Jenn Hill
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 109
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 109
Jenn Hill is a community leader focused on building a more resilient Michigan. Growing up in the Midwest, Jenn learned the importance of hard work, integrity, and service above self from her close-knit family who has come up to the UP to fish for generations.
Elected to the Marquette City Commission in 2018, Jenn is a proven problem solver who works with others to get results. From proposing innovative climate resiliency measures, to helping residents navigate bureaucratic red tape, Jenn never loses sight of the bigger picture and who she’s fighting for: the people.
Jenn is running for State Representative to be our voice in Lansing, so that every UP family, worker, small business, student, and community cannot just survive, but thrive.
Priorities:
Pursue housing affordability solutions
Confront the family caregiving crisis
Ensure access to healthcare
Create good paying jobs
Support small business
Strengthen public education
Prioritize water quality
Promote accessible accountable government
Strengthen civil rights and democracy
Dr. Patricia Bernard
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 55
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 55
Dr. Patricia Bernard has dedicated her career to public service. She graduated from Wayne State University and went on to earn an MBA from Central Michigan and a Ph.D. from Andrews University. She served for decades with the U.S. Department of Army and is also a small business owner. Patricia is dedicated to the Rochester community where she raised three sons, all of whom graduated from the Rochester schools. She is running for election to the Michigan State house in District 55 where she wants to put people over politics and fight for the people in her community.
Priorities:
Abortion and Reproductive Rights
Gun violence prevention
Fund public schools; keep everyone safe
Access to mental health & quality healthcare
Clean water, air & energy
Small businesses
Protect voter rights
Joey Andrews
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 38
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 38
Joey Andrews is a fifth-generation Southwest Michigan native who, after witnessing his parents’ struggle firsthand during the Great Recession of 2008, immediately went to action. Working as a policy analyst for the Michigan AFL-CIO and spending years organizing for change in hometown, Andrews has dedicated his life to serving his community and all of the working families in Southwest Michigan that he feels deserve a voice to champion them. Andrews is running for election to the Michigan House of Representatives District 38 because, as a pro-worker, pro-Michigan, proactive public servant, Andrews knows that problems don’t just disappear—they need someone to help solve them.
Priorities:
Infrastructure & Environmental Protections (Erosion Flooding, Lead)
Housing Crisis
Fair Wages
Local Employment, Healthy Workforce
Reproductive Rights
Fighting Discrimination
Sarah Anthony
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 21
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 21
Currently serving as a representative in Michigan’s state house, Representative Anthony is now running for state senate. Rep. Anthony was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan. After graduating from Central Michigan University, she went on to earn her Master’s of Public Administration degree from Western Michigan University. She then immediately returned to Lansing to begin serving as a legislative assistant for former State Rep. Joan Bauer.
In 2012, Anthony was elected to the Ingham County Board of Commissioners, becoming the youngest African American woman to serve in this capacity in the US. In 2018, she became the first African-American woman to serve as a representative for Lansing. She has received numerous awards and recognitions, including being named “Legislator of the Year” by Michigan Works!, “Legislator of the Year” by the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association, recipient of the Lansing NAACP Image Award, and the Michigan College Access Network “ Board of Directors’ Award. She has been profiled in the New Yorker magazine and featured in the New York Times, the Guardian, Essence, and Black Enterprise, and the Washington Post.
Now, Representative Anthony is running for State Senate. She has been serving the Lansing region her whole life, and looks forward to serving in a new capacity.
Priorities:
-An economy that works for everyone
-Addressing healthcare disparities
-Justice for all
-expanding education and training
Richard Bernstein
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Supreme Court
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Supreme Court
In November 2014, Richard Berenstein became the first blind justice elected to the Michigan State Supreme Court. Blind since birth, Justice Berenstein has been a tireless advocate for disabled rights. His cases often set national standards protecting the rights of those with and without disabilities.
Before his term with Michigan’s Supreme Court, Justice Berenstein was a successful private attorney. He often collaborated with the US Department of Justice on cases involving disabled rights. He successfully partnered with the DOJ and the city of Detroit to fix broken wheelchair lifts on buses, gained safe access for individuals with disabilities to the University of Michigan, and won a landmark case requiring airlines to adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Justice Berenstien is an avid runner, enjoys spending time with his family, and is committed to fighting for fairness and justice for all residents of Michigan.
