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Jody LaMacchia
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Jody LaMacchia (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 46. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
LaMacchia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jody LaMacchia was born in Holt, Michigan. She received a bachelor's degree from Central Michigan University in 1995 and a master's degree from Roosevelt University in 2000. LaMacchia's professional experience includes being a custody and parenting time specialist at Oakland County Friend of the Court. She has been affiliated with the North Oakland Democratic Club, North Oakland Women Making a Difference, the Michigan Association of Court Mediators, American Legion, and Elks Club.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 46
Incumbent John Reilly defeated Jody LaMacchia in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 46 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Reilly (R) | 62.0 | 36,259 |
 | Jody LaMacchia (D)  | 38.0 | 22,214 | |
| Total votes: 58,473 | |||
| = 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 46
Jody LaMacchia advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 46 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jody LaMacchia | 100.0 | 8,934 |
| Total votes: 8,934 | |||
| = 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 46
Incumbent John Reilly advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 46 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Reilly | 100.0 | 13,683 |
| Total votes: 13,683 | |||
| = 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
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released June 11, 2020 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jody LaMacchia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by LaMacchia'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 grew up just outside of Lansing where I was raised by my great-aunt and great-uncle, always mom and dad to me. They both worked for the State of Michigan so we had a stable financial life with healthcare benefits. I was so lucky that they stepped up to the plate because they wanted to be my mom and dad and had the means to do so. That helped shape my views that everyone deserves the stability and security that a good wage and affordable healthcare can provide. I am mom to my 16 year-old son, Cameron, and wife to Samantha. My profession for 18 years has been as a Family Counselor, working with parents involved in high-conflict custody disputes and helping them find compromise. I believe this is a skill which is desperately needed in Lansing...negotiation, compromise, common-ground. I believe in showing up for the people of your district, knowing what is important to them and trying your best to represent ALL of the people of your district. My opponent is too extreme. It is time to elect common-sense, people-focused legislators who can get things done. That's me.
- I believe in bringing people together and not tearing them apart. Extreme partisan ideology weakens us and divides us. There is a lot of work to do in Michigan and we need elected officials committed to getting things done instead of distracting and dividing with nonsense.
- The things that I care about are things which most Michiganders care about...safe drinking water, protecting our beautiful Great Lakes and natural resources, quality education, safe roads and fixing our infrastructure, opportunity for good jobs and affordable healthcare. These issues aren't partisan, or shouldn't be.
- I have spent my life helping people, from my education in psychology to my various jobs as a substance abuse counselor at a a methadone clinic, direct care worker at a group home, counseling kids who are getting into trouble at school, and now as a family counselor. I will always listen and seek out the opinions of experts in the district. I will always welcome your input and try to help.
Education~ensuring that our kids can get a good, safe education and that our teachers have the resources, support and training they need in order to provide it.
Infrastructure~Roads, bridges, sewers, etc. are all overdue for an overhaul in our state. Safe drinking water needs to be a right, not a privilege. We need to work on renewable energy, curb pollution and keep our Great Lakes and beautiful landscapes safe from harm.
My mom (biologically my great-aunt) is my role model. She grew up extremely poor on a farm in Ionia county during the Great Depression. She worked so hard from the time she was a little girl and took care of her siblings. Her family moved to Lansing when she was a teenager. Her sisters worked in the factories and her parents would often leave them alone for weeks at a time and my mom would be in charge of her little brother and taking care of the household. She enrolled herself and her little brother into school when she was 14 and would go home from school and make him lunch everyday. She eventually married my dad, who went to WWII and the Korean War, and had my brother and sister. When the kids were 10 or so, my mom went to work for the State of Michigan. She says she "started at the lowest level and worked my way up. You could do things like that back then but I don't think you can do that anymore, so I was lucky in that respect". A while after her kids were grown and out of the home, she rescued me from a bad situation with my biological father and has protected, loved and nurtured me ever since. She was a career woman, dressed to the 9's, successful and smart and I always respected that. I never felt like she was anything other than my mom. She always makes me feel special. She is now 89 years-old and the strongest, toughest, most loving, nurturing person I have ever encountered. I aspire to be like her everyday.
Honesty, integrity, the ability to take criticism and be receptive and open to differing opinions. Empathy, compassion and an interest in what matters to the people in your district. Humility. The ability to get things done, to find common ground and to compromise.
I am a negotiator by trade and have the ability to bring people together. I am interested in other people's experiences and opinions. I will always want to hear from folks who would be affected by legislation and take into consideration their expertise prior to voting. I like people and I care about them. I care about our environment and preserving our beautiful Great Lakes and our state's natural beauty. I value relationships and want to build our community and bring people together. I believe that I have common-sense and integrity.
Rain on Me~Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande
I believe that experience can be a positive or a negative, depending on the person. In most facets of life, we respect and value job experience. With politics, the main detractor of experience, in my view, is the possibility of influence by big corporations and lobbyists and, as a result, the susceptibility of corruption. I do believe that there are good, life-long politicians with the best intentions, solid principles and a great deal of knowledge. I think that there is good in a balance between seasoned legislators with the right intentions and the fresh points of view that a newly elected official can bring to the table.
Absolutely. I believe it is beneficial to build relationships...period. My career has been focused on helping people to find common ground, sometimes right in the thick of their divorce-because it benefits them and their kids to do so. So much more good comes out of compromise and negotiation. Everyone has skin in the game and feels heard, even if they may not be one hundred percent thrilled with the outcome. Being the only child in my house growing up, with siblings 20 years older than me, taught me how to be well-versed at relationship building. Not only was I able to socialize with adults, if I wanted to have kids to play with, I had to make friends wherever I went and I did. I still am the same today and I think relationship building is a deeply ingrained skill that I value and bring to the table.
At the height of the unemployment claim problem at the beginning of the state shutdown, a contact from Congresswoman Slotkin's office put me in touch with a woman who was awaiting her unemployment and her federal stimulus check. She was in desperate need of dog food, and human food. I contacted her and she told me her story. Her husband of 38 years, the love of her life, had died a year earlier of cancer. She was on disability because she had also battled an aggressive form of cancer. The medical bills were crushing. She was working part-time as a server at a restaurant in Detroit but obviously was laid off due to the pandemic. She was so sweet and downplaying her situation but also clearly distressed. My son and I brought her dog food and groceries and became friends. We loved visiting her amazing, hippie house, as she called it, even though we were unable to go in and only talked to her through the glass due to social distancing and staying safe. Fortunately, her unemployment and stimulus came through the next week. This is the best part about running for office, and being an elected official presumably, meeting folks in your district, connecting with them and hearing their stories and learning about ways you can make their lives better.
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
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 11, 2020
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)
