Barbara Conley

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Barbara Conley

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of Michigan, 1975

Medical

Michigan State University, 1979

Personal

Birthplace

Detroit, Mich.

Religion

Unitarian

Profession

Medical oncologist

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Barbara Conley (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Michigan State Senate to represent District 37. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Conley completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Barbara Conley was born in Detroit, Michigan. Conley's professional experience includes working as a medical oncologist, chairwoman of the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department, and vice president of the Northport Public School Board. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 1975 and an M.D. from Michigan State University in 1979.

Conley has been affiliated with Rotary Club and the Leelanau County Democratic Party.

Elections

2022

See also: Michigan State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Michigan State Senate District 37

John Damoose defeated Barbara Conley and Zachary Dean in the general election for Michigan State Senate District 37 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Damoose (R)	55.5	79,125
		Barbara Conley (D)	42.8	61,069
	Submit photo	Zachary Dean (L)	1.7	2,468

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 142,662
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan State Senate District 37

Barbara Conley defeated Jim Schmidt and Randy Bishop in the Democratic primary for Michigan State Senate District 37 on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Barbara Conley	86.4	25,466
	Submit photo	Jim Schmidt	7.8	2,304
	Submit photo	Randy Bishop	5.8	1,702

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 29,472
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan State Senate District 37

John Damoose defeated Triston Cole, George Ranville, and William Hindle in the Republican primary for Michigan State Senate District 37 on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Damoose	41.0	18,286
		Triston Cole	30.3	13,520
		George Ranville	17.0	7,596
		William Hindle	11.7	5,245

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 44,647
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Richard Gillespie (R)

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Michigan State Senate District 37

Zachary Dean advanced from the Libertarian convention for Michigan State Senate District 37 on July 10, 2022.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Zachary Dean (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Barbara Conley completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Conley's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My name is Barbara Conley and I am running for Michigan State Senate district 37 because as a citizen, mother and grandmother I want our children to have a good quality of life and a secure future. In rural northern Michigan, this is impossible for at least 40% of us. Many work part time at several different jobs, without benefits, but cannot make ends meet. Young adults must relocate to make a living. We must support and attract businesses that pay good wages all year round, create affordable housing, accessible healthcare, excellent education pre-K through high school and affordable, attainable higher education and skills. We must preserve and protect our air, water and forests, upon which our quality of life depends. As an oncologist, I saw first hand how families struggle to afford both medication and essential needs. As a community volunteer and chair of the Benzie-Leelanau District health department board, I have seen that so many families cannot find work that pays enough to house and feed their families. We live in an area blessed with good neighbors and creative businesses, and we can do better! As State Senator I will work hard to address these issues.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Good paying year round jobs: We must attract new business and support current businesses that provide year round, good-paying jobs. This required investment in broadband for all areas, and good education to prepare workers for those jobs
• Affordable housing: In our beautiful area many existing homes have been acquired by well off retirees or those investing in rental to tourists and homes and rentals are now priced out of reach for our workers. This impacts our ability to attract workers, including teachers, emergency medical personnel and others. We need to invest as a state in helping build affordable homes and keep them affordable for future generations
• Accessible healthcare: too many of our residents cannot even afford health insurance on the marketplace; and, even if they did, we have too few primary care and even specialist providers. This is most acutely felt in the mental health care field currently. We must recruit and retain health care providers in this area if we are to envision a secure future and good quality of life

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Empowering people to attain their best selves: programs that assist with education costs, health costs and housing costs

Promoting creative business: policies that help businesses get started and thrive

Promoting technology to solve current problems: such as clean energy, transportation, disruptive advances in healthcare

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My late mother. She was a nurse, and a get-it-done kind of person, who also managed to be kind and caring while raising 5 children

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Getting to Yes: Roger Fisher and William Ury

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty and integrity

Actual care for people's issues
Ability to listen
Ability to work with others
Ability to make a point clearly, without being disagreeable
Willing to learn , know where to get help
Being on time

Ability to work hard

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I believe I have the determination to understand and find ways to make life better for the residents of northern Michigan. I do work well with others, and seek to understand the reasons behind problems. I enjoy problem-solving. I enjoy having discussions with people about their issues.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Listen to constituents; elicit constituents opinions

Represent those opinions by proposing legislation and opposing legislation

Be honest and transparent

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave a legacy of working with others to empower Michiganders to be their best, to encourage Michiganders to think of societal progress, and to promote Michigan as a great place to live and to start and grow a business.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The assassination of President Kennedy. I was 10 years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was babysitting. This happened on and off during high school and college to earn money for extra expenses

