Source: Snyder to run with Brian Calley

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder is expected to pick a 33-year-old conservative state representative from mid-Michigan to be his running mate, a person close to the Snyder campaign told The Associated Press Tuesday.

Rep. Brian Calley of Portland will be announced Wednesday as Snyder's choice. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the campaign has not yet announced Calley's name.

The announcement is expected to take place at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Snyder has a late afternoon town hall meeting planned there.

Snyder campaign spokesman Bill Nowling would not confirm or deny that Calley had been chosen. He added, however, that Snyder "is going to make a special announcement in Grand Rapids tomorrow at the town hall."

A request for comment was left at Calley's home and on his cell phone Tuesday night. He'll have to suspend his campaign for the 33rd District Senate seat to run for lieutenant governor.

Calley has been a state representative since 2007 and led the House Republican campaign effort in 2008. A former banker, he has been behind a so-far-unsuccessful effort to change the Michigan Constitution to prohibit property taxes from rising when a home's value drops.

He also introduced a bill last year to exempt baby-sitting from the state's day care regulations after the Michigan Department of Human Services ordered a Barry County woman to stop watching her friend's three children before they got on their school bus. Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed the bill into law last November.

Snyder, a businessman from Washtenaw County's Superior Township who has no government experience, had said he would consider choosing a former or current lawmaker as a running mate. Snyder and Calley both hold master's degrees in business administration -- Snyder from the University of Michigan, Calley from Grand Valley State University -- and are likely to share similar ideas on how best to revive Michigan's struggling economy.

"Brian's a capable lawmaker with a good voting record on jobs and the economy. He's young and bright and hardworking and would be a very good choice," Michigan Chamber of Commerce President Rich Studley said. The chamber's political action committee endorsed Snyder earlier Tuesday.

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