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Jodi Decker
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Jodi Decker (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 107. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Jodi Decker earned a bachelor's degree from Lake Superior State University in 2011. Her career experience includes working as a social worker, a juvenile justice program employee, a dishwasher, a cashier, a mobile DJ, a waitress, a supervisor at a tribal gaming casino, and a bar manager.
She has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- The Moose
- Post Adoption Resource Agency
- U.P. Kids
Elections
2024
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 107
Parker Fairbairn defeated Jodi Decker in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 107 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Parker Fairbairn (R)  | 60.7 | 34,728 |
 | Jodi Decker (D) | 39.3 | 22,516 | |
| Total votes: 57,244 | |||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 107
Jodi Decker advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 107 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jodi Decker | 100.0 | 7,372 |
| Total votes: 7,372 | |||
| = 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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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 107
Parker Fairbairn defeated incumbent Neil Friske in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 107 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Parker Fairbairn | 63.0 | 10,563 |
 | Neil Friske | 37.0 | 6,191 | |
| Total votes: 16,754 | |||
| = 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
- Jackson Ingalls (R)
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Decker in this election.
Pledges
Decker signed the following pledges.
2022
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 107
Neil Friske defeated Jodi Decker in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 107 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Neil Friske (R) | 56.6 | 26,867 |
| Jodi Decker (D) | 43.4 | 20,610 | |
| Total votes: 47,477 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 107
Jodi Decker advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 107 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jodi Decker | 100.0 | 8,284 |
| Total votes: 8,284 | |||
| = 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 107
Neil Friske defeated Parker Fairbairn, Jonathan Scheel, Bob Carr, and David Laughbaum in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 107 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Neil Friske | 42.1 | 6,722 |
| Parker Fairbairn | 35.5 | 5,661 | |
| Jonathan Scheel | 10.8 | 1,716 | ||
 | Bob Carr | 7.5 | 1,195 | |
| David Laughbaum | 4.1 | 660 | ||
| Total votes: 15,954 | |||
| = 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
- George Ranville (R)
- Kendall Tough (R)
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jodi Decker did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Jodi Decker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Decker's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a single mom/ grandmother/ adoptive mother. I was a licensed foster mother for about seven years and I currently work in Family Preservation as a social worker. My education is in Criminal Justice, I have a Bachelor of Science degree from Lake Superior State University, with a minor in Business Administration. I have ran a small business, and my family own several small businesses on the West side of the Upper Peninsula. I was born and raised in Escanaba, graduated high school from Gladstone. I am just a regular person who has had enough of the lies and misinformation and I am running to bring some truth back into politics.
- I am running to reform our Foster Care system. I have been a foster parent and I work with families dealing with the foster system so I have seen it from both sides and there is much to fix.
- I am running for voting rights. The other side has been trying to pass legislation to make it easier for them to choose whose votes count and making it harder to vote. I believe in one person , one vote. It shouldn't be hard to case your vote and have your voice heard.
- Prison reform is another issue that I am interested in. My educational background is criminal Justice-Corrections. I did my internship in Kinross, MI at URF facility and I also briefly worked there for Trinity supervising inmates doing meal preparation. The system is not set up to rehabilitate, so these people get out of prison, have no clue how to function in society and end up offending again. Our system needs to be more rehabilitative and less punitive. They are still human beings.
As it so happens, Roe v Wade was overturned today by the Supreme Court. I am very interested in making Michigan safe for women and protecting Women's Health Rights. Since the next thing they are going after is more than likely contraception, we need to act as quickly as possible to stop this slide to the dark ages that we are on. I don't want my granddaughter growing up with less rights than I did. That seems backwards. Nobody is talking about the first amendment which guarantees a Separation of Church and State. This country was founded on people leaving their home country fleeing from religious persecution. It is sad that almost 250 years later, the "conservatives" want to take us back to the beginning.
Nancy Pelosi is one. She has fought for children's issues her entire career. She is a very smart woman.
My own great grandmother is my inspiration, even though I was only 13 when she passed. She raised four families of children. She told me about coming to America on a ship when she was just a child. My grandfather was a World War II Veteran and a woodsman his whole life and my great grandmother, his mom, cooked for the lumber camps. She lived on a farm and that is where I partially grew up. She was a hard working, loving woman and I have tried to follow in her path. She told me about growing up during the Great Depression and having to eat lard and sugar sandwiches to survive. She was a quiet woman, but when she was angry, you knew it. She was the one who kept our extended family together. We would all go to her house for family gatherings.
My own great grandmother is my inspiration, even though I was only 13 when she passed. She raised four families of children. She told me about coming to America on a ship when she was just a child. My grandfather was a World War II Veteran and a woodsman his whole life and my great grandmother, his mom, cooked for the lumber camps. She lived on a farm and that is where I partially grew up. She was a hard working, loving woman and I have tried to follow in her path. She told me about growing up during the Great Depression and having to eat lard and sugar sandwiches to survive. She was a quiet woman, but when she was angry, you knew it. She was the one who kept our extended family together. We would all go to her house for family gatherings.
