After more than a decade in the trenches of county government, Jeff Irwin is hoping to take his political career to the next level and represent Ann Arbor in the state House.

His opponent in next month's Democratic primary, Ned Staebler, is aiming to enter the political arena for the first time, knowing he's the underdog.

Jeff Irwin is seeking the 53rd District state House seat after 11 years of service on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

"I'm running against a career politician who's been an elected official for 10 years. I've been the underdog since Day 1," says Staebler, a vice president with the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Irwin, 33, has been reelected to the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners every two years since 2000 and has built up the kind of name recognition that gives him a natural advantage in the race. 

But Staebler, 37, has waged an aggressive campaign and has outpaced Irwin in endorsements and fundraising.

The two Democrats from Ann Arbor will face off in the Aug. 3 primary for a chance to take over the 53rd District state House seat being vacated by Rep. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, who is running for state Senate.

The winner will take on Republican Chase Ingersoll in the November general election. But if history is any predictor, the Democratic primary will determine the outcome.

Both candidates are running on their records. Irwin touts his accomplishments as a Washtenaw County commissioner since 1999 and his previous role as executive director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, where he worked with state lawmakers on environmental issues. He says his experiences give him the ability to hit the ground running in Lansing.

"Having worked in Lansing and having lobbied before, that gives me a certain perspective on being on the other side of the desk," Irwin says. "I've gone to legislators. I've sat down with them and said to them in their offices, 'Here's why I need you to vote for this clean water package.' And so I just think having the experience of being on the other side of the table is going to be valuable."

Staebler points to his background in private business and economic development. A graduate of Harvard and the London School of Economics, he worked in banking and finance before joining the MEDC. He now oversees the state's 21st Century Jobs Fund, a 10-year, $2 billion initiative to transform Michigan’s economy.

"One of the reasons why I feel so passionate about running for this office is because Ann Arbor is my home. It's been my family's home for seven generations and 179 years," Staebler says. "My great grandfather was the mayor of Ann Arbor in the '20s and '30s, my grandfather continued the tradition of public and community service when he helped found the Michigan Democratic Party in the 1940s, was its chair for a decade, and was a U.S. Congressman and a candidate for governor in 1964. I always planned to follow in those footsteps and continue public service."

Ned Staebler is opposing Jeff Irwin in the 53rd District state House Democratic primary on Aug. 3.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

Both candidates' campaigns focus on growing and diversifying the state's economy, protecting the environment, investing in education and promoting progressive values. But beneath the surface, Irwin and Staebler have different plans for curing what ails Michigan.

"I do think that one of the distinctions between Ned and I is our theory of political economy," Irwin says. "We're both Democrats, but Ned is from the wing of the Democratic Party that believes that taking public money and putting it in the hands of private companies — and hoping that benefit trickles down — is a good way to grow our economy and that it works. I'm from the wing of the Democratic Party that believes that, in order to grow the economy, you have to invest in people and it's more of a bottom-up approach, and it starts with education and public services like roads and transit, and even things like investing in arts and culture."

The business of attracting jobs

As vice president of capital access and business acceleration at the MEDC, Staebler, who is on leave from his job while campaigning, oversees the state's efforts to increase the availability of capital for companies in Michigan. He also manages the state’s portfolio of direct investments in entrepreneurial ventures.

"I design programs to help make sure that small and medium-sized businesses have access to the capital they need to grow and diversify our economy," he says, "and to change our culture to one that's more entrepreneurial and less dependent on big business because I think that's where we're going to be in the 21st century."

Irwin believes the hundreds of millions of dollars that Michigan gives out in corporate tax breaks and other financial incentives would be better invested in education. He speaks critically of the MEDC's efforts to attract jobs, calling it "corporate welfare" without proven results.

"The MEDC programs have been evaluated by people on all sides of the political spectrum, and they've all agreed that it's not working," Irwin says. "So we have a very different philosophy on what drives economic development in our state."

Irwin, left, speaks while his opponent, Staebler, listens at a Democratic Party candidate forum earlier this week.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

Despite criticisms that the 21st Century Jobs Fund isn't performing, Staebler maintains it has helped 1,400 companies create and retain 25,000 jobs, file 900 patents, and commercialize more than 450 new technologies.

