The votes have been cast and the candidates chosen — now it's time to look ahead to the Nov. 8 election.

Aside from the gubernatorial race between Gov. Jennifer Granholm and challenger Dick DeVos, Lansing-area residents will be voting for their U.S. Representative and a state representative from either the 68th or 69th District.

Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics, a political newsletter based in Lansing, said the recent state Legislature decision to repeal the Single Business Tax will be something local candidates will look at, especially on how the state should make up for lost revenue.

When it comes to the race for U.S. Congressman, Ballenger said homeland security could definitely be a major issue.

"Rogers is a former FBI agent and (Jim) Marcinkowski used to be in the CIA, so they both have this kind of law enforcement background," he said. "Both have strong views on the war on terror and border security."

69th District

A prominent community figure and a recent MSU College of Law graduate are set to square off for the 69th District, which encompasses East Lansing, Okemos, Haslett and surrounding areas. Mark Meadows, former East Lansing mayor and current City Council member, beat out two other candidates in last week's primary for the Democratic seat. Republican John Knowles, 26, defeated primary contender John Currie, 32 years his senior.

Mark Meadows

Meadows has been involved in East Lansing politics for more than 10 years, and now he's attempting to step up and become a representative for the area's district.

He said he plans to continue knocking on doors and following the same campaign tactics that propelled him to victory in the primary election.

The issues he plans on tackling and that he thinks voters will look at are the economy, the environment and educational funding.

"I think (voters) are going to be looking at making a decision on who can help turn the economy around, who can bring more jobs to Mid-Michigan," Meadows said.

He said an original plan to phase the Single Business Tax out slowly would be more effective than getting rid of the tax quickly.

"The idea to eliminate it immediately doesn't reflect good public policy or good planning," Meadows said. "We should develop a new tax system that would replace that $2 billion that's being cut out of there."

John Knowles

Knowles, a 2006 graduate of MSU College of Law, said he also will continue to work tirelessly through the campaign season, which won him two-thirds of the Republican vote last week. He plans on placing an emphasis on raising campaign funds this time around, he said.

"Myself, my team of volunteers and staff committed our lives to the election for three or four months," Knowles said.

He agreed that voters will be taking a close look at each candidate's economic plan and said repealing the Single Business Tax was a beneficial decision.

"It's a job killer, the worst tax in America," Knowles said. "It makes Michigan an unattractive place to invest, and I'm pleased that the Legislature booked a repeal on Wednesday."

He said a new tax should be placed on businesses based on profits.

"The beauty of repealing this is new revenues will come because the message will be sent to outside providers that Michigan is open to business; it will replace the revenue that will be lost," he said. "The conventional wisdom will be a replacement from a new business tax based on profits."

68th District

The 68th District, primarily made up of Lansing, will be represented by either Democrat Joan Bauer or Republican Harilaos Sorovigas. Sorovigas, a businessman, was unopposed during the primary, but Bauer, a Lansing City Council member, beat out five other Democratic contenders to win the Democratic candidacy for November.

Joan Bauer

Bauer, a former president of the City Council, said the primary revealed what voters are paying attention to.

"It's been pretty clear from the primary that the major issues are jobs and secondly education and third health care," she said.

Bauer, who plans to continue the same campaign plan she had during the primary, said the first line of business for the state's Legislature is to find a replacement for the funds lost from repealing the Single Business Tax.

"The Legislature needs to buckle down and come up with an alternative," she said. "It should be a tax that is fair, that's predictable and that doesn't hurt business growth."

Harilaos Sorovigas

Sorovigas said the economy is at the top of the list of what voters will be taking note of during November's election, he said.

"I think they're looking at the economy, unemployment, taxes in general," he said. "The other thing would be public education issues and health-care issues."

He said he looks forward to the abolishment of the Single Business Tax.

"It moves businesses away from the state of Michigan," he said. "We have to replace some of the taxes with another form of tax on businesses. They should be taxed on net gains, versus taxes on assets.

"Perhaps we will have some type of base, like excluding small businesses that are making less than $50,000 — to try to help the small family businesses."

8th District U.S. House

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, beat out Patrick Flynn in the Republican primary race for the 8th District. His challenger is Jim Marcinkowski, who ran unopposed on the Democratic ticket.

Jim Marcinkowski

Aside from his experience in the CIA, Marcinkowski also has served as Royal Oak's deputy city attorney and said one thing will be on voters' minds this fall.

"Economics, economics and economics," he said. "It's all about jobs."

He said education, health care and the war on terror are also crucial issues that people will definitely be looking at. He added that as a representative, he would implement more standards for the nation's safety. A national standard for baggage checks at airports should be mandated, Marcinkowski said.

"The American people are well aware of the threat that we are under. We are vulnerable," he said. "As far as security is concerned we have a long way to go, and the Republicans have ignored it."

Michigan's economy needs work, he said, and added that clear guidelines on trade could improve the state's financial climate.

"Last year, the number of unemployed college-educated people exceeded that of high school dropouts for the first time in history," he said. "We're exporting jobs, we're exporting our standard of living. We have to provide a future for the folks of Michigan State and the folks of the future, and we're doing a really bad job of that."

Mike Rogers

Sylvia Warner, Rogers' spokeswoman, said voters will be looking at the congressman's history when they go to the polls.

"He has a very strong record on economic issues and health care," she said. "He's been working on legislation to make health care more affordable and accessible."

Warner said Rogers thinks the U.S. is governing homeland security issues efficiently.

"The congressman recognizes and is aware that there have been a number of successes of foiling terrorist attempts to attack the U.S. and its allies," she said. "He sees this as an example of the success that our intelligence community is having. It shows that we have to continue to be vigilant and to stand strong as a nation and with our allies against the terrorists.

"This is a war that's going to take time to win; it's not something that you can finish in the length of a made-for-TV movie."

Warner said Michigan has been lagging behind economically compared with other states, and Rogers will attempt to fix that.

"(Other states) are very aggressive about recruiting new businesses and industry and working to keep their taxes down," she said.