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Fayrouz Saad
Fayrouz Saad (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Michigan's 11th Congressional District. She lost in the Democratic primary on August 7, 2018.
Biography
Prior to becoming the director of Detroit's Office of Immigrant Affairs, Saad worked in the Obama administration as a Department of Homeland Security official. Before that, she worked for a nonprofit civic engagement organization, as a staffer in the Michigan House of Representatives, and for John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. She attended the University of Michigan for her bachelor's degree and Harvard University for her master's degree. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Lebanon.[1]
Elections
2018
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan, 2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Michigan District 11
Haley Stevens defeated Lena Epstein, Leonard Schwartz, and Cooper Nye in the general election for U.S. House Michigan District 11 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Haley Stevens (D) | 51.8 | 181,912 |
 | Lena Epstein (R) | 45.2 | 158,463 | |
 | Leonard Schwartz (L)  | 1.7 | 5,799 | |
 | Cooper Nye (Independent) | 1.3 | 4,727 | |
| Total votes: 350,901 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 11
Haley Stevens defeated Tim Greimel, Suneel Gupta, Fayrouz Saad, and Nancy Skinner in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 11 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Haley Stevens | 27.0 | 24,309 |
 | Tim Greimel | 21.8 | 19,673 | |
 | Suneel Gupta | 21.4 | 19,250 | |
 | Fayrouz Saad | 19.4 | 17,499 | |
 | Nancy Skinner | 10.4 | 9,407 | |
| Total votes: 90,138 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Dan Haberman (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 11
Lena Epstein defeated Rocky Raczkowski, Mike Kowall, Klint Kesto, and Kerry Bentivolio in the Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 11 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lena Epstein | 30.9 | 26,925 |
 | Rocky Raczkowski | 25.5 | 22,216 | |
 | Mike Kowall | 18.4 | 16,011 | |
 | Klint Kesto | 14.0 | 12,213 | |
 | Kerry Bentivolio | 11.3 | 9,831 | |
| Total votes: 87,196 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kurt Heise (R)
- Kristine Bonds (R)
Libertarian primary election
Libertarian primary for U.S. House Michigan District 11
Leonard Schwartz advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. House Michigan District 11 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Leonard Schwartz | 100.0 | 533 |
| Total votes: 533 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
Saad’s campaign website stated the following:
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Growing the Economy But the biggest corporations have rigged the game in Washington and rewritten the rules of our government and economy so that politicians work for billionaires instead of us. The people of Michigan, like millions across the nation, are being left behind by multinational corporations and free trade deals that replace American workers with automation or exploited, cheap labor abroad. We need to level the playing field for working families. In Congress, I’ll fight to make sure Washington invests in good-paying jobs for all Michiganders and growing the economy for all working families.” Tackling Inequality We will stand up to tax bills that transfer wealth from working families straight into the pockets of Wall Street bankers and the CEOs of large multinational corporations. We will raise the minimum wage to a living wage of $15 an hour, protect collective bargaining rights for our workers, make sure Wall Street’s greed and recklessness never endangers families in Michigan ever again, and make billionaires like Donald Trump finally pay their fair share. Creating Jobs to Rebuild Our Infrastructure Michigan needs safe roads, bridges, transit and other infrastructure systems that connect our state to the rest of the country and the world. That’s the only way we’ll be able to compete in the modern global economy. Rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure will also create decent-paying jobs for workers in important sectors like construction. We will transform our nation’s crumbling infrastructure by rebuilding the roads and highways we drive on, renovating and modernizing our public schools, investing in high speed internet facilities, and bringing our energy systems into the 21st century. Small Businesses Growing up in a small business family in Detroit’s Eastern Market, I know how entrepreneurs and small business owners hustle to create local jobs, gain financial independence and contribute to the economy. Small businesses revitalize our commercial corridors and help our communities thrive. We need to ensure that they have the resources they need to succeed, including access to capital and cutting unnecessary red tape. There is nothing small about the impact of small businesses, and as your voice in Congress, I will advocate for policies that will make it easier to start and grow a small business in Michigan. Helping people get good jobs In Southeast Michigan, advanced industrial sectors - such as manufacturing and automaking - are rapidly evolving due to automation and other technological advancements. We need to invest in our workers today to ensure they can access the next generation of good jobs. Every American who wants a job, should be able to find one whether or not they went to college. Employers are looking for skilled workers so their businesses stay competitive. If we make it easier for people to keep their job skills current by making trade school and job training free and available for anyone who wants it, then Michiganders will have a leg up in landing good jobs and companies will choose to move here. By working with employers, educational and training institutions, and the government we can educate, prepare, train and retrain our workforce with the tools and skills they need to fill these jobs and keep them in Michigan. Health Care Fixing the Affordable Care Act President Obama moved us toward universal health care with the Affordable Care Act. Yet Republicans in Congress have done nothing but deliberate in secret and attempt to sabotage the law, making it more and more difficult for Americans to get health insurance. We need to make sure everyone has access to care, no matter where they live and no matter how much money they make. Medicare for All In the richest country on earth, it is a moral outrage that 28 million Americans live without health insurance. Our health care costs are more than every other economically developed country in the world -- but we still have worse health outcomes. That’s why I support Medicare For All in order to control skyrocketing health care costs and to ensure that every single American is guaranteed the right to health care. Lowering