Weatherman abusing job at TV station to run for office
7&4 and WTCM NewsTalk 580 weatherman Greg MacMaster has been not so quietly using his gig to launch his campaign for state representative in 2010.
MacMaster, a resident of Emily Lane in Grand Traverse County, has rented a post office box in Elk Rapids so he can run for the 105th District seat, which includes Antrim, Charlevoix, Otsego, and most of Cheboygan counties. His residence in Grand Traverse County is in the 104th District seat, which is held by Republican Wayne Schmidt.
Besides supposedly moving into a district to run for term-limited Representative Kevin Elsenheimer’s seat, MacMaster has repeatedly used his gig at a news outlet to aide his campaign.
He received a media credential to the February 2009 Michigan Republican Party convention in Lansing, though he did no reporting for 7&4 and spent the weekend campaigning among party insiders. MacMaster also skipped work on several occasions to attend Republican events, where he informed participants that he was running for state representative and needed support. Among the events that he skipped out to attend: February 20 (Michigan Republican Party convention in Lansing), May 13 (Charlevoix County Republican Party meeting in Boyne City), May 2 (Cheboygan County Republican Party’s dinner in Mackinaw City), and May 8 (Charlevoix County Republican Party’s dinner at Boyne Mountain). MacMaster has also been representing TV 7&4 at various community events of late, including the Mackinaw City Memorial Day Parade on May 23. He was seen in the parade, which doesn’t allow politicians. He was walking the parade with several known political hacks, while claiming to represent 7&4.
Part of his weatherman façade includes profiles on MySpace, Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, and the Petoskey News-Review’s website MISmartVote, which connects voters with politicians.
MacMaster had an account on YouTube under the username “MacMaster4stateRep,” but deleted the account after complaints to 7&4 in December 2008. On Facebook, MacMaster claims he’s “very interested in politics” and the vast majority of his 725 friends are politicians or media personalities; though a significant number of them are also married and unmarried women, which raises some questions.
His Facebook page lists his full-time employment with 7&4 as well as his part-time weatherman gig on local radio stations. MacMaster includes links to his blog, which has a post saying: “I have an interested in politics. Stay tuned.” This post was made with several keywords, including names of former and future 105th District candidates.
At the top of his blog, there is a clock counting down to the deadline for candidates filing for the 2010 primary election. This is a clear indicator that he’s running.
