Gregory Creswell

Gregory Creswell
Born	February 1, 1957 Detroit, Michigan
Residence	Detroit, Michigan
Other names	Greg
Ethnicity	American
Citizenship	United States
Education	Some College
Alma mater	Wayne County Community College District
Known for	Politician, Civil Rights Activist
Home town	Detroit, Michigan
Political party	Libertarian
Religion	Christian
Spouse(s)	married
Children	two
Website	http://www.webcitation.org/5W8Pi6NoK

Gregory “Greg” Creswell (born February 1, 1957)^[1] is a Libertarian politician from Michigan. He made the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative the centerpiece of his 2006 campaign for governor. The measure passed, by a 16% margin,^[2] even though it was opposed by Creswell's gubernatorial rivals and a conglomerate of groups called “One United Michigan”.^[3] Creswell placed third, with less than 1% of the vote, behind incumbent Governor Jennifer Granholm, Democratic, and Dick Devos, the Republican candidate, but ahead of Douglas Campbell, the Green Party Candidate.^[4]

Early life

Creswell was born in Detroit in 1957. He was a graduate of Chadsey High School in 1975 and Wayne County Community College District student. He has been married for over 20 years and is the father of two.^[5][6]

Political activities prior to 2006

Creswell claims to have donated his time, skills and earnings to charities and social causes such as his church and the pro-gun organization, Brass Roots.^[5] Creswell continued doing volunteer work for the Libertarian Party of Michigan, including work at its headquarters.^[7] Creswell was a vocal representative of the petition drive to put the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative on the ballot.^[8]

2006 gubernatorial campaign

Creswell was nominated on May 13 at the 2006 Libertarian Party of Michigan convention in Chelsea, Michigan.^[9] His campaign raised over $16,000 in donations.^[10] which was dwarfed by the Granholm and Devos campaigns,^[11] but in excess of that raised by Douglas Campbell,^[12] or that raised by Bhagwan Dashairya^[13] both of whom qualified for a reporting waivers (only available to campaigns with budgets under $1,000). The Creswell campaign spent over $10,000 on radio advertising. The largest investment was made in advertisements on Detroit AM Radio stations WJR and WXYT.^[14] These commercials specifically targeted Devos and Granholm by referring to them as candidates of “the two old parties,” and berating them for supporting state-supported preferences based on race and sex.^[15][16]

Running-mate

Creswell's campaign was shared with his Lieutenant Governor candidate Scotty Boman. Boman was Chair of the Libertarian Party of Michigan at the time. Boman, a college professor, had run for a variety of offices as a Libertarian. He had also been a member of the Wayne State University Student Council,^[17] had run for the Detroit City Council,^[18] as well as the State Board of Education.^[19]

Spokesperson of Liberty

On November 19, 2006, Creswell received The Libertarian Party of Michigan’s Spokesperson on Liberty Award at their annual Liberty Fest in Ann Arbor, Michigan.^[20]

Position on issues

Racial preferences

Creswell’s position statements focussed on what he called, “racial preferences.” On his campaign’s site he claimed to be the only gubernatorial candidate supporting the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, and he defended the validity of the associated petition effort.^[21] His position statements referred to Affirmative Action as “state-sponsored discrimination,” when it set different standards based on a person’s race or gender.^[6] He claimed this was the position of the Libertarian Party of Michigan which addresses this topic in its platform.^[22][23]

Civil liberties

In his position statements, Creswell said his approach to civil liberties was based on the belief that people should be free to engage in any “peaceful and honest” activity. He claimed he would protect civil liberties by supporting equal rights for gay couples, medical marijuana, and “the right to keep and bear arms.” He also claimed there was a link between civil liberties and fiscal responsibility.^[24] He also opposed restrictions and taxes on internet transactions.^[6][25]

Economy

Creswell rejected “government planning,” and expressed the belief that what he called a “free-market economy” would create jobs, lower costs, and improve the standard of living. He supported changing government policies by letting the single business tax expire (without replacing it), cutting the budget, ending what he called “corporate welfare” and lifting regulations which he claimed were “burdensome,” on small businesses.^[24] He also opposed restrictions and taxes on internet transactions.^[25]

