NewsBriefs.REV_June REV 8/20/10 4:36 PM Page 8
NEWS BRIEFS
Michigan Nurses Get On Board
for Their Candidate
MICHIGAN
he public trusts no profession
more than registered nurses, and
Michigan gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero understands
that. A week out from the
primary election, his campaign team was on
the phone. "We're having a bus tour called
'Women for Virg' that will travel around
Michigan for an entire day," they explained,
"and we want Michigan Nurses Association
nurses on the bus. Can you help?" The call
immediately went out and four members
from four different hospitals responded.
The July 29 bus trip was created to reach
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N AT I O N A L N U R S E
out to Michigan women in support of
Bernero's pro-choice stance, a position
which none of the other candidates had
taken. Hosted by Bernero's wife, Teri, and
daughters Kelly and Virginia, the bus visited
four different cities across Michigan's midsection: Lansing, Grand Rapids, Battle
Creek, and Bernero's campaign office in
Detroit. The bus included a stop at the
Sojourner Truth statue in Battle Creek and
finished with a large rally in Detroit, where
more than 200 women joined those on the
bus, cementing Bernero's rise in the polls.
"Every election time, you look at what a
candidate stands for," said Bonnie Nesbit,
an endoscopy RN from Mercy Health Partners in Muskegon and MNA member, at the
W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G
Lansing kickoff. "Virg has made it for easy
for the nurses this year. On a personal and
professional level, he's the man that's going
to get the job done and that's why I'm here
today." Other MNA members on the
"Women for Virg" tour included RNs Gail
Jehl from Sparrow Hospital in Lansing,
Renee Curtis from University of Michigan
Health System, and Donna Farrell from
Borgess Health in Kalamazoo.
Bernero won his Michigan primary on
Aug. 3 and is diligently preparing for the
Nov. 2 general election. MNA will be
supporting Bernero's campaign with mailings, materials, and nurses to walk door-todoor distributing literature.
—Ann Kettering Sincox
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