ANOTHER COLLEGE TRY

Lena Epstein

Give her an 'A' for effort. Word around town is that besides Republican John James of Farmington Hills strongly leaning towards running against incumbent Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) when his first term is up in 2020, after giving it his all in 2018 against Sen. Debbie Stabenow and not losing too badly, another familiar Republican also-ran is considering a senatorial run in 2020 – Lena Epstein of Bloomfield Township. Epstein, who was trounced in 2018 in her congressional campaign for the 11th District against Democrat Haley Stevens (52 percent Stevens to 46 percent Epstein), is reportedly ready to give it another electoral go – this time grasping higher, with a statewide reach. A current legislator said that Epstein is putting everything together for a statewide run, but a Republican Party bigwig said, “She is so out of touch with reality.” What do both James and Epstein have in common? Neither has won an election race and both are employed by successful family businesses, although one political wonk challenged us to find out if Epstein ever really shows for work at her business, claiming you can never reach her there.