John Walsh (Michigan)
John Walsh is a former Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 19 from 2009 to 2015. He served as Speaker Pro Tempore for the final four years of his tenure. Walsh did not seek re-election in 2014.
Walsh previously served as Chair of the Livonia Planning Commission; a member and Vice President of the Livonia City Council; Chairman of the Livonia Economic Development Partnership; Chairman of the Board, Livonia Chamber of Commerce and Vice Chair of the Schoolcraft College Board of Trustees.
Biography
Walsh graduated from Michigan State University in 1984 and Wayne State University Law School in 1987. His professional experience includes practicing corporate law and working as an executive at Schoolcraft College.
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Walsh served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2012 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Walsh served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Judiciary, Chair |
| • Tax Policy, Vice chair |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Walsh served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Commerce |
| • Education |
| • Government Operations, Vice chair |
| • Tax Policy |
Campaign themes
2012
Walsh's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[1]
- Excerpt: "A tax structure that benefits our hard-working citizens"
- Excerpt: "A fair business tax that promotes investment in the State by all industries"
- Excerpt: "Elimination of meaningless red tape that does nothing more than burden Michigan businesses"
- Excerpt: "Increased access to high quality, lifelong education opportunities"
- Excerpt: "Invest in energy alternatives"
Voting record
Key votes of 2009-2010
- Click below to see how this representative voted.
- Super Speedway, Lawmakers voting on whether TO EXTEND A SPECIAL TAX PERK for a super speedway.
- Driver Responsibility Fees, Lawmakers voting on whether TO IMPOSE 'driver responsibility fees.'
- Crony Capitalism, Lawmakers voting on whether TO RESTRICT THE RIGHT of shareholders to sell their own stock.
- Right to Work, Lawmakers voting on an amendment SUPPORTING RIGHT-TO-WORK zones.
- Dept. of State Cost-Saving, Lawmakers voting on whether TO SLOW DOWN PROGRESS ON THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S COST-SAVING CONSOLIDATION PLAN.
- Golf Carts, Lawmakers voting on whether TO SUBSIDIZE the production of electric vehicle batteries.
- Home Court Disadvantage, Lawmakers voting on whether TO GIVE MORE TAXING POWER to local government in Kalamazoo so it can finance a taxpayer-subsidized sports arena.
- Fire Safe Cigarettes, Lawmakers voting on whether TO BAN the sale of cigarettes that are not "fire safe."
- Balancing Act, Lawmakers voting on a budget to CUT REVENUE SHARING PAYMENTS to local governments as a way to balance the state budget without raising taxes.
- Balancing Act 2, Lawmakers voting on a cut of less than 3 percent to K-12 school aid payments so as to balance the state budget without tax increases.
- A Good Tax Gone Bad?, Lawmakers voting on the Michigan Business Tax.
- It’s From the Children, Lawmakers voting on whether to RAID $90 MILLION from the Michigan Higher Education Student Loan Authority.
- Left Behind, Lawmakers voting on whether TO FINANCE "No Worker Left Behind" with a 59.9 percent increase in general fund spending in the 2009 DELEG budget.
- First Class Schools, Lawmakers voting on whether to keep Detroit Public Schools' "first class" status even though the district no longer meets the population standard.
- Politically Correct Capitalism, Lawmakers voting on whether to INCREASE SUBSIDIES for plug-in traction battery packs used in electric cars.
- Politically Correct Capitalism 2, Lawmakers voting on whether to GIVE SUBSIDIES for Michigan film production.
- Politically Correct Capitalism 3, Lawmakers voting on whether to INCREASE ELECTRIC CAR SUBSIDIES for a subsidiary of a Korean battery company.
- Secret Ballot, Lawmakers voting on whether to keep a SECRET BALLOT for union elections.
- Property Taxes Assaulted Again, Lawmakers voting on whether to allow public schools to EXPAND THE USE OF SINKING FUND property tax spending.
- Sneak Attack, Lawmakers voting on whether to allow public schools to EXPAND THE USE OF SINKING FUND property tax spending.
- Grapes of Wrath, Lawmakers voting on whether TO BAN home shipment of beer and wine to Michigan consumers.
- Subsidize Manufacture of Electric Cars, Lawmakers voting on whether to authorize a refundable Michigan Business Tax credit for makers of plug-in traction battery packs used in electric cars.
- Authorize Special Tax Breaks for Ethanol Gas Stations, Lawmakers voting on whether to authorize a non-refundable Michigan Business Tax credit equal to 30 percent of the costs incurred by a gas station to convert existing pumps and tanks, or acquire new ones that deliver E85 ethanol or biodiesel fuel.
More voting record details
- List of all of John Walsh’s roll call votes, bills introduced, and floor amendments from MichiganVotes.org (use site’s “advanced search” to narrow by date range, issue category and/or keyword).
- List of John Walsh’s missed roll-call votes
Elections
2012
Walsh won re-election in the 2012 election for Michigan House of Representatives District 19. He ran unopposed in the August 7 Republican primary and defeated Richard Tannous (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[2][3]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  John Walsh Incumbent |
59.9% | 29,151 | |
| Democratic | Richard Tannous | 40.1% | 19,480 | |
| Total Votes | 48,631 | |||
2010
Walsh won re-election to the District 19 seat in 2010. He had no primary opposition. He defeated Joseph Larkin (D) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[4][5]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 19 General election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| John Walsh (R)
|
31,671 | |||
| Joseph Larkin (D) | 23,141 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, John Walsh ran for District 19 of the Michigan House of Representatives, beating Steve King.[6]
Walsh raised $117,708 for his campaign.[7]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 19 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| John Walsh (R)
|
29,752 | |||
| Steve King (D) | 19,829 | |||
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.
Scorecards
Tea Party Scorecard
The Independent Tea Party Patriots, a Michigan Tea Party group, grades the votes of this and every other Michigan legislator on “core tea party issues” in a regularly-updated scorecard. 100% is considered an ideal rating.[8]
January 2011 - March 2012
John Walsh received a 71% rating on the January 2011 - March 2012 Tea Party Scorecard.[8]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Walsh and his wife, Janice, have two children.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term John + Walsh + Michigan + Legislature
See also
- Michigan State Legislature
- Michigan House of Representatives
- House Committees
- Michigan state legislative districts
External links
- Official campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Michigan Votes - John Walsh
- Campaign Contributions: 2008
- Personal Facebook profile
Footnotes
- ↑ Citizens for John Walsh, "Issues," accessed November 29, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Election Results - Primary Election - August 07, 2012," accessed June 18, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Election Results - General Election - November 06, 2012," accessed November 29, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "State Representative," accessed March 23, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "State Representative," accessed March 23, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Election Results - General Election - November 04, 2008," accessed May 30, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Walsh, John," accessed May 30, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Michigan Votes, "Tea Party Scorecard Jan 2011-Mar 2012," accessed June 22, 2012
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Michigan House of Representatives District 19 2009–2015 |
Succeeded by Laura Cox (R) |
