Berkley councilwoman wins state House primary

BERKLEY — A Berkley city councilwoman is moving on to compete for a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives in November.

Natalie Price won the Democratic primary race for the 5th District seat in the state House during the Aug. 2 election. She will go up against Paul Taros, who won the Republican primary.

Of the more than 14,000 votes cast in the Democratic Party primary, Price received 5,644 votes across Oakland and Wayne counties. The runner-up in the race was Reggie Reg Davis with 4,361 votes.

Taros received 1,717 votes in his race against his only opponent, Keith Albertie, who had 1,087.

Price said she is excited about her win — which she credited to her volunteers, donors and staff — and the chance to compete for a state House seat on Nov. 8.

“I’m just ready to keep the momentum going,” she said. “I’m also very fortunate to live in a Dem safe seat, and so a lot of my energy between now and November will be focused on helping candidates in flippable seats.”

Taros said he is happy about his primary win, but he is aware of the uphill battle to win the general election in a Democratic Party stronghold.

“There were much more Democrat voters pretty much across all races, from the governorship on down, and I’m very concerned that there hasn’t been a large Republican turnout,” he said. “I don’t know what that holds for November, but I’m very concerned about that.”

If he were to win the 5th District, Taros said he’d like to look into tax laws. He cited one that allows seniors who are fortunate enough to receive a pension to be able to exclude a certain amount of pension benefits, but for seniors who continue to work, there is no exemption for their income.

“They’re kind of getting an extra benefit of being able to exclude a certain amount of income,” he said. “If we’re going to have some sort of exclusion, let it apply to pensions, W-2 income for seniors. Let’s kind of level the playing field because I just think it’s very unfair.

“Under one scenario, you can exclude up to $20,000 of pension benefits if you’re single, $40,000 if you’re married filing jointly and that only applies to your retirement plans. The amount you’re receiving from your pension plan, 401(k) plan, I’d like to see that expanded to say if you have W-2 wages and earned income and you don’t have a pension, then those limits would apply to your earned income,” he continued.

Price stated her belief that if the Democrats can flip the state House, it would allow them to get bills on the floor for a vote they’ve been wanting, such as gun reform.

“I believe it should not be a partisan issue in Michigan. It should be a human rights issue and, unfortunately, it’s been treated as a partisan issue, and I think a lot of those bills won’t even get votes until we have flipped the state House,” she said. “I’ll be spending much of my time and energy, and so (will) all my volunteers. They’re looking forward to joining me knocking doors and connecting with people in other parts of Oakland County and Macomb County where we can help Democratic candidates be successful.”

If Price wins the 5th District, it would leave an open seat on the Berkley City Council. Price’s four-year term runs until 2023. The council would appoint a new member to serve the rest of her term.