Ellen Cogen Lipton

Huntington Woods woman to run for state House

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

HUNTINGTON WOODS — Ellen Cogen Lipton of Huntington Woods has announced that she will be entering the 2008 race for a state representative seat for Michigan’s 27th District, which represents Ferndale, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Oak Park and Hazel Park.

The 40-year-old patent attorney is hoping to follow in the footsteps of current Democratic Rep. Andy Meisner, whose third and final term will end next year.

“Andy has been a great inspiration to me,” Lipton said. “He’s a model public servant and a poster child for why term limits are a bad idea. He has done wonderful things for the district, and I want to continue that work.”

For Meisner, the admiration is mutual. “I think very highly of Ellen,” he said. “She’s very bright, very thoughtful and comes from a nice family.”

Though he has not yet officially endorsed a candidate, Meisner thinks Lipton is “extremely well-qualified for the job. She would make a great state rep.”

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Lipton is a wife and mother of two children who has spent more than a decade serving her community. She was appointed to the State Board of Accountancy by Gov. Jennifer Granholm last year and has served on the Huntington Woods Zoning Board of Appeals, the Berkley Educational Foundation Board of Directors, the Ferndale Literacy Project and as president of the Michigan Ambassadors of the American Committee of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

“This is the culmination of my career in public service,” she said. “I want to be a strong voice for the people of this district and bring fresh, innovative ideas to Lansing.”

In her campaign, Lipton will promote the use of green technologies for job creation, investment in a mass transit system, and especially, removal of the state ban on stem cell research. She said that as one of only five states that prohibits stem cell research, “Michigan is missing out” on millions of dollars in valuable federal grant money.

She believes that emphasis on this and other kinds of scientific research will generate a great deal of new jobs, and in turn, help replenish the state’s struggling economy.

“As a patent attorney,” Lipton said, “I’ve represented lots of research universities. What happens time and again is that someone gets an idea from a university, the university helps support the creation of a spinoff business, the business grows and expands, and then many new jobs are created. It’s a cascade effect.

“We can be a leader in these areas the same way we have been a leader in the auto industry,” she continued. “This is a state where innovation and technology can thrive.”

For Lipton, these types of modern, forward-thinking methods should also be applied to education. She pointed out that other states in the Midwest have already begun implementing classes in biotechnology and entrepreneurship. However, she knows that this kind of education won’t have the desired impact until Michigan’s job market improves.

“It shows kids what’s possible, what’s out there,” she said. “But it’s hard to inspire them to study math and science when there are no jobs available for them.”

In the end, though, her goal is a simple one of improving her district and her home state. “We need to pay more attention to smart government: assisting citizens, educating children, creating jobs, improving lives.”