He claimed that politicians didn’t created jobs but, “…only shifted jobs from the private sector to government employment.” He accuse them of rewarding “mismanagement and irresponsibility” with “taxpayer funded bailouts.”^[24]

While opposing mandatory taxes, Creswell supported what he called a “Tax me more fund,” so those who supported higher taxes could pay them.^[26]

In his position statements, he advocated the removal of taxes on private property, fuel and the internet. He also supported the privatizing licensing. He claimed that many licensing laws were “designed to entrap people.” He argued that people should not have to “…spend more on permits than materials to improve their homes.” He called for an end to what he called the “abuse of fines and forfeitures.”^[6][27]

Law enforcement

Creswell said politicians should stop "wasting money" on what he called “non-violent crime.” In his published statements, he accused politicians of keeping people in prison who were no threat to the public. He argued that it was too expensive to use prisons in this manner when people had what he called “real expenses.” He articulated the belief that prisons existed to protect citizens from what he called, “brutal criminals who would not hesitate to prey on others,” and said it was a “waste” of money and “immoral” to imprison people for what he termed, “unhealthy alternative lifestyles, seeking non-traditional medicine for terminal illness, or trying to relieve the suffering of others.

If elected, he vowed to pardon “people imprisoned for medical marijuana, physician assisted suicide, non-payment of taxes, and substance related charges.” He supported what he called, “penalties that result in restitution to the victims and the taxpayers” for what he referred to as “non-violent property offenses.” He also spoke in favor of diverting more money to arresting those he called “violent offenders,” and “enforcing laws against theft and fraud."^[5][6]

Electoral history

Michigan's 9th Congressional District, 2014[28]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sander Levin (Incumbent)	136,342	60.39
	Republican	George Brikho	81,470	36.09
	Libertarian	Gregory Creswell	4,792	2.12
	Green	John McDermott	3,153	1.40
Total votes			225,757	100
	Democratic hold

Michigan's 5th congressional district election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan Kildee	214,531	65
	Republican	Jim Slezak	103,931	31.5
	Independent	David Davenport	6,694	2
	Libertarian	Gregory Creswell	4,990	1.5
Total votes			330,146	100
	Democratic hold		Swing	{{{swing}}}

Michigan's 13th congressional district election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (inc.)	167,481	74.13
	Republican	Edward J. Gubics	43,098	19.08
	Green	George L. Corsetti	9,579	4.24
	Libertarian	Gregory Creswell	5,764	2.55
Total votes			225,922	100.00
	Democratic hold

Michigan Gubernatorial Election 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jennifer Granholm (Incumbent)	2,142,513	56.3	+4.9
	Republican	Dick DeVos	1,608,086	42.3	-5.1
	Libertarian	Greg Creswell	23,524	0.6	n/a
	Green	Douglas Campbell	20,009	0.5	-0.3
	Constitution	Bhagwan Dashairya	7,087	0.2	-0.3
	none	Write-in candidates	37	0.0	n/a
Majority			534,427	14.0	+10
Turnout			3,801,256	100	+19.6
	Democratic hold		Swing

References

1. Edited by WOOD-TV Staff."Information On Gubernatorial Candidates" at the Wayback Machine (archived October 26, 2007). http://woodtv.com (website).
2. Land, Terri (Secretary of State)."State Proposal - 06-2: Constitutional Amendment: Ban Affirmative Action Programs". mi.gov (website).
3. One United Michigan."Endorsing Organizations and Individuals" at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2006). oneunitedmichigan.org (website).
4. Libertarian Party of West Michigan November 2006 Election Results at the Wayback Machine (archived July 11, 2007), retrieved August 4, 2007
   
   • Land, Terri (Secretary of State). "Election Results GENERAL ELECTION November 07, 2006 (Governor 4 Year Term (1) Position)". mi.gov (website).
5. League of Women Voters of Michigan, Nonpartisan Michigan Voter Guide 2006
6. http://www.vote-usa.org/Intro.aspx?Id=MICreswellGregory Vote-USA.org
7. Michigan Libertarian July/August 2002
8. Lansing State Journal, "Petition on race policy to begin:Group seeks to end affirmative action in state" at the Wayback Machine (archived April 26, 2004) By O. Brand-Williams, Published January 11, 2004
9. Land, Terri (Secretary of State)."2006 Official Michigan General Candidate Listing". http://mi.gov/sos (website).
   