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

My life has been very blessed in general. However, I did struggle early in my career to prove myself as a person, a woman, who can excel in medicine and science, and raise a child. I do understand this dilemma well. I am pleased to see a little progress being made here, but am keenly aware that parents, both fathers and mothers, feel the need to be best both at their jobs and at raising the next generation. I feel that society benefits when children get what they need to succeed, but that parents are not the only ones who need to be concerned about that.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

I believe the ideal relationship is one of respect, but also checks and balances. The job of legislator and governor are different, and both are important.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

I think we have several challenges. The greatest is to invest in our people so that the entire state can thrive. We will also need to fix and develop quite a bit of infrastructure to support the economy of the future. For example, roads and bridges and locks do need to be maintained, But we also need infrastructure for electric economy, high speed internet universally; we need clean water and to be sure wastewater and septic tanks do not contaminate the environment.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of a unicameral state legislature, in your opinion?

Benefits: This body can work on legislation and the work is done is the most obvious. It is probably more efficient and less expensive. There may not be as much rivalry between legislators

Drawbacks: there may not be enough legislators for good representation. There is a risk of all thinking alike, less debate on bills.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I think it may be beneficial. However, there is room for those without previous political or legislative experience; such legislators may bring personal experience lacking in those who focus only on government and politics .

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

I definitely believe it is beneficial to build relationships with other legislators. Getting to know other legislators will inform as to how their opinions may be formed and what they think is important as life guides. Relationships will assist those with differing views to work together better in crafting new legislation, without allowing differences to become something that leads to acrimony.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

I favor an independent body for redistricting, that includes some partisan members but a majority of non-partisan members if possible

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

The committees on Education and Career Readiness, Economic and Small Business Development, and Health Policy and Human Services as well as Appropriations are committees I hope to be a member of.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Several national legislators are models of working together "across the aisle" to get meaningful legislation passed. I would hope to be one of those

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

Unknown at this time

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

Recently I saw a patient with a newly diagnosed lung cancer who was being evicted. She had lost her job due to the pandemic; the job was barely enough for her to survive. She had no reliable transportation and no family who could help her. Several stories of people with medical diagnoses have had to start GO FUND ME campaigns to address their care. Many young people here tell me they cannot make a living that would allow them to afford their own rental.

Should the legislature oversee or grant the use of emergency powers?

I do think there are times when emergency powers are needed - which is why they are called emergency powers - the need is fast action before there is time for deliberation. Those types. of powers need to be discussed in the legislature before there is a need for them and to be sure that emergency powers are necessary.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Compromise is definitely necessary and desirable for policymaking. However, it does not have to be winner and loser type of compromise. The pie can be made bigger. One must assume good intentions and understand the viewpoint of those who don't agree with you to understand how both parties can be satisfied with a single solution

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Candidate

Michigan State Senate District 37

Website

Facebook

Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Michigan State Senate

Senators

District 1

Erika Geiss (D)

District 2

Sylvia Santana (D)

District 3

Stephanie Chang (D)

District 4

Darrin Camilleri (D)

District 5

Dayna Polehanki (D)

District 6

Mary Cavanagh (D)

District 7

Jeremy Moss (D)

District 8

Mallory McMorrow (D)

District 9

Michael Webber (R)

District 10

Paul Wojno (D)

District 11

Veronica Klinefelt (D)

District 12

Kevin Hertel (D)

District 13

Rosemary Bayer (D)

District 14

Sue Shink (D)

District 15

Jeff Irwin (D)

District 16

Joseph Bellino (R)

District 17

Jonathan Lindsey (R)

District 18

Thomas Albert (R)

District 19

Sean McCann (D)

District 20

Aric Nesbitt (R)

District 21

Sarah Anthony (D)

District 22

Lana Theis (R)

District 23

Jim Runestad (R)

District 24

Ruth Johnson (R)

District 25

Dan Lauwers (R)

District 26

Kevin Daley (R)

District 27

John Cherry (D)

District 28

Sam Singh (D)

District 29

Winnie Brinks (D)

District 30

Mark Huizenga (R)

District 31

Roger Victory (R)

District 32

Jon Bumstead (R)

District 33

Rick Outman (R)

District 34

Roger Hauck (R)

District 35

Vacant

District 36

Michele Hoitenga (R)

District 37

John Damoose (R)

District 38

Ed McBroom (R)

Democratic Party (19)

Republican Party (18)

Vacancies (1)