Occupation / Current Position
CEO/President of Numed Technologies
Education
BSE, MSE, Ph.D. University of Michigan
Qualifications and Experience
First time Candidate, Business owner, Professor, Research Engineer, Board of Directors for non-profits
I think that the current state of Michigan’s education system needs work. Too many children have reading and math skills that are not at acceptable levels. I think that Gov. Whitmer’s 2026 School Aid Budget is a good start. Free breakfast and lunch for all students. Free Pre-K and Community College for high school graduates. Student safety should be invested in, including mental health services, and we need to support teachers.
The cost of living has been increasing faster than wages, leaving many who can’t keep up. While some is due to market forces, the minimum wage has not kept pace, declining unionization has eroded workers’ ability to bargain for fair compensation while healthcare, rent and energy costs are skyrocketing. Hard working people must come first. Rules to protect workers need to be enforced. Minimum wage needs to keep pace with inflation, energy costs need to be examined, affordable housing needs to be invested in, healthcare needs to encourage regular checkups allowing disease states to be found early and addressed, and mental health needs funding.
As an electrical engineer I understand this problem better than most. The energy company monopolies who require government approval to increase rates need to have those rates tied to customer service and reliability. We need to bring back solar, wind, and geothermal tax credits making it affordable to use renewable energy locally instead of huge farms of solar panels. This takes pressure off of the aging electrical grid that is not able to deliver the demand for more power. Community solar projects to take pressure off of the aging electrical grid will also help. Promotion of green energy will create jobs, and improve the environment.
The constitution of the United States is the document we live by. These amendments are fundamental to the values that our country was founded on and make us great. Due process and freedom of speech and the press are rights we have all enjoyed. We are a democracy not a dictatorship. The freedoms granted by the first amendment apply to everyone within America’s borders and everyone within our borders must be subject to due process.
Occupation / Current Position
Livingston County Sheriff
Education
Associates Degree in Criminal Justice for Lansing Community College
Qualifications and Experience
I'm a common sense traditionalist. 38 years ion law enforcement and third term Sheriff
Our current system is not working. We need to evaluate other programs in the nation and take the best parts of all of them to create an award winning system.
Standardized testing doesn't tell the whole story. Yes, you need benchmarks, but when a child is more concerned their hunger, home environment, peer pressure, and safety it makes it very difficult to learn.
We also need to emphasize etiquette in the classroom. Teachers want to do their jobs, but when a significant portion of their day is classroom management they are set up to fail. This classroom etiquette I speak of starts at home. Parents need to help by teaching good citizenship.
I believe more emphasis needs to be put on trades and vocational schools. This would make a significant impact for living wages. In addition, the overall tax structure needs to be rehauled. Starting with income and property taxes. In addition, we need to do a deep dive into what our tax dollars are paying for. If it is not statutory, or constitutionally mandated we stop stop funding it.
If we promoted vocational schooling and the trades, restructured our taxes, and didn't pay for things we don't have to, Michigan would see an economic boom.
As with most issues there is not a silver bullet or one size fits all. When it comes to affordability, and reliability, competition is good, as is continuing to research efficiencies with current practices while exploring new technologies.
Having a mix of renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy ultimately makes for a more reliable grid. I support this approach.
I believe the current laws and regulations in place are adequate to protect the environment.
I believe in, and support the constitution, so yes I support due process, as well as all the amendments of the constitution. That said, when the 14th amendment was adopted it pertained to slavery and people that were already in this country.
There needs to be due process for illegal noncitizens, but that due process should be expedited, and they certainly should not be treated better than our citizens.
It has been said many times that the United States is a melting pot. Likely over 95 % of the US population can trace its roots back to countries outside the US. That is one of the things that makes us great. Just come here the right way.