Kyra Harris Bolden
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Supreme Court
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Supreme Court
State Representative Bolden is currently serving her second term as a representative of her hometown Southfield. Now, she is seeking to represent Michigan through election to the State Supreme Court.
After graduation from Grand Valley State University, she chose to remain in Michigan and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
As a representative, Rep. Bolden has tirelessly dedicated herself to criminal justice reform. Through her capacity as a member of the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bolden has had the opportunity to craft bipartisan legislation to protect victims of sexual violence. She has also passed pieces of critical bipartisan legislation into law, including the “Medically Frail” prison reform package, the revision of the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act, and the “Address Confidentiality for Survivors of Domestic Violence” package.
In addition to serving as a representative, Rep. Bolden has a rich past in her roles as a criminal defense attorney and judicial law clerk. She also remains an active member of the local legal community, serving as a member of the Oakland County Bar Association, Wolverine Bar Association, Straker Bar Association and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan.
She remains committed to criminal justice reform, and hopes to expand her advocacy through election to Michigan’s State Supreme Court.
Darrin Camilleri
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 4
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 4
State Representative Camilleri is currently serving his third term as representative for House District 23, and hopes to be elected to the state senate this fall. He has served as the minority vice chair of the House Education Committee, emerging as a statewide voice on improving our public schools and a champion for workers' rights. One of his top priorities has been addressing Downriver’s infrastructure problems, including the decades-long problem of heavy traffic due to blocked railroads. After successfully securing funding to find a solution, Representative Camilleri has turned his focus to ensuring working families can get ahead in Downriver. He has been a leader in the fight to protect pensions for police officers, firefighters, teachers and school employees.
As the son of immigrants, Representative Camilleri is extremely proud of his American story. He aims to secure future generations with the same opportunities he has been extended. As a former social studies teacher, Representative Camilleri knows firsthand the problems faced by younger generations. He looks forward to serving the people of Michigan in a new way through election to the state senate.
Jaime Churches
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 27
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 27
Jaime is a longtime resident of Downriver, a graduate of Madonna College, and a 5th grade teacher. The idea to run for state representative actually came to her through an assignment for her students. She asked them to write down three dreams they had for their lives, and when she decided to join them in the activity she realized how passionate she was about running for public office. She loves serving her students in the classroom, and looks forward to serving them in an even larger way as state representative.
Priorities:
-Invest in communities, not corporations
-Invest in schools, children and educators
-Expand comprehensive reproductive healthcare services for women
Jennifer Conlin
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 48
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 48
Jennifer was born and raised in Washtenaw County and attended both the University of Michigan and Northwestern. After meeting her husband, raising three children, and living abroad for two decades, Jennifer decided to return to her home of Ann Arbor to be close to her family. Now, she wants to make a difference for families like hers. She has watched her children struggle to pay off student loans, witnessed her parents worry about rising healthcare costs, and knows firsthand the struggles of running a small business. She hopes to tackle these issues and improve her community through election to the state house.
Priorities
-infrastructure
-environment
-public health
-education
-economy
Carol Glanville
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 84
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 84
Representative Glanville was elected to Michigan’s state house through a special election in May. She is running for re-election to continue her fight for working families, children and educators, a thriving workforce, and the environment.
Born and raised in West Michigan, Rep. Glanville has experience as a teacher and educator, is the daughter of union workers, and involved heavily in her family’s small business. She has a lifelong passion for service and wants to better her community.
Priorities:
-Education
-Good-paying jobs
-Environment
Kevin Hertel
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 12
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 12
Kevin Hertel served three terms as a State Representative in the Michigan State House. Now he’s running for the Michigan Senate in District 12.
During his time in the State House, Kevin has advocated for historic investments in students, fought on a bipartisan basis to keep Michigan’s children safe from abuse and neglect, supported funding to keep Michigan’s drinking water clean, helped reconfigure how Michigan’s road repairs are funded, fought to maintain Michigan’s prevailing wage law, and championed a law to prohibit the taxation of retirement and pension benefits.
