There’s a new sheriff in town. He’s one part Lone Ranger ready to work endlessly to do what’s right for the citizens of Michigan. Ah … but he’s also one part Black Bart willing to connive and scheme, not play nice and do whatever is necessary at the moment to advance his GOP conservative agenda. In other words it is going to be a total hoot to chronicle the adventures of Rep. Matt Hall the new speaker of the Michigan House depending on which one shows up each day for work.
The 42-year-old from Kalamazoo is a student of the political chessboard with deep roots beginning at the knee of former GOP Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and continuing at both knees of former GOP Attorney General Bill Schuette and the resulting product, which remains a work in progress, is somebody who thrives on all the internal and often challenging machinations of politics.
He will be a force to contend with as the Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer knows that without Republican support in the Michigan House, her control of the governor’s office and her party control of the state senate, means nothing without 56 votes in the house and she has only 52 on her side. On the other hand, if the new sheriff wants anything, he can’t do it without her and the other buys.
