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Michigan Responsibility Council Founder Paul Welday Dead At 57.


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LANSING — In these days of hyper-partisanship, there are few politicians who can generate an outpouring of admiration and respect from both sides of the political aisle.

But 57-year-old Paul Welday, a prominent Republican strategist and activist from Oakland County who died unexpectedly Monday, was one of that rare breed.

Welday had just attended a political fund-raiser Monday night for Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, held at the Iroquois Club in Bloomfield Hills. And his sudden death that night — possibly from a heart attack — shocked many.

State Sen. Marty Knollenberg, R-Troy, said on the Senate floor Tuesday that he had known Welday for 35 years, and he had become a part of his family.

"It was like a dagger through my heart," hearing the news, Knollenberg said, adding that it was Welday — not his father, former U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Township — who encouraged him to run for precinct delegate, county commissioner and state representative. "Paul Welday pushed me. He saw something in me, and he wanted good people to be involved in politics. He didn’t just mentor me, he mentored a lot of you here in this room."

He was respected on both sides of the aisle. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Democrat from Dearborn, said that while they may have disagreed on issues, she appreciated his passion for the issues he cared about, the state of Michigan overall and the family he adored.

"I will deeply miss our sparring and intellectual disagreements," she said. "Today is a reminder to make every day count, because you don't know what tomorrow will bring.”

Eddie McDonald, a Democratic political consultant from Detroit, said he still was trying to come to grips with the fact that Welday was gone.

"We came up together," he said. "I've known him for years. I just can't believe it."

Tributes poured in Tuesday on social media  for the Republican state committee member, former chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party and former congressional candidate from Farmington Hills who recently filed to run for Oakland County water resources commissioner.

"We were yucking  it up like we normally do," said Sen. Mike Kowall, R-White Lake, who was at the Bouchard fund-raiser Monday night. "And now, today, we're all walking around here in a state of shock."

Anne Mervenne, co-director of the Michigan Political Leadership Program at  Michigan State University and a former staffer for Republican Gov. John Engler, and Welday became friends when they attended MSU's James Madison College together. He was a 1981 graduate.

She said she'll most remember him for being a great father and family man, and for his political enthusiasm.

"We're all walking around Lansing in a daze," she said.

Republican strategist Stu Sandler said Welday was "one of the good guys who always fought for what he believed in." He'll be remembered for "his passion for wanting to make Michigan a better place."

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson took to Twitter to say: "Paul Welday was a good friend, a good man, and would have made a great public official."

Rep. Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth, who counts Welday's wife, Valerie, as one of his legislative staffers, described Welday as "a wonderful father, husband and friend," and said, "We are devastated by the news" of his death.

Welday was a political consultant as a former founder and partner of Strategic Public Affairs and former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg. He was also a partner in Renaissance Strategies, a marketing and communications firm. In 2011, he began working for Watts Partners, a  Washington, D.C.- based government affairs consulting firm, as senior counsel to the firm.

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton,a Republican from St. Joseph, said in a statement that he was "heartsick" over the death of his friend.

"They just don't make them like Paul anymore. No one had a bigger heart or sharper intellect. He was a principled voice for Michigan conservatives, made a big difference for our state, and his advocacy on behalf of kids with autism was inspiring," he said. "He was fiercely loyal and stayed with his friends through thick and thin — no matter what."

He was also a frequent contributor to the "Flashpoint" news program Sundays on WDIV-TV (Channel 4) and host Devin Scillian said on Twitter that the news of Welday's death was "crushing" and that a "good friend and terribly important member of the Flashpoint family" was gone.

Welday is survived by his wife, Valerie Knol, a former Farmington mayor; a son, Nicholas, and a daughter, Natalie.

 

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