Press Releases
Statewide Candidates to Speak in Livingston County Next Week
iFor Immediate Release
Contact: Judy Daubenmier, 734-612-7137
A pair of candidates seeking Democratic nominations to statewide office in 2010 will speak in Livingston County next week, the chair of the Livingston County Democratic Party announced Thursday.
Richard Bernstein, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney general, and Dennis Denno, who is seeking one of two Democratic nominations for Michigan State University trustee, both will speak Thursday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. at the headquarters of the Livingston County Democratic Party, 10321 E. Grand River, Suite 600, in Brighton. The meeting is open to anyone interested.
Bernstein is currently chair of the Wayne State University Board of Governors, having been elected in 2002 at the age of 28 when he became the first blind person to win a statewide election in Michigan. A trial attorney with the Sam Bernstein Law Firm in Farmington Hills, Bernstein focuses on cases that involve both public policy and complex litigation issues and never charges a fee for his services. Bernstein appears frequently in court where he commits entire case files to memory. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, teaching “Law and Social Change” in the Department of Political Science.
Bernstein graduated from the University of Michigan with highest distinction where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and student body president of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. He received his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1999 and he is licensed to practice law in the state and federal Courts of Michigan and in the State of New York. Outside the courtroom and classroom, Bernstein has finished 12 marathons. He also is one of only a handful of blind people in the United States to have finished an Ironman triathlon.
Denno is chief of staff for Michigan Senate Democratic Floor Leader Buzz Thomas of Detroit. He also has worked in various positions for the Michigan House of Representatives, the Michigan Democratic Party, and former Michigan Speaker of the House Curtis Hertel of Detroit. He also has worked on numerous Democratic campaigns, including the Michigan 2008 campaign of President Obama, Virg Bernero for Lansing mayor, the 1996 and 1992 Clinton-Gore campaigns, and campaigns for various Democratic candidates through Michigan. He also is a partner in the polling firm Denno Noor.
Denno has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University, is a lifetime member of the Michigan State University Alumni Association, and is on the advisory board of the Arabic Language Instruction Flagship program at Michigan State. Denno has been active in the Michigan Democratic Party’s Arab-American Caucus, was a former board member of the Michigan chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and is a member of the Arab-American Institute’s Leadership Council.
Nominations for attorney general and the university boards will be voted on at the Michigan Democratic Party’s August convention. The party, however, will endorse candidates for secretary of state and attorney general at an April 17 endorsement convention. People who want to vote at the endorsement convention need to be members of the party as of March 17 or have been elected as precinct delegates in the August 2008 primary election. Anyone seeking information on joining the party may contact Daubenmier at 810-229-4212 or visit the party’s website at: http://www.livcodemocrats.org/.
(Paid for by the Livingston County Democratic Party, 10321 E. Grand River, Suite 600, Brighton, MI 48116. Printed in-house. Labor donated.)