"If you go back 10 years, all of the programs associated with the 21st Century Jobs Fund have created or retained 25,000 jobs at a cost-per-job of less than $12,000," he says. "They've done it very cost effectively, and that's only today. Most of them, and increasingly so under my watch, have become much more investment-focused. So we have a significant investment portfolio out there that's already performing, but is going to perform significantly more in the next three to seven years. When it's all said and done, this program is likely going to be breaking even, meaning the hundreds of millions of dollars are going to come back to the state."

Staebler's work at the MEDC was the subject of an article in The New Yorker last November when the always blunt Larry Summers, President Barack Obama's top economic advisor, called a new program Staebler started "crony capitalism." That comment came during a meeting between Summers, Staebler, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and others gathered at the office of Detroit Mayor Dave Bing.

“You said you hadn’t really marketed your program at all, and you’ve been able to get a number of people who have been able to take advantage of it without marketing,” Summers told Staebler, concluding he had started a loan program in which only “the people who are well-connected and fortunate enough to know about them are able to take advantage of them.”

The New Yorker pointed out Summers fell asleep at one point during the meeting while Staebler's program was being discussed.

"I think if he had been awake for the entire conversation, he would have realized that all I was saying was that we'd barely begun to market a program, and we already had some people lined up to start taking advantage of it," Staebler told AnnArbor.com.

Staebler says the program Summers called "crony capitalism" is actually the Michigan Supplier Diversification Fund, which he calls successful.

"Though Larry Summers might have had a comment about it, it has helped create 4,500 jobs in the state of Michigan already with the initial $13 million that we put out there," Staebler says. "And the federal government has just introduced a $2 billion national version of it because it's been so successful as a pilot here in Michigan. Michigan is going to be getting $160 million to $170 million from that fund to help speed our diversification in manufacturing."

Irwin cites a report by the Anderson Economic Group commissioned by the Michigan Education Association, a group supporting Staebler's campaign. The report questioned the effectiveness of state business tax incentives and found what the authors described as a "troubling" lack of transparency in reporting results of the state's investments.

"You've got the statewide MEA out there aggressively calling out the MEDC for their failures and for their inability to deliver on jobs," Irwin says. "Education is the best tool we have for economic development, and we're spending all this money over here at the MEDC on a strategy that's both ineffective and taking money out of our pocket."

Staebler defends the MEDC's programs and says he thinks Gov. Granholm's legacy someday will be the long-term results of today's investments.

"When we have a more vibrant, more entrepreneurial, more flexible economy, with a lot more risk capital, venture capital, angel capital involved, you're going to look back on the first 10 years of the 21st century and say, 'Wow, that's when that foundation was laid,'" Staebler says.

The politics of politics

Despite their policy disagreements, Irwin and Staebler were complimentary of each other in interviews, each calling the other a good guy with good intentions. But that hasn't stopped them from leveling criticisms against one another.

Staebler brings up his opponent's failure to bring an Ann Arbor-to-Detroit commuter rail service project to fruition after a decade of trying.

"For 10 years, he's been the champion of the east-west rail that you can't take. I don't see a commuter rail going to Detroit and there's a picture of him in the paper standing next to the tracks saying how proud he is of working hard on this for 10 years," Staebler says, shifting quickly into another criticism of Irwin.

"The League of Conservation Voters that he touts as a lot of his experience," Staebler says, "why is everyone there supporting me?"

Irwin offered his thoughts on the LCV endorsement swinging his opponent's way. Staebler has served on the group's board of directors.

Irwin, left, and Staebler, right, appeared side-by-side in a Democratic Party candidate forum earlier this week.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

"When you look at the League of Conservation Voters issue, my best hope in that process was to get them to be neutral," Irwin says. "Because when you look at their committee of the people who select the endorsements, they're all Ned's supporters. They're people who he works with, people who he has professional and business relationships with. So politics is a lot of times about relationships, not issues."

Irwin says Staebler is right to criticize him for the lack of an east-west rail service between Ann Arbor and Detroit after a decade of trying.

"We started the conversation about regional rail 10 years ago," Irwin says. "There's been a lot of ups and downs with that, and I think he's right to take me to task for not getting that done. I'm disgusted that we haven't gotten that done. I'm probably more disappointed than anybody about the promise that SEMCOG made to have trains running this fall that they took off the table a few months ago."

Irwin has his own criticisms of Staebler, beyond his work at the MEDC. Irwin believes Staebler has overstated his ties to the Ann Arbor community, creating the impression that he has lived here longer than five years.

