Candidate for 108th District Representative
By Carol Stiffler
David Prestin of Cedar River is one of four Republican candidates for Michigan’s 108th district representative.
Prestin, a longtime businessman, says the “bureaucratic creep” of government is a major part of the reason he’s running for office.
“I’m going to try to build consensus to get government to withdraw themselves from people’s lives so people are free to do their thing,” he said. “One thing I’ve learned in the private sector: state and federal government mandates, oversights, and regulations are one of the most crippling forces–especially when it comes to entrepreneurs that want to establish a business.”
Prestin is married to his wife, Kathie, and they have one daughter, Mattie. He has held only one other elected position, being twice elected to serve as a Menominee County commissioner. He ran a successful restaurant business in Milwaukee and owned a gas station in the U.P. before selling both. Now trained as a paramedic, Prestin works part-time as a first responder and is also a member of his local fire department.
“I am pro-life. I am pro second amendment. I am pro small business,” Prestin said. “As a substitute teacher, I understand what’s going on in our public schools. I am definitely pro education.”
That said, Prestin would like to see education return to the basics and let go of the cultural reform that is much discussed these days.
“I want to push for school,” he said. “They want to get back to doing the job of teaching the kids reading, writing, and arithmetic. They don’t want to sit here with all the social indoctrination factors and talk about subjects they’re really not comfortable with to begin with.”
Prestin is in favor of building the Line 5 tunnel. “Line 5 is vital to the Upper Peninsula,” he said. ‘I don’t know why we’re waiting. As far as I’m concerned, I wish Enbridge was tunneling now.”
The tunnel, which would encase the pipeline in a dry, air-filled environment, can be diligently monitored as it carries petroleum, crude, and other products through the Mackinac Straits.
He’s also in favor of a wolf hunt and believes the gray wolf should be delisted again.
“If the population is restored, and it is, you need to allow a proper hunt that mitigates [predation by wolves] and allows property owners to defend their livestock, farms, and families,” he said.
Luce County and surrounding areas are currently in the 109th district, but district lines have been redrawn in the wake of the 2020 US Census. When current Democratic Rep. Sara Cambensy’s term is up, Luce County and much of the southern end of the U.P. will join the 108th District.