the Cost of Prescription Drugs Drug costs are out of control. Congress must be aggressive in crafting solutions that lower the cost of prescription drugs. I will support proposals to leverage the buying power of the federal government to decrease out-of-pocket costs for America’s seniors. I will also support efforts to import prescription drugs from Canada, where the Canadian government is able to negotiate drastically lower prices for consumers. Protecting the Most Vulnerable TrumpCare would result in dangerous cuts that would prevent children, seniors and people with disabilities from being healthy and active members of our communities. I will fight proposals to cut health care and instead, protect Medicaid. I am committed to finding innovative solutions for those who have fallen through the cracks due to policies that have failed to respect the potential of all of our people. I will support, for example, the bipartisan Disability Integration Act, which would provide individuals with disabilities with the security of knowing that long-term support and services will be sufficient to guarantee their ability to live in the community. Putting the American Dream within Reach My dad started a wholesale meat business from nothing, giving my family the chance to reach the middle class and live out the American Dream. I want to make that dream a reality for more families in Michigan’s 11th District." Good jobs Nothing matters more to the future of this district than creating good-paying jobs and making sure workers are prepared to take on the jobs of today and tomorrow. Working across sectors, with employers, education and training institutions, I will support job growth in emerging industries, while ensuring the industries that make up our core economic base stay strong. I will fight for working families by expanding opportunities and creating an economic environment that allows for not just job growth—but good job growth – in expanding industries like advanced manufacturing, information technology, green jobs and health care. If done responsibly, it’s a win-win-win for our workers, our businesses, and our communities. Taxes and common-sense regulation Our tax system is full of special-interest loopholes for large corporations and the extremely wealthy. I will support a wholesale, bipartisan review of our tax system that simplifies the tax code, cuts taxes for hardworking families and ensures every American and every corporation pays their fair share. This includes protecting the earned income tax credit to reduce the burden on hard-working families. I will also guard against the sort of risky business and lending practices that led to our last financial collapse, and I will support common-sense rules that protect consumers. Raising the Minimum Wage Hard work should pay off. But today’s federal minimum wage doesn’t guarantee a full-time worker can make ends meet for their family. That’s unacceptable. I support raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour so people across the country can support their families with a living wage. Housing Affordability No one who works a full-time job should have to struggle to put a roof over their head, or stress about how to pay the next electricity bill. But this reality has become all too common. In Michigan, a worker needs to make $16.24 an hour – working 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year— to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market value. If a worker earns less than that, he or she is spending more than 30 percent of their monthly income on rent - surpassing the standard threshold of housing affordability. The reality is that the gap between wages and rental housing costs are growing. I will be a vocal advocate for fair, anti-discriminatory housing policies that keep rental prices in line with the demands and situations of residents, and ensure fair market value is in fact fair. Education A world-class educational system that supports our students, families, teachers and schools is essential for Michigan’s future so our kids can compete both locally and globally. I know it’s possible because that’s my story. For me, a great education in Michigan public schools, including the University of Michigan, opened a world of opportunities so I could dedicate my career to public service. But that’s not every child’s story. After years of experiments run on our children by the billionaire Betsy Devos, our nation is not keeping pace with other industrialized countries. Currently, our state ranks near the bottom - 42nd out of 50 – for the best educational systems, and our nation’s students lag in math and science compared to foreign competitors. We can change that. I have a plan to make our great state of Michigan one of the top places to teach and learn, so that every child gets the education they need to succeed. Debt-Free College and Trade School Right now politicians in Washington are abandoning our public colleges, cutting precious funding and allowing big banks to take advantage of a growing student loan debt crisis. Here in Michigan, the billionaire Devos family has used their mega-fortunes to underfund our public schools and enrich themselves off the student debt crisis. Many nations across the world offer free college to all their citizens. I want to bring America into the 21st century by fighting for debt-free college and trade schools for every American who wants to attend and making tuition free at community colleges across Michigan. Teachers Our nation’s teachers are pivotal for enriching students’ lives. We must properly fund our schools so that teacher salaries are more competitive with other professions. I will stand behind teachers and state education officials, including the Michigan Department of Education, in their efforts to limit excessive testing so that our teachers can focus on what’s most important - teaching. I will also support our Colleges of Education so they can provide innovative educational programs in teacher preparation, and I will advocate for new and veteran teachers to continue to receive the training they need to grow professionally, embrace new innovations and help their students excel. Students I will fight for adequate funding and resources so our school districts can provide a high-quality education with STEM learning opportunities, including computer classes in elementary schools. I support apprenticeship programs and other job training programs so workers can get the skills they need for tomorrow’s jobs. And I will stand firm that students who want to invest in higher education shouldn’t be saddled with a mountain of crushing student debt. Schools Our schools must be at the forefront of advanced technologies and provide pioneering 21st century teaching and learning techniques to educate America’s next leaders. I will work to connect education leaders with business leaders so our schools act as the intersection for education and