Ethan Petzold
Ethan Petzold (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 21. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 4, 2020.
Petzold completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2020
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 21
Ranjeev Puri defeated Laurel Hess in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 21 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ranjeev Puri (D)  | 59.1 | 34,284 |
 | Laurel Hess (R) | 40.9 | 23,682 | |
| Total votes: 57,966 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 21
Ranjeev Puri defeated Ethan Petzold in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 21 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ranjeev Puri | 70.0 | 12,222 |
| Ethan Petzold | 30.0 | 5,243 | ||
| Total votes: 17,465 | |||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 21
Laurel Hess defeated James Chapman, James Nangle, Jessica Sohoza, and Harold Bullock in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 21 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laurel Hess | 46.3 | 3,446 |
| James Chapman | 16.7 | 1,243 | ||
| James Nangle | 13.4 | 998 | ||
| Jessica Sohoza | 13.2 | 978 | ||
| Harold Bullock | 10.4 | 771 | ||
| Total votes: 7,436 | |||
| = 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 finance
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ethan Petzold completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Petzold's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Growing up, I struggled in school and it was deemed unlikely that I would even graduate high school but against the odds I was fortunate to have attended great schools with great staff that helped me rise to overcome my challenges even when others said I couldn't. Those teachers inspired me to want to live a life dedicated to lifting up those who have been knocked down, which is why I became a certified nonprofit professional and community organizer where I have worked to: feed the hungry, raise financial support to help low-income students afford college, run a Summer service camp for middle and high school students, elect Democratic leaders to public office, and lead a statewide organization dedicated to getting young people involved in the political process.
The next State representative is going to be taking office with a weak economy, a large budget deficit, and divided government. My experience taught me how to work with people of different backgrounds and opinions under tight budgets to get things done for people and meet the mission of an organization. As State Representative, I'll leverage that experience to continue my life's work of lifting up anybody who has been knocked down.- Educational Opportunity for Every Student
- Economic Security for Every Michigander
- Affordable Healthcare and Lower Prescription Drug Costs for All
- Funding our schools at a base funding level in accordance with the adequacy study conducted by the School Finance Research Collaborative, which determined that the base cost of educating a student is $9,590 per pupil BEFORE factoring in costs like food service, capital expenses, and pension costs above 4.6% of wages. This means that we are underfunding most students in my district by $1,479 per pupil at a base cost. I'll fight for full funding for our public schools!
- Enacting a weighted funding formula because different students have different needs. For instance, there needs to be additional funding per-pupil for students in poverty, students utilizing special education services, and ELL (English Language Learners) students.
I wouldn't be running for State Representative if it weren't for the lessons I learned and the experiences I gained through working with her. Furthermore, she always stood up for what's right even when she was standing alone. At the start of her last term in the House, she was only one of two Representatives (out of 110) to oppose the Speaker of House when he was involved in a scandal. It wasn't easy to stand up to the Speaker-and she knew she would pay for standing up to him-but she did what was right. Her example of courageous leadership, fantastic constituent services, and advocacy for the people of Canton, Belleville, and Van Buren Township is the example I hope to follow as State Representative.
We need a State Representative with the right experience and priorities to help us navigate this rebuild. My experience as a certified nonprofit professional taught me how to work with people of different backgrounds and opinions under tight budgets to get things done for people. Furthermore, I believe that a budget is a moral document and a reflection of our values. There's no question that we will have a tight budget and the state constitution requires that we balance the budget so the real question is, will the budget be balanced on the backs of those who have been knocked down the most by this virus or will the wealthy and corporate executives pay their fair share? We need to rebuild in a way that works for those who have been most knocked down.
I'm pleased that voters passed a nonpartisan, independent redistricting commission and I will ensure that this commission is properly funded as State Representative.
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.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