Before serving in the House, Hertel worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan as a legislative analyst and then as a special assistant in the office of the president. Kevin grew up in a family that instilled the importance of being involved in his community. He attended Notre Dame High and Michigan State University where he studied political science and continued his family’s tradition of civic involvement. Kevin lives in St. Clair Shores with his wife Ann and two young children.
Priorities:
Education
Infrastructure
Public Safety
Fair Wages and Employment
Brian Hosticka
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Representative, District 102
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Representative, District 102
Brian Hosticka is running for State Representative for the 102nd District. He fights for justice and public safety in Muskegon County as an Assistant Public Defender and a former prosecutor. Brian's parents owned Dog n Suds restaurant in Montague. He graduated from Whitehall public schools. Brian paid his own way through college waiting tables in Ann Arbor and Chicago. He earned an economics and political science degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. After Brian earned his law degree, he ran a successful law practice in Chicago. When his father died, Brian returned home and took over the family business, Dairy Treat in Whitehall.
Brian currently serves as Vice President of the White Lake Community Library Board of Trustees, representing Whitehall Schools, and is a member of the Fraternal Order of Police. He has two teenage children who attended Whitehall public school. Brian will fight for working people. We need a representative who knows there's more to real life than climbing political ladders and doing the bidding of billionaires.
Veronica Klinefelt
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 11
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 11
As a mother of four, 30-year resident of Macomb County, and member of an army family, Veronica Klinefelt knows what it means to serve the needs of a community—and how crucial it is to have resources for these needs. After noticing firsthand the lack of funding for public schools and local infrastructure, Klinefelt ran for city council where she served for eight years, followed by her current position as County Commissioner for the last ten. With her passion and dedication for good government, Klinefelt is running for State Senate in District 11 to make sure small town needs are heard at the state level.
Priorities:
-Reproductive freedom
-working families
-voting access
-responsible government
-school funding
-clean water
-infrastructure
-wage justice
-mental health
Matt Koleszar
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 22
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State House, District 22
Representative Koleszar is currently serving his second term representing Michigan’s 20th House District. He serves as minority whip, minority vice chair of the house elections and ethics committee, and a member of the house education committee. He is seeking re-election because he knows there is more work to be done to bring Michigan good roads, enough funding for schools, clean water, and quality healthcare.
Matt was raised in the community by a single mother and served as a teacher for 12 years. As a lifelong Michigander, he knows real action is needed to address the hardship, loss, and injustice felt throughout the community.
Priorities:
-Protecting and renewing the community
-Strengthening Michigan education
-Protecting Michigan’s working families
-Protecting Michigan’s environment
Padma Kuppa
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 9
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 9
Representative Padma Kuppa is currently serving her second term as State Rep for Michigan’s 41st house district. Now, she is seeking election to the State Senate, where she hopes to build upon her previous work to advance the needs of the communities she serves.
As a first generation American, and Michigander, Rep. Kuppa wants to preserve all the good things about Michigan that led her to move to the state 25 years ago with her young family. The economic opportunities, family resources, local public schools, and kindhearted neighbors quickly led her to fall in love with Michigan.
She has served as engineer, and was the first woman to receive an engineering degree at her school in India. She has been an active advocate for education as she put her own children through school, and has been a passionate volunteer in the region for over two decades.
Through her time as a Representative, she has advanced several bills and resolutions, served on several committees and caucuses, and advocated passionately for her communities. Now, she hopes to continue her work in the State Senate.
Priorities:
-Public Schools
-Access to healthcare and affordable prescription drugs
-Supporting seniors and people with special needs
-Empowering women
-Clean energy and protecting the environment
-Safety and violence prevention
-Accountability and transparency
-Affordable higher education
-Protecting democracy
David LaGrand
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 30
Michigan
Running for: Michigan State Senate, District 30
David currently serves as the State Representative for Grand Rapids and is now running for State Senate in the 30th district. David was born and raised in Grand Rapids and has raised his children in West Michigan. He and his wife are heavily invested in the local community through their multiple small businesses, and David has a rich history as a public servant in the region. He has previously served as an Assistant Kent County Prosecutor, a City Commissioner, and a Grand Rapids Public School Board Member. He is committed to working towards reformative policy that helps all citizens and strengthens the entire community.
