LANSING – Chatter on Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Snyder’s running mate increasingly is focusing on three current or former senators: Sen. Jason Allen of Alanson, Sen. Patricia Birkholz of Saugatuck and former Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema. There also has been some talk about Meijer CEO Mark Murray, a high-ranking official in the administration of former Gov. John Engler.

Messages left for Allen, Murray and Sikkema were not returned.

Birkholz would not answer a question about whether the Snyder campaign has contacted her, saying only, with a laugh upon repeated questioning, that she had read about the matter in several publications.

“Obviously it’s an honor to be considered on any list whether it’s speculation or real,” she said. “Whatever I can do to help the new administration, obviously I’d be very pleased to do that.”

One trait shared by Allen, Birkholz and Sikkema is that they all have a history of working on environmental issues, an area Snyder has emphasized, enabling him to attract support from some environmentalists. Another is that all three have generally taken a pragmatic, rather than ideological approach, in making key decisions.

Snyder spokesperson Bill Nowling would say little about where Snyder stands in selecting a nominee.

“We’re going to make an announcement when we make an announcement and not before Rick’s ready,” he said. “I think it’s safe to say everything you would expect a gubernatorial candidate to be doing at this time, Rick is doing. We’re not going to get into this inside baseball discussion about the process.”

Gongwer News Service examines the pluses and minuses of the four potential running mates, names based on what several sources said is their understanding of those in the mix.

JASON ALLEN: Allen could solidify support for Snyder in the northern Lower Peninsula and help in the eastern Upper Peninsula, the regions he represents in the Senate. Allen also has a reputation as a conservative who’s willing and able to work with Democrats and would fit into Snyder’s pragmatic, non-ideological approach. He’s also close to one of Snyder’s major Lansing beltway supporters, former House Speaker Rick Johnson. His voting record should largely satisfy conservatives in the party.

On the downside, Allen just suffered a painfully close defeat in the 1st U.S. House District Republican primary in which he got beat up by tea party conservatives. Geographically, he doesn’t bring much to the table because Snyder ran well Up North in the Republican primary.

PATRICIA BIRKHOLZ: Picking Birkholz could help shore up support in west Michigan, where U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra largely beat Snyder in the primary. Birkholz has a reputation for running a productive Senate Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee, where she is chair and shepherded a number of major issues into law. As a woman, Birkholz would bring gender balance to the ticket.

One problem for Birkholz could be her support of the 2007 increase in the income tax to 4.35 percent. Birkholz has said she did so in exchange for reforms to teacher health care, but picking Birkholz could complicate the Republican message on taxes and antagonize fiscal conservatives.

MARK MURRAY: Choosing Murray would enable Snyder to double down on the ticket’s business emphasis, with an all-CEO ticket. But Murray also would bring his considerable knowledge of state government as a former treasurer and budget director to the position as well.

However, it’s hard to imagine Murray leaving his job running Meijer to be lieutenant governor. It would be a considerable pay cut, but perhaps more importantly a huge decline in authority and power unless Snyder redefined the lieutenant governor’s role to enhance it beyond presiding over the Senate and helping out on key legislation.

KEN SIKKEMA: Sikkema would bring the most experience in the Legislature – 12 years in the House and eight in the Senate with stints as the House minority leader and Senate majority leader. Unlike Allen and Birkholz, he has not been in government the last four years and was not serving during the shutdowns of 2007 and 2009. He’s been a fixture in Kent County politics for some time and could help Snyder shore up support in west Michigan.

Some fiscal conservatives might question Sikkema’s willingness to allow an increase in the cigarette tax and his key role in brokering the 2003 budget deal that led to a six-month delay in a scheduled income tax cut in exchange for business friendly changes to the Single Business Tax.

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