Two young Dems square off to challenge state House representative
Fri, Jul 25, 2008 
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BY MARK BROOKY
mbrooky@grandhaventribune.com
A Spring Lake man will try for a second time to win the job to represent the Tri-Cities area in the Michigan House, but this year as a Democrat rather than as an independent candidate.
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Timothy Winslow, 27, will first have to win the party's nod in the Aug. 5 primary over a Grand Valley State University student and Iraq War veteran, James VanderZouwen, 24.
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The winner will face incumbent Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, in the Nov. 4 general election for the state House 89th District seat. Meekhof is uncontested in the primary.
Meekhof was elected to a two-year term in November 2006 after besting five other Republicans in the August 2006 primary. He took 22,921 votes in the 2006 general election, topping Democrat Don Bergman of Park Township (13,322 votes) and Winslow (1,578 votes).
The 89th District comprises the Tri-Cities, Allendale Township, Grand Haven Township, Olive Township, Park Township, Port Sheldon Township, Robinson Township and Spring Lake Township.
VanderZouwen, 10948 Lance Ave. in Allendale, is majoring in computer science at GVSU, with a minor in political science. He is a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserves. He was born in Grand Rapids and graduated from Hudsonville High School in 2001. He worked in a computer store in Holland after graduation.
VanderZouwen's Army unit was called to duty in Iraq in June 2006. He was injured when an improvised explosive device hit the armored security vehicle he was in, and he received a Purple Heart.
VanderZouwen said he has recovered from the war injury and returned to Allendale in October 2007. He plans to resume classes at GVSU this fall unless he is chosen to be the Democratic Party candidate for the state House seat.
Calling himself an "unorthodox Democrat," VanderZouwen said he is pro-life and a "centrist" — a person who promotes moderate policies that land in the middle ground between political extremes. He said he wants to light a fire in Lansing for alternative energy use.
"I saw inefficiency in government and would like to change that," VanderZouwen explained his main reason for running for the House seat.
The Allendale man also wants to paint state prisons pink and dress inmates in pink jumpsuits to deter crime. He said the pink idea has been shown to reduce the number of repeat offenders.
Winslow, 15342 Oak Ridge, is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Vermont Law School, which he had just finished when he ran for the state House two years ago. Since then, the Spring Lake High School graduate has done temporary legal work for a Kalamazoo law firm.
The decision to run as a Democrat this year, Winslow said, wasn't an easy one. He said the party asked him to be its candidate for the 89th District, but he said he wanted to be free to express his own opinions and not have to stick strictly to the party platform.
"They were impressed with some of the ideas I had last time," Winslow said. "There's a lot more resources with a party than without one."
Winslow said he wants the state to promote alternative energy and biofuel use and production, legislatively create a workforce that attracts more of the film industry to Michigan, and effectively deal with the state's poor economy and high unemployment.
"My other priorities are protecting the environment and protecting Michigan's health," he said.