Priorities:
-Criminal justice reform
-Restoring faith in our government
-Keeping Michigan clean
-Jobs and the economy
Mary Edly Allen
Illinois
Running for: Illinois State Senate, District 31
Illinois
Running for: Illinois State Senate, District 31
Mary is a certified bilingual teacher and has taught and lived in District 31 for over 20 years. Her mother was an educator, and her father was a maintenance worker and Navy veteran of the Korean War. As a single mother of four sons, Mary understands the needs of hardworking Illinois families.
During her term serving as an Illinois State Representative, Mary worked across the aisle to pass common-sense laws that continue to benefit her community. Mary is now running to represent District 31 in the Illinois State Senate.
Priorities:
Protect a woman’s right to choose
Lower taxes, boost Illinois manufacturing, and bring supply chains home
Advocate for all of our diverse communities
Create real ethics reform in Springfield
Strengthen laws to reduce crime and gun violence
Invest in child care, paid leave, and mental health resources to help families
Carl Marlinga
Michigan
Running for: Michigan US House, District 10
Michigan
Running for: Michigan US House, District 10
Carl Marlinga is running for election to represent Michigan's 10th Congressional District in the U.S. House. Marlinga, a lifelong Michigander, served for nearly 40 years as Macomb County prosecutor, and was recently a judge on the 16th Probate Court and Judicial Circuit Court. In his time serving the Michigan people, Marlinga has never left anyone behind and his track record shows it. Marlinga has made it a priority to support and provide resources for survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse, those struggling with their mental health, and children who have suffered from abuse and neglect. Over a period of twenty years, Marlinga has helped increase the number of female lawyers in the prosecutor’s office from 7% to 50%, expanding their opportunities for professional development. Marlinga vows to secure resources for small businesses, families, and entrepreneurs to ensure they have the necessary tools to flourish in a rapidly-changing environment.
Priorities:
Reproductive rights
Protecting our lakes
Green jobs and industry
Economy and Supply chain
Judge Elizabeth Rochford
Illinois
Running for: Supreme Court of Illinois, District 2
Illinois
Running for: Supreme Court of Illinois, District 2
Judge Elizabeth Rochford's passion for service started as a child growing up with her father, a Chicago police officer, and her mother, a special education teacher.
She began her career as Assistant State's Attorney before moving into private law practice. Rochford served for 23 years as Commissioner of the Illinois Court of Claims and has served as a judge for the past nine years.
Her recent distinctions include the 2021 Lake County Democratic Women’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg Award, 2020 ISBA Carole K. Bellows Woman of Influence Award, the Lake County Women’s Association (LCWA) 2019 Woman of Significance Award, and the LCBA’s 2019 Access to Justice Award.
Priorities:
Combating racial injustice
Accessibility to justice
Nabeela Syed
Illinois
Running for: Illinois State House, District 51
Illinois
Running for: Illinois State House, District 51
Nabeela Syed is running for the 51st District in the Illinois State House of Representatives. Syed was born and raised in Palatine, Illinois, brought up in the public school system, and has spent her free time organizing for her community whether it be as an academic mentor for students, canvassing to help get Democrats elected in Schaumburg, or working tirelessly to ensure all eligible Illinoisans are able to exercise their right to vote.
Syed holds a degree in Political Science and Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley. At UC Berkeley, Syed served as president of a consulting organization dedicated to helping small businesses and nonprofits pro-bono. Syed also managed a campaign for current Township High School District 211 School Board Member Tim McGowan, centered on equity, inclusion, and accountability in Illinois public schools. Syed currently works for a digital strategy nonprofit aiding in civic engagement and social justice whose efforts include gender equity, supporting survivors of sexual violence on college campuses, and voter mobilization. Syed has always felt at home in her community and is running for Illinois House of Representatives District 51 to make sure others feel the same.
Priorities:
Reproductive rights
The economy (especially for small businesses and working families)
Healthcare accessibility
Public safety
Environment
Education