economic development, providing apprenticeship programs, internship opportunities and real-world, meaningful experiences. I believe every neighborhood should have a high-quality school regardless of your zipcode. Immigration Reform Policies that tear families apart damage the freedom we all cherish and the bonds that hold our nation together. I believe in sensible immigration reform. It will boost our economy and give more people the chance to live out the American Dream, just like my family did. We will stand up to a politics of fear and division with a politics of hope.” Defend DACA: The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is a central piece to our immigration policy and defending DACA is critical. DACA recipients - or Dreamers - are contributing to our country’s neighborhoods, communities and economy, and deserve a fair chance to stay in America. Protecting Dreamers means protecting the American Dream; allowing them to start new businesses, serve in our military and come out from the shadows to contribute fully to our country. Comprehensive Immigration Reform I believe comprehensive immigration reform is not only the right thing to do, but it will help Michigan’s economy grow for everyone. Economic growth only works for the middle class when we lift up everyone, not when we treat the economy as a zero-sum game that pits people against each other. We’ve tried it the other way for too long, and Michigan’s middle class is suffering because of it. It’s time for a new approach, one that includes immigration reform – because we all benefit when we work together to put communities on pathways to economic prosperity. Immigrants contribute millions to Michigan’s economy, are twice as likely to start a new business, and employ 10% of the workforce in Michigan. Immigration and immigrants are vital to growing our economy in Michigan. Pathway to Citizenship Immigration reform must include a pathway to citizenship that keeps families together - rather than tearing them apart. This keeps our communities safer by bringing people out of the shadows to work with law enforcement and identify criminals and those that threaten the safety of our communities. National Security Cybersecurity Safeguarding and securing cyberspace is one of the most important challenges we face as a nation. We have seen firsthand that Russia, North Korea, and non-state actors are attacking our democracy by attempting to tamper with our elections, disrupt our economy, and conduct complex coordinated cyber attacks with the aim of destabilizing our society. We must invest in a new generation of cyber workforce professionals, adopt new defensive technologies, grow information sharing partnerships between government and the private sector, and ensure our Nation’s critical infrastructure is secure. Counter-terrorism The threat of homegrown terrorism is one that we have become all too familiar with in the United States. We must work to identify and prevent extremists and radicals from turning to violence in an attempt to express their views or impact government policies. We must address terrorism and violent extremism in all of its forms whether they are threats from ISIS and al-Qa’ida or threats from violent White Supremacists and violent Anti-Government organizations; terrorism is terrorism and wherever we face it, it must be taken on. Terrorist threats from overseas have changed since 9/11. We are seeing a rise in lone-wolf or homegrown violent extremists directed or inspired online to carry out simple but devastating attacks. Our traditional tools and methods to discover and thwart these plots must be updated. We must increase funding for first responders and local law enforcement, bolster efforts of our intelligence community, encourage community based organizations to develop their own solutions, build partnerships with the tech sector, and educate the American people on how they can help. 21st Century Policing and Law Enforcement Our men and women in law enforcement are on the front lines every day protecting our communities, they are also part of our communities. I will work with our local law enforcement departments to ensure their community policing programs are adequately funded, and work with communities to encourage participation. I will also support and promote increased diversity recruitment, funding for community liaison programs, partnerships with communities to bolster accountability and transparency, and address the issue of police militarization. Border Security Building a wall across our southern border is not only a severe waste of taxpayer dollars, it will be ineffective. Instead we need to invest in new screening technology and bringing our border ports of entry up to 21st century standards. Women's Rights There’s a revolution of values happening across America right now led by the #MeToo movement. It’s time to bring that movement into the halls of power in Washington and change the faces of power. Childcare People who work hard deserve to make more than a decent living. We deserve to have a decent life. The cost of child care has increased by nearly 25 percent during the past decade, while the wages of working families have stagnated. Too many families are unable to find quality, affordable childcare without breaking the bank. It’s time to make sure that no family in America pays more than 10% of its income to afford quality child care. We will invest in child care subsidies and provide tax relief for the cost of child care to families across Michigan. Close the pay gap Fully fund women’s health centers like Planned Parenthood Enact paid family leave that provides new parents with guaranteed paid time-off Pass legislation to protect victims of sexual assault and harassment A Livable Planet for All Protecting our land, water, and air isn’t a choice between creating jobs and protecting our communities from pollution and catastrophic climate change. Instead of subsidizing the profits of fossil fuel corporations, we can create millions of jobs by investing in clean energy. We need to continue investing in protecting our environment by maintaining funding and support for programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. That’s why we will reject corporate polluters who threaten our Great Lakes, we will protect our communities, and we will create green jobs for working families and help safeguard our planet. The solutions to this global crisis are within our reach. We just need the political will.” |
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| —Fayrouz Saad’s campaign website (2018)[3] | ||
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- Michigan's 11th Congressional District election, 2018
- Michigan's 11th Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Fayrouz Saad for Congress, "About Fayrouz," accessed May 28, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Fayrouz Saad for Congress, "Priorities," accessed June 15, 2018