No, I can't think of a book or film. I was just raised that hard work, family and showing up are important.
Truth and transparency are probably the most important.
I'm fierce and determined when I'm after a goal. If it is something important to me, I will fight for it. I have empathy and experience. I don't claim to know everything, but I can learn any job. Getting to know people and active listening are aquired skills.
To listen to the people in the district. To show that you have their backs and are working to make their lives better. To communicate with your constituents so that they know where you stand and if an issue arises, they know how you will handle it without panicking.
I would like to make a difference in the foster care and prison systems. If I can make sustainable changes for the better that make a real world difference, I would consider myself successful.
I remember snippets from television when I was a child about Iran. The first President I remember was Carter. But, the first big thing I remember as a voting age person was when I was pregnant for my daughter, I was 19 and Rodney King was beaten, which sparked the L.A. riots. At that same time, Desert Storm was going on in Iraq. That was during the first Bush administration.
My very first job was when I was only 13 years old. I worked as a dishwasher in an upscale restaurant. I worked there for 2 1/2 years until the place closed down, then I went to work at another high end restaurant as a dishwasher and later moved up to bussing tables, then waitressing. I was able to buy and pay off my first car before I even had my drivers license.
A Wrinkle in Time. I read it in elementary school and later bought it and read it to my daughter and sons. They have made two movies of it now. They're not as good as the book. It was imaginative and adventurous and I just always loved it.
AA by Walker Hayes. It makes me laugh every time I hear it and it's catchy. It's also true for most famiiies. Just doing your best and trying to raise your kids right is the theme of it.
I have been a single mother on and off most of my life. My daughter is my first child and she has been a challenge. I have dealt with many issues, including drug addiction with her. We are constantly working on our relationship.
There needs to be open communication between legislators and the governor, no matter which party is in office. The main roll of this position is to represent the people of the district you're from and try to make life better for everyone.
For both political parties to agree on common facts. I am hopeful that the January 6th investigation will help with this. We'll have to wait and see. Our state is going to have many challenges in the next period, the greatest being, are we going to keep our democracy? Climate change is already affecting us, getting prepared and going more eco-friendly before it's too late is a huge problem, but not just for the state. Mental health, housing shortages, child care shortages, social issues such as reproductive freedom and environmental issues all plague us. We have many issues that need immediate attention and we need someone with common sense and life experience to steer our district through this messed up time.
The benefits would be a more efficient way to make laws. Legislation wouldn't get caught up passing the House and not passing the Senate. The process would be streamlined.
The drawback would be that there is not a second set of eyes on any particular bill. Laws may be passed that could have been stopped before reaching the Governor's desk. It cuts both ways.
The drawback would be that there is not a second set of eyes on any particular bill. Laws may be passed that could have been stopped before reaching the Governor's desk. It cuts both ways.
I think that term limits are there to stop any one person from being in office for too long. Representatives are chosen from the people, which is why you have to live in your district. They are chosen to represent the interests of the constituents. Of the people, by the people, FOR THE PEOPLE.
Yes, two heads are better than one. Getting a group to collaborate will also guarantee more votes to pass it through.
I think that the non partisan committee is the best way to make sure that no party is gerrymandering. That is how the last redistricting was done here. I do think they need to figure out a different way to do the Census though, during Covid, there were no door to door people and the people don't think to go online and fill out a census form. Especially the younger people who may have just had their first time doing a census. With a lack of broadband in many areas of this district, I think very few people probably went online to find the census form and fill it out themselves. Since we only do it every ten years, we have a long time to wait for another.
Families, Children and Seniors
Judiciary subcommittee for Corrections
Commerce and Tourism
Elections and Ethics
I don't think so. I like Nancy Pelosi, she's a rock star as far as politicians go. She's been around along time and has fought for children's issues. I don't think I want to model myself after anyone though. I want to make my own way
It was never my plan to run ever so I'll have to see how this goes. I do like fighting for the issues that are important to me and my district.
The constant barage of conspiracy theories that people keep asking me about. CRT is NOT taught in our schools. The election was NOT stolen. We don't need election laws passed that restrict voting. We DON'T want our teachers carrying guns.
I have talked to people who tell me stories from their own family when they hear that I have been in foster care and that I think we need grandparents rights in Michigan. The stories are familiar and that is another reason I am a good candidate for the district. I am a social worker and have lived life, and most situations I can relate to. This also helps with my social work currently.
I have talked to people who tell me stories from their own family when they hear that I have been in foster care and that I think we need grandparents rights in Michigan. The stories are familiar and that is another reason I am a good candidate for the district. I am a social worker and have lived life, and most situations I can relate to. This also helps with my social work currently.