   • Larson, Eric (Chair)."Libertarian Party of West Michigan: Elections of Officers" at the Wayback Machine (archived July 11, 2007). lpwm.org (website).
   • Wrenbeck, Andrew (July–August 2006). "2006 Michigan Libertarian Candidates for Office" (PDF). Michigan Libertarian.
10. Land, Terri (Secretary of State).Pre-General CS, page 2, dated October 27, 2006
11. Terri Lynn Land, Secretary of State."AMENDED POST-GENERAL CS". Michigan.gov (website).
    • Terri Lynn Land, Secretary of State."POST-GENERAL CS". Michigan.gov (website).
12. Terri Lynn Land, Secretary of State."Statement of organization (Campbell)". Michigan.gov (website).
13. Terri Lynn Land, Secretary of State."DISSOLUTION CAMPAIGN STATEMENT (To dissolve a committee that has a reporting waiver) DASHAIRYA". Michigan.gov (website).
14. Land, Terri (Secretary of State)."Itemized Expenditures Schedule 1B Candidate Committee". http://mi.gov/sos (website).
15. Michiganlp.org, Webmaster (October 2006). "Previous Elections-2006 Radio Commercials (Gregory Creswell and Scotty Boman)". Libertarian Part of Michigan. Retrieved 2015-08-17. and Michiganlp.org, Webmaster (September 2006). "Previous Elections-2006 Radio Commercials (Creswell for Governor, fear not!)". Libertarian Part of Michigan. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
16. "Radio Commercial In Use" at the Wayback Machine (archived December 7, 2006). lpwm.org (website).
17. Yonushewski, Katie (Contributing writer) "Former Student Council member vying for the governor’s office", The South End, November 02, 2006, retrieved August 4, 2007
18. Editorial (August 31, 1997). "Detroit City Elections" (PDF). Detroit News (archived by The Libertarian Party of Michigan). Retrieved 2007-08-05.
19. League of Women Voters Kalamazoo Area 2005 General Election Guide "lwvka.org" (website)
20. "Liberty Fest Honors Defenders of Liberty". LPM Online. November 21, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
21. Creswell, Gregory "Equal Means Equal" at the Wayback Machine (archived December 6, 2006). lpwm.org (website).
22. Libertarian Party of Michigan. "The Libertarian Party of Michigan Platform". "michiganlp.org" (website).
23. Libertarian Party of Michigan. "The Libertarian Party of Michigan Platform" "michiganlp.org" (website).
24. Gronski, Whitney; Murphy and Eum (October 26, 2004). "Face off: Devos vs. Granholm; Collegiate staff examines the candidates". The Collegiate.
25. Thorne, Daric (August 2006). "March of Progress: Conservative Spectrum" (PDF). MCC Chronicle (Vol. 1 issue 4). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2007.
26. Creswell, Gregory (July 19, 2006). "Taxing his patience". The Metro Times.
27. "Why Vote for Me" at the Wayback Machine (archived December 7, 2006) lpwm.org (website).
28. "Michigan General Election 2014". Michigan Secretary of State. November 4, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2014.

External links

• Campaign Website
• Running-mate, Scotty Boman's page at the Wayback Machine (archived September 28, 2007)
• Brass Roots Web page at the Wayback Machine (archived August 24, 1999)
• Libertarian Party of Michigan Website
• National Libertarian Party website
• University of Michigan Library Reference
• Vote USA Michigan 2006 Election
• International Society for Individual Liberty, Michigan Chapter