"My roots in the community are very deep, and I've been very active in community service and public service for a long time," Staebler said at a candidate forum this week, calling himself "the quintessential townie," a remark that drew a smirk from Irwin.

"After grad school, I returned to Ann Arbor and got deeply involved in the community again," Staebler added seconds later.

When questioned about his roots in Ann Arbor, Staebler acknowledged he first moved here in 2005. But while growing up with his mother near Detroit, he said, he often visited his father and other family members who lived in Ann Arbor.

Irwin acknowledges he isn't a native Ann Arborite either. He grew up in the Upper Peninsula and came here in 1995 to study political science at the University of Michigan.

"I really fell in love with Ann Arbor like so many of us did," Irwin says. "And the reasons I fell in love with Ann Arbor are because of the great schools and the University of Michigan, and the vibrant downtown, the arts and cultural scene. I think that the state could really learn from Ann Arbor in terms of what it takes to be a successful place. Part of it is that whole education-focused culture that we have here."

Experiencing the real world

During his senior year of high school, Staebler says he spent nearly every Wednesday at a halfway house in Detroit tutoring residents with learning disabilities in reading and math. He says the Jesuits at University of Detroit High School instilled in him a sense of duty to serve others and give back to his community.

Staebler says he moved to Ann Arbor in 2005.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

"I come from a family of public servants," he says. "I was always going to go into public service. I really feel like that was very important, but I'm a firm believer that if you're going to have an impact on public policy, you ought to know to know how public policy impacts real people, so I decided to go out into the real world for a few years."

After graduating from Harvard, Staebler enjoyed a relatively successful business career in Chicago and London, spending nearly a decade in the capital markets with the Helios Group and Bear Stearns. He says he learned firsthand how companies fund growth and how the global economy works.

"I have a 15-year track record of success in the private sector, in the public sector and in the nonprofit sector with real tangible accomplishments," Staebler says. "In the private sector, I started a number of businesses for my company. One of them, to do it, I had to sleep on the marble floor in the lobby of an exchange building in downtown Chicago for three nights to open that business. Within a year, I had turned it into the single most profitable business in our company."

While working for Bear Sterns in London, Staebler says he woke up one day and asked himself: "What am I doing? I'm supposed to be doing public service."

That's when he left the bank world and enrolled in the London School of Economics, where he completed a master's degree in comparative politics. He also taught and coached at the American School in London for about two and a half years.

"I really loved it," Staebler says. "I thought I wanted to be a teacher. I gained a lot of respect for teachers in that time, but realized it wasn't for me long-term."

Staebler wrote his master's dissertation on state-level economic development policy using Michigan as a model, looking at what works and what doesn't. In 2005, he moved to Ann Arbor and soon began working for the MEDC.

"The transition for Michigan is not going to be away from manufacturing," he says. "It's going to be helping to grow manufacturing, how we take our excess capacity that knows how to bend metal, lay fiber glass and screw plastic and get them making wind turbines, solar panels, medical devices and aerospace instead of cars and boats and furniture."

Staebler also has been active in the community. He has chaired the Ann Arbor Housing and Human Services Advisory Board, served on the distribution committee at the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation and started the Ann Arbor Social Capital Fund.

"I'm very proud of what we've been able to do to help fund groups like Peace Neighborhood Center and those kinds of things," he says.

In the trenches

Irwin has played an active role in shaping public policy in Washtenaw County during his 11 years on the county board, a body he chaired in 2007 and 2008.

The son of a former state senator, Irwin was a 22-year-old college student when he first ran for office on a platform of promoting affordable housing, land preservation, environmental protection and stewardship of clean water.

Irwin announces his endorsement for Michigan governor hopeful Virg Bernero earlier this month in Ann Arbor.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

"I thought maybe I could take some of those ideas into government and try to sort of parlay my love of public service and take it to the next level," he says.

During his time in office, Irwin says he has been deeply involved in housing and homelessness issues in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County.

"We've increased our support at the county for affordable housing projects through Avalon and Habitat and we built the Delonis Center, which has been a tremendous credit to our community," he says. "It has really improved our outreach and effectiveness in dealing with homelessness. In addition, I helped create the Washtenaw Health Plan, which is a health insurance plan for indigent Washtenaw residents. These are real results for our community."

Irwin says he also has fought against urban sprawl.

