An Ann Arbor man says he plans to run for governor as an Independent Progressive.
Robin Sanders is a Michigan corrections officer who served in Vietnam and in Desert Storm. He has also worked as a union lobbyist.
Sanders believes Michigan could shore up its budget by keeping business in the state.
"I've seen the tendency of government to outsource in the form of third-party contracts that actually sends billions of dollars out of our state to other states and other countries, for that matter," Sanders says.
Sanders says the state should limit outsourcing of contracts in education, corrections and infrastructure.
Sanders believes suggestions of state and school employees are often ignored by government.
"You go to the people on the front line -- people turning the wrench, so to speak, and you ask them what we could do better -- if you're the ones doing the work. And that's a sad lack of that in state government."
Sanders also says he would like to see state government workers return to a pension system.
"That is more money that stays in the state coffers, rather than going to the stock market," Sanders says.
He supports statewide expansion of fracking for natural gas.
"We have the country's third-largest resource of shale. Fracking has been going on for decades in our state," Sanders says. "It's a vastly underused resource that is untapped and there's trillions of feet of natural gas under our feet that could create thousands of jobs. It would bring billions of dollars into our state coffers."
Sanders, a practicing Catholic, does not support same-sex marriage.
"I don't support it for reasons aside from religious reasons," Sanders says. "It is a violation of natural law, and I really could not sign off on that as governor."
He says he plans to make his candidacy official in August after his retirement from the state has been processed.
