Michigan Senate candidate Michael Trebesh visiting campus Tuesday

As Central Michigan University prepares to kick off the winter semester, local politicians are beginning to kick off their campaigns.

One such candidate is Michael Trebesh, who is speaking to Campus Conservatives at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Bovee University Center.

The location at Bovee has yet to be announced. The event is free and open to the public.

“We think it’s important students see who their elected officials are, and that this seat will represent us as students,” said Hart junior Bryant Greiner, president of Campus Conservatives. “We are honored to have him as first speaker of the semester.”

Trebesh is seeking the Republican nomination for the 33rd state Senate District seat currently held by term-limited state Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt. The Michigan Constitution limits state senators to two four-year terms.

The 33rd state senate district covers Clinton, Ionia, Montcalm and Isabella Counties.

Trebesh, a certified public accountant, currently serves as the Bingham Township Treasurer, a position he was elected into in November 2008. He has spent nearly four decades as a professor at various higher education institutions including CMU, Michigan State University and Lansing Community College.

“If you would have told me five years ago that I’d be running for office I would have said, ‘Nope, somebody dropped you on your head,’” Trebesh said.

Trebesh’s main issue is to restructure Michigan’s tax code.

“We have to revise the tax code. It’s a patchwork method, a Band-Aid method,” Trebesh said. “We got to make the tax system fair. We have to fix Michigan before we can do anything else.”

Trebesh considers himself a fiscal and social conservative and served as president of the Clinton County Right to Life.

“We’re trying to bring this viewpoint to campus,” Greiner said.

Trebesh also supports restoring the Michigan Promise Scholarship for the students it was promised.

“A promise means a promise. If they said we’re going to do it, they should do it,” he said.

The Republican primary will be held Aug. 3 and the general election will be held Nov. 2.