By AARON MUELLER

Dowagiac Daily News

For the first time in eight years, Fred Upton is facing competition in the GOP primary election for his Michigan 6th congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which he has held since 1987.

Jack Hoogendyk of Kalamazoo, who served three terms in the state House of Representatives from 2002 through 2008, has been campaigning as a staunch conservative, while Upton is viewed as a more moderate Republican.

Hoogendyk has received strong support from the Southwest Michigan Tea Party for his fiscally conservative and anti-taxing platform.

In fact, Hoogendyk says he never voted for a tax increase during his service in the Michigan House.

Hoogendyk criticizes Upton’s voting record, especially his support of President Obama’s Omnibus Appropriations Act that increased federal spending by $32 billion and the government takeover of General Motors and Chrysler.

At a candidate forum at Jefferson Township Hall this month, Hoogendyk said those serving in Washington, including Upton, “have forgotten that the Constitution is supposed to limit government and protect individual liberty.”

He also is proud to be “100 percent pro-life” and is endorsed by Right to Life — a recognition Upton has never sought or been given.

National Right to Life gives Upton an 82-percent rating, based on his votes in favor of stem cell research.

Upton has been as close to a sure thing as there is in politics in recent elections.

He has served the 6th District for 12 terms and easily dispatched Democratic challengers in general elections, although his margin of victory has declined in recent years since 1998, when he won with 70 percent of the vote.

The last time Upton had competition in the primary, he easily knocked off Dale Shugars with 66 percent of the vote.

One of Upton’s top goals is to create new jobs and improve the Michigan economy by supporting small businesses and alternative energy sources.

Upton, a co-chairman of the Congressional Auto Caucus, has been encouraged by the turnaround of the auto industry in Michigan and defended his support of the GM and Chrysler bailout.

“Yes, they needed a handout and they are paying it back with interest,” he said when he visited Pilkington in Niles recently. “But had they gone down, you would have seen a lot of other companies … go down.”

Upton also defends his stance on spending, pointing out his support of repealing the $2.6 trillion health care bill and a constitutional spending limit amendment.

He voted last week to extend unemployment benefits, arguing Michigan could not afford to let 100,000 residents lose benefits.

Hoogendyk questioned Upton’s vote, arguing increasing the federal deficit curbs job creation in the long run.

Hoogendyk has been trying to schedule a public debate with Upton and accused him of dodging it.

The two candidates did debate on WSJM in Benton Township with the recording available online and both participated in an editorial board meeting with the Kalamazoo Gazette this month.

The winner of the GOP primary will face Democratic candidate Don Cooney, a Kalamazoo resident, seven-term Kalamazoo City commissioner and professor of social work at Western Michigan University.

Cooney ran against Upton in the general election in 2008 and earned more votes than any Democrat has before against Upton, garnering 38 percent of the vote.

But Cooney remains a longshot to win the election in a district that hasn’t elected a Democrat in decades.