"That was an issue I got to work on, and we've had tremendous successes," he says. "We passed the natural areas preservation millage that saved about 2,000 acres of natural areas, and we've increased the costs that the townships are paying to the county for police, which was the biggest subsidy for sprawl in local government."

Irwin says he also has had the opportunity to learn about specific programs and services that the state pays for and the county runs — programs ranging from mental health to food safety to criminal justice and agriculture.

"Being involved in county government really opened up my eyes to a whole host of new issues that I've gotten involved in during that time and, I have to tell you, I really do love public service," Irwin says. "The process of digging in, listening to the stakeholders, listening to the folks who are affected by these programs, and trying to get the best possible result for the citizens is something that gets me excited."

Irwin says he wants voters to be familiar with his record as a county commissioner when they go into the voting booth on Aug. 3.

"I've been able to work with my colleagues to get a lot of great things done and that goes all the way from issues in environmental protection, energy efficiency, reaching out and helping the poor and needy, and balancing a budget in really tough times and finding ways to still maintain our community priorities in a strong way," he says. "Those are all skills that are going to be critical in Lansing, and so that's what I would love voters to know when they walk into the booth: that I've done it."

Ideas for tomorrow

Irwin and Staebler both say they're running for office so they can help turn around the state's economy and make Michigan a place their children will want to live someday.

"Our budget is in terrible shape," Irwin says. "We've got a $2 billion shortfall from where we were a couple years ago, our roads are in terrible condition, our transit systems are abysmal, our schools are getting underfunded, and really all around the board, we're disinvesting in the most important things that make Michigan the kind of place where we want to live."

Staebler says the way things are going right now, he's not so sure his son will decide to stay in Michigan.

"I saw a stat recently that almost 40 percent of our college graduates leave the state right after graduation," he says. "That means we're subsidizing the work force of Chicago or San Francisco or New York."

Staebler proposes reinstating the Michigan Promise to provide scholarship money — $1,000 a year per student — to help college students afford tuition. On the back end of that, Staebler proposes a tax credit program through which the state would help college graduates pay back student loan debt if they stay in Michigan after graduation.

From an economic standpoint, Staebler says there aren't any quick-fix solutions to Michigan's problems, but proper investments can ensure long-term results.

"If the problems that Michigan faced right now had a magic bullet solution, that would be fine, but they don't," he says. "Globalization has done a number on us. It is going to take 10, 15, 20 years of concerted investment in our future to emerge on the other side of this."

Staebler and Irwin agree on the need to invest in education, including enhancing the budgets of K-12 schools and increasing access and affordability to higher education.

Though he believes in incentivizing private investment, Staebler says he agrees with Irwin that some state business tax credits need to go.

"We give $37 million to the folks who sell satellite dishes — it's a '70s-era credit," Staebler says. "Certainly now, when there's a DirecTV or a Dish Network on every third house, we don't need that anymore. There's $37 million that could go to our schools."

He cites another $12 million in credits for in-state companies that drill for oil. He says that subsidy might have made sense when gas was $1 a gallon.

As the days draw nearer to the Aug. 3 primary, Irwin continues to bill himself as the more liberal of the two candidates in the 53rd District race.

"I'm the one who's out there talking about redirecting some of our investments in prisons to schools and higher ed," Irwin says. "And I'm coming up with some specific strategies from local experience about mental health diversion — about substance abuse treatment rather than incarceration — as a means to start to turn that ship around and redirect those dollars."

Both candidates continue to talk about the environment. Staebler, who spent two summers working for the Environmental Protection Agency in the early 1990s, says the state has a moral obligation to protect Michigan's natural resources.

"But we have an economic reason to protect it as well," he says. "People who say you have to choose between the economy and the environment are giving you a false choice. Green jobs are going to power our homes, our cars and our economy in the next 50 years."

Irwin has been working with Rebekah Warren on Property Assessed Clean Energy legislation to help citizens finance energy efficiency improvements in their homes.

"I'm talking about things like putting financing tools in the hands of everyday citizens to weatherize their homes. It saves money right away and puts people to work right away, and protects the environment and reduces our energy waste," Irwin says.

"I'm talking about strengthening the renewable portfolio standard, having leading policy, and what Ned's talking about is, 'Let's bring wind turbine manufacturers here by giving them public money and encouraging them to locate here.' So it's that same dichotomy. At the top level, we're both saying the word 'environment,' but when you drill down, what does that mean?"

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.