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Michigan House District 54 Choose 1

Duties: The Michigan House of Representatives shares responsibility with the Michigan Senate to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws.Qualifications: Representatives are elected in even-numbered years to 2-year terms. They must be at least 21 years of age and a registered voter in their district. There are 110 State House districts which are re-apportioned after each census.Term: 2 years

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Sarah Pounds (Dem)

Biographical Information

Occupation / Current Position Paralegal
Education Oakland University: BA History (2005); Paralegal Certificate (2007)
Qualifications and Experience Sarah has 20 years of experience as a paralegal in construction litigation. She founded a nonprofit to tackle the housing crisis and serves on the board of Oakland County Housing Trust Fund.

EDUCATION: How do you evaluate Michigan’s current education system in terms of quality, funding, the teacher workforce and standardized testing? What changes, if any, would you propose or support?

Michigan has made progress by increasing per-pupil funding, expanding early childhood education, and investing in educator recruitment, but schools are still grappling with teacher shortages, rising costs, student mental health needs, and achievement gaps. I believe we must continue investing in public education by fully funding our schools, supporting special education and student mental health services, and expanding career and technical education to prepare all students for success, We must better support our teachers with competitive pay, and stronger retention efforts. Standardized testing is a useful tool, but not the sole measure.

ECONOMY: What policy initiatives do you support for residents to earn a living wage and address the overall question of affordability across Michigan?

Everything I care about in public policy comes back to affordability. Michigan families are paying more for housing, childcare, groceries, healthcare, and other necessities while wages struggle to keep pace. I support policies that help workers earn a living wage through workforce training, apprenticeships, career and technical education, collective bargaining, and job creation. We must also address the biggest household expenses by expanding affordable housing, childcare, and access to healthcare. People who work hard should be able to afford to live and raise a family in Michigan.

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY: How would you approach ensuring energy reliability, consumer affordability, and environmental protection in Michigan?

Michigan needs an energy strategy that is reliable, affordable, and sustainable. Families and businesses depend on dependable energy, but they also need protection from rising utility costs. I support investing in a diverse energy portfolio, modernizing our grid, and strengthening infrastructure to improve reliability and reduce outages. At the same time, we must protect our Great Lakes and natural resources by encouraging clean energy development, improving energy efficiency, and holding polluters accountable. We can grow our economy while protecting the environment for future generations.

IMMIGRATION: What is your position on due process, First Amendment, and Fourth Amendment rights for all Michigan residents, including noncitizens, and what changes, if any, would you support?

The Constitution protects fundamental rights that should be respected for everyone in Michigan, including due process, free speech, and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. I believe government must follow the law and respect constitutional rights regardless of a person's immigration status. Public safety and civil liberties are not mutually exclusive. I support policies that ensure fair legal processes, protect First Amendment freedoms, and uphold the constitutional principles that are fundamental to a free and democratic society.

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Roman Gaskey (Rep)

Biographical Information

Occupation / Current Position Strategy & Product Analyst
Education B.S. University of Michigan
Qualifications and Experience University of Michigan, B.S. • Oxford DDA Economic Vitality Committee appointed member • Experience in AI

EDUCATION: How do you evaluate Michigan’s current education system in terms of quality, funding, the teacher workforce and standardized testing? What changes, if any, would you propose or support?

Michigan’s education system is underperforming. Funding per pupil is above the national average, but teacher pay has declined in real terms and shortages persist. Standardized testing is not streamlined, making year-over-year and inter-district comparisons more difficult. This is a particular problem for early literacy, where different districts use different assessments. I support a uniform early reading test to better compare across districts and measure of student performance. For students reading below grade level, there must be early intervention. Students should be paired with one-on-one or small-group tutors based on need.

ECONOMY: What policy initiatives do you support for residents to earn a living wage and address the overall question of affordability across Michigan?

History consistently shows that real wages increase when human capital and productivity grow. Industries and opportunities that pay well will come to Michigan if we become more competitive for investment through measures like improving our education system, expanding access to career and technical education, creating public-private partnerships, and structurally reforming MEDC. For affordability, I am focused on healthcare, energy, and housing. I support cracking down on hospital monopolies, holding utilities accountable for performance, and rewarding municipalities for approving affordable housing with increased revenue sharing.

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY: How would you approach ensuring energy reliability, consumer affordability, and environmental protection in Michigan?

Mandates for certain types of energy drive up costs and harm reliability. I oppose these mandates, because affordable, reliable energy is too important to our economy and public safety. Utilities need to be held accountable for performance. The legislature should set performance targets, rewarding success with increased ROE and punishing failure with mandatory rebates. Considering both reliability and environmental impact, nuclear and energy storage technologies are extremely promising. We should invest in research on battery recycling, capacity, lifetime, and weight, as well as small modular reactor development and nuclear fusion.

IMMIGRATION: What is your position on due process, First Amendment, and Fourth Amendment rights for all Michigan residents, including noncitizens, and what changes, if any, would you support?

Due process is fundamental to our system of government, and certain constitutional protections apply to noncitizens. The 1st Amendment is our best defense against tyranny. Hateful speech in isolation is protected, but it should legally be an aggravating factor when paired with intimidation or violence. 4th Amendment protections must keep pace with technology. I support strict limits on retaining and sharing license-plate camera data and requiring a warrant to search someone's movement history. Noncitizens are constitutionally entitled to due process, so a warrant is required before targeting someone for an immigration arrest.