I never remember jokes and I don't tell them. I do like to hear them if they aren't corny.
I don't see harm in overseeing as long as it is not over-powering the office of the Governor. I was glad Whitmer used her emergency powers during Covid. Everyone was worried and scared and didn't know what to do. She stepped up in that time and took charge. Whether you agree with her or not, someone had to do it.
It is desirable but I don't think you should completely bend from your beliefs. The other side is so extreme right now, it will be hard to find compromise with them. I am a strength based professional and I am confident that I will be able to find compromise on some issues.
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.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Michigan House of Representatives District 107 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 24, 2022
Current members of the Michigan House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Matt Hall
Minority Leader:Ranjeev Puri
Representatives
District 1
Tyrone Carter (D)
District 2
Tullio Liberati (D)
District 3
Alabas Farhat (D)
District 4
Karen Whitsett (D)
District 5
Regina Weiss (D)
District 6
Natalie Price (D)
District 7
District 8
Helena Scott (D)
District 9
Joseph Tate (D)
District 10
Veronica Paiz (D)
District 11
Donavan McKinney (D)
District 12
Kimberly Edwards (D)
District 13
Mai Xiong (D)
District 14
Mike McFall (D)
District 15
Erin Byrnes (D)
District 16
Stephanie Young (D)
District 17
Laurie Pohutsky (D)
District 18
Jason Hoskins (D)
District 19
District 20
Noah Arbit (D)
District 21
Kelly Breen (D)
District 22
Matt Koleszar (D)
District 23
Jason Morgan (D)
District 24
Ranjeev Puri (D)
District 25
Peter Herzberg (D)
District 26
Dylan Wegela (D)
District 27
Rylee Linting (R)
District 28
Jamie Thompson (R)
District 29
James DeSana (R)
District 30
William Bruck (R)
District 31
Reggie Miller (D)
District 32
Jimmie Wilson (D)
District 33
Morgan Foreman (D)
District 34
District 35
Jennifer Wortz (R)
District 36
Steve Carra (R)
District 37
Brad Paquette (R)
District 38
Joey Andrews (D)
District 39
Pauline Wendzel (R)
District 40
Matt Longjohn (D)
District 41
Julie Rogers (D)
District 42
Matt Hall (R)
District 43
Rachelle Smit (R)
District 44
Steve Frisbie (R)
District 45
Sarah Lightner (R)
District 46
Kathy Schmaltz (R)
District 47
Carrie Rheingans (D)
District 48
Jennifer Conlin (D)
District 49
Ann Bollin (R)
District 50
Jason Woolford (R)
District 51
Matt Maddock (R)
District 52
Mike Harris (R)
District 53
Brenda Carter (D)
District 54
Donni Steele (R)
District 55
Mark Tisdel (R)
District 56
Sharon MacDonell (D)
District 57
Thomas Kuhn (R)
District 58
Ron Robinson (R)
District 59
Douglas Wozniak (R)
District 60
Joseph Aragona (R)
District 61
Denise Mentzer (D)
District 62
District 63
Jay DeBoyer (R)
District 64
Joseph Pavlov (R)
District 65
Jaime Greene (R)
District 66
Josh Schriver (R)
District 67
Phil Green (R)
District 68
David Martin (R)
District 69
Jasper Martus (D)
District 70
Cynthia Neeley (D)
District 71
Brian BeGole (R)
District 72
Mike Mueller (R)
District 73
Julie Brixie (D)
District 74
Kara Hope (D)
District 75
District 76
Angela Witwer (D)
District 77
Emily Dievendorf (D)
District 78
Gina Johnsen (R)
District 79
Angela Rigas (R)
District 80
Phil Skaggs (D)
District 81
Stephen Wooden (D)
District 82
Kristian Grant (D)
District 83
John Fitzgerald (D)
District 84
Carol Glanville (D)
District 85
Bradley Slagh (R)
District 86
Nancy De Boer (R)
District 87
William Snyder (D)
District 88
Greg VanWoerkom (R)
District 89
Luke Meerman (R)
District 90
Bryan Posthumus (R)
District 91
Pat Outman (R)
District 92
Jerry Neyer (R)
District 93
Tim Kelly (R)
District 94
Amos O'Neal (D)
District 95
Bill Schuette (R)
District 96
Timothy Beson (R)
District 97
Matthew Bierlein (R)
District 98
District 99
Mike Hoadley (R)
District 100
Tom Kunse (R)
District 101
Joseph Fox (R)
District 102
Curt VanderWall (R)
District 103
Betsy Coffia (D)
District 104
John Roth (R)
District 105
Ken Borton (R)
District 106
Cameron Cavitt (R)
District 107
Parker Fairbairn (R)
District 108
David Prestin (R)
District 109
Karl Bohnak (R)
District 110
Republican Party (58)
Democratic Party (52)
