroit because I told them literally, they have to cut their premiums by 50 percent.”

He says his plan would cost an average family of four between $600 and $700 per month with a deductible of $1,500.

As an Independent, Schleiger says his voting history has crossed party lines.

“I voted for Obama on his first election because his message was for hope and change and that got my attention," Schleiger says. "I voted for Bill Clinton and out of this last election, I actually voted for Trump because I seen change. Sometimes I regret that decision but it’s still a vote and that’s the way I felt when I did it.”

Schleiger says he wishes President Trump would stop tweeting.

"I mean, he seems to get out of a hole and then he starts tweeting and then he gets back into a hole," Schleiger says.

In addition to being public about his voting history, he says he's also open about his criminal record.

According to online state police records, Schleiger pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in 1995. In 2011, he pleaded no contest to another charge of misdemeanor domestic violence and/or knowingly assaulting a pregnant individual. Despite his pleas, Schleiger tells FOX 17 that he has never hit a woman and that the woman in the 2011 charge was his wife at the time and that she was not pregnant.

In 2011, Schleiger also pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor stalking charge but he denies it and says he had no choice but to plead no contest.

His other charges include operating while impaired, which Schleiger does not deny and says plenty of elected officials have done this, embezzling less than $100 and attempting to interfere with electronic communications.

Schleiger says with the exception of the operating while impaired charge, he was treated unfairly by law enforcement and his history is what he calls "corruption" in the court system.

Though the state of Michigan has never elected an Independent candidate for governor, Schleiger says he has a real shot at winning in November.

"I think Michigan is primed for an Independent. I think people are tired of the Democrats and Republicans. I mean you have your true blue people who are gonna vote Democrat no matter what. You got the same with the true reds.” Schleiger says. “At times, I wanted out of it because I was getting so frustrated but I believe in what I’m doing. That’s why I’m on the ballot now, so I’m not going anywhere.”

Schleiger's running mate is Earl Lackie, a retired General Motors mechanic and former firefighter.