Corey Kennedy (Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 3, Michigan, candidate 2024)

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Corey Kennedy

Republican Party

Candidate, Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 3

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Western Michigan University, 2001

Personal

Birthplace

Jackson, MI

Religion

Christian

Profession

Management

Corey Kennedy (Republican Party) ran for election to the Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 3 in Michigan. He was on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024.^[source]

Kennedy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Corey Kennedy provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on August 5, 2024:

• Birth date: August 23, 1979
• Birth place: Jackson, Michigan
• High school: Western High School and North Adams-Jerome High School
• Bachelor's: Western Michigan University, 2001
• Gender: Male
• Religion: Christian
• Profession: Management
• Prior offices held:
  • Jackson County Commissioner District 3 (2018-Prsnt)
• Incumbent officeholder: Yes
• Campaign slogan: Vote for competency, vote Kennedy!

Elections

General election

General election for Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 3

Daniel C. Pratt and Corey Kennedy ran in the general election for Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 3 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Daniel C. Pratt (D)
	Submit photo	Corey Kennedy (R)

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	Incumbency information for this election was not available.
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 3

Daniel C. Pratt ran in the Democratic primary for Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 3 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Daniel C. Pratt

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	Incumbency information for this election was not available.
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 3

Corey Kennedy ran in the Republican primary for Jackson County Board of Commissioners District 3 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Corey Kennedy

---

	Incumbency information for this election was not available.
= 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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Kennedy in this election.

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Corey Kennedy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kennedy's responses.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born in Jackson and lived here most of my life. I have raised both a daughter and son here. Having traveled all over the state, country, and different parts of the world I have a broad perspective as well as appreciation for Jackson County.

I graduated from Western Michigan University with a BBA in 2001. My major was Marketing but I also took courses in Economics, Accounting, Management and Finance at the WMU's Haworth College of Business. Prior to that I attended Olivet College and played football for two seasons. I attended high school at Jackson Public Schools, Western Public Schools, and graduated from North Adams-Jerome High School.

Professionally I have worked in a family owned business for over 20 years managing supermarkets. I have managed 5 different locations in that time and have a good understanding of budgets, projections, and being able to professionally service the public.

In the public sector I was elected as a Trustee on the Leoni Township Board of Trustees in November 2016 before being elected as Jackson County Commissioner District 3. At the county I've served as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Commissioners since January 2021. I have also served as Chairman of the Public Safety and Transportation Committee, Vice Chairman of the Jackson County Planning Commission, Jackson County Landbank, Jackson County Airport Board, two ad-hoc committees, as well as on Health and Human Services and General Government Committees.

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?

• I am a fiscal conservative and believe in looking over budgets thoroughly and using the 3 bid system whenever possible when having projects completed. My goal is to keep taxes and fees as low as possible for Jackson County residents while still being able to provide the basic services that a county government is tasked to provide citizens. Every dollar that comes through taxes is the people's money and when making spending decisions I look to get maximum efficiency from each dollar spent.
• Fighting for people's constitutional rights is more important today than ever before. I stand by my voting record of standing up for Jackson County residents 2nd Amendment rights as well as their 4th Amendment rights on key voting issues. In addition during the unconstitutional lockdown and vaccine mandates I opposed them and stood up both for residents and businesses just looking to live a normal life. I believe government should not impose its will on people and that citizens personal choices and actions are the most important thing to sustain a thriving community.
• Transparency is extremely important to me. Any decision I make when it comes to voting I want the public to be informed with the same information that I saw to bring me to that conclusion. I enjoy interacting with concerned citizens and showing them the proper avenues and resources to access the public information that they're looking for. Government decisions should not be made behind closed doors and citizens deserve to have access to all public information. I believe public interaction with government officials is a good thing and the more informed the public is on local governmental issues the better.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Economic policy is very important. We want Jackson County to be a place that business and industry wants to come to and does not have to cut through a ton of red tape to do so.

Public Safety is extremely important in this day and age. Many police feel undervalued and unappreciated. It is important to support quality law enforcement officers and give them the resources that they need.

JCDOT continues to be an area of facilitating policy that is a challenge. The revenue JCDOT collects from Act51 (gas tax) does not keep up with expenses providing challenges on how many roads can be repaired each year. It's crucial to partner with local municipalities on projects as much as possible. It's also important to apply for grants.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

This unit of government is where you are talking to someone who lives amongst you and therefore has a better perspective of what a resident is facing than someone in Lansing or Washington DC does. Often times local policy on issues effects residents of counties more than national policy does.

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

Both of my grandfathers were key role models in my life. Both were honest and well respected businessmen in the Jackson community. They also both valued their families very much.

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

Honesty, integrity, and transparency are extremely important principles that many elected leaders forget to follow. It sounds basic but if a leader does those three things then they will generally serve the public well. Beyond that having courage, perseverance, and the ability to stay level headed plays a crucial role in standing up for the rights of the people that I have been elected to serve.

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

Experience, passion, integrity, honesty, courage, and commitment.

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

Accessibility is probably the largest core responsibility that I feel I have. I believe a commissioner owes it to the people of their district to return calls and answer emails addressing county issues in their district. Our job really is to facilitate getting residents in contact with the right people to solve issues they're facing. Beyond that it's being present and prepared at meetings to ask the right questions and come to the most effective decision on issues facing the county. Studying and understand budgets as well as other financial figures and reports is also a key component to being an effective county commissioner.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to bring Jackson forward in transportation both with quality roads and improving our airport to serve more everyday Jackson residents.

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

The 1984 Detroit Tigers won the world series. I was 5.

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

My first job was a paper boy. I had it from the age of 13 until I turned 16 and began doing other work at a Christmas Tree Farm and Supermarket,

What is your favorite book? Why?

Guerilla Marketing. It is the American fighting mindset of the little guy carving out a niche in the market against much larger and wealthier competitors.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Home Team by Lakeview.

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

The death of many important people in my life at a fairly young age. I appreciate the time we had.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

I do believe experience matters for this position because much of the action requires a basic understanding of board room procedure and etiquette. Beyond that understanding how the monthly process of having a study session, committee meetings, various other sub committee meetings, and then the formal board meeting is important. Also getting to know the responsibilities and key contacts for each department in Jackson County is extremely important to take care of residents' questions and issues.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

The ability to analyze and understand budgets is extremely important. It is a large part of what is presented to commissioners from various county departments. To understand whether a department is under or overperforming a commissioner needs to know how to read and interpret them.

Next would probably be having some public speaking ability. The meetings are held in public and often times in becomes necessary to make comments during debate of an issue.

Punctuality and Organizational skills are also important as there are many meetings each commissioner attends monthly. I have found some commissioners who did less effective jobs than others was because they either had poor attendance to meetings and/or they came to meetings unprepared.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

I believe all public information related to financial records is the property of the public and should be easily accessible. Accountability of government officials is paramount in having a community that trusts their elected leaders and government employees.

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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