Joseph Graves
Joseph Graves is a former Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 51 from 2012 to 2018. He was elected to the chamber in the February 28, 2012, special election. The special election was called to fill the vacancy created when Paul Scott (R) was recalled on November 8, 2011.[1]
Graves was unable to run for re-election in 2018 to the Michigan House of Representatives because of term limits.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Financial Services, Vice chair |
| • Health Policy |
| • Law and Justice |
| • Military and Veterans Affairs, Vice chair |
| • Oversight, Chair |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Graves served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Trade, Chair |
| • Financial Services |
| • Health Policy |
| • Oversight and Ethics |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Graves served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2012 |
|---|
| • Energy and Technology |
| • Health Policy |
| • Local Government |
| • Military and Veterans Affairs |
Campaign themes
2016
Graves' website highlighted the following campaign themes:[2]
Jobs for Michigan
- Excerpt: "While we have made great strides, we need to continue reforming state government, eliminating burdensome and unnecessary regulations and creating an atmosphere where small businesses and entrepreneurs want to invest and grow their businesses."
Public safety
- Excerpt: "We have made great strides by putting additional troopers in our states most violent cities. I have worked to ensure additional funding has been provided to Genesee County to help our sheriff department keep the Flint lock-up open and fight crime across the county. I have worked with Sheriff Bouchard in Oakland County to make sure he has the resources and tools he needs to keep our families safe. Now is not the time to change our course, we must continue these efforts and gain positive results."
Protecting seniors
- Excerpt: "I have introduced legislation that repeals the pension tax on seniors. I strongly believe that money should be left in the hands of hard-working taxpayers. I will continue to advocate for lower taxes for all Michigan families and work to eliminate the pension tax."
2012 debate
On January 20, 2012, the House District 51 candidates participated in a debate sponsored by the Flint Area League of Women Voters.[3]
- A video of the full debate can be found here.
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2018
Joseph Graves was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.
2016
Elections for the Michigan House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was April 19, 2016.
Incumbent Joseph Graves defeated Ryan Bladzik and Mark Sanborn in the Michigan House of Representatives District 51 general election.[4]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 51 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Joseph Graves Incumbent |
60.70% | 30,468 | |
| Democratic | Ryan Bladzik | 33.97% | 17,050 | |
| Libertarian | Mark Sanborn | 5.33% | 2,677 | |
| Total Votes | 50,195 | |||
| Source: Michigan Secretary of State | ||||
Ryan Bladzik ran unopposed in the Michigan House of Representatives District 51 Democratic primary.[5][6]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 51 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Ryan Bladzik (unopposed) | |
Incumbent Joseph Graves defeated Katherine Houston and John Lauve in the Michigan House of Representatives District 51 Republican primary.[5][6]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 51 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Joseph Graves Incumbent |
70.85% | 4,832 | |
| Republican | Katherine Houston | 14.50% | 989 | |
| Republican | John Lauve | 14.65% | 999 | |
| Total Votes | 6,820 | |||
2014
Elections for the Michigan House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 22, 2014. Ken Thomas was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Incumbent Joseph Graves defeated Sheila Barr in the Republican primary. Graves defeated Thomas in the general election.[7][8][9][10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Joseph Graves Incumbent |
57.9% | 19,429 | |
| Democratic | Ken Thomas | 42.1% | 14,111 | |
| Total Votes | 33,540 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Joseph Graves Incumbent |
76.4% | 4,688 |
| Sheila Barr | 23.6% | 1,451 |
| Total Votes | 6,139 | |
2012
General
Graves won election in the 2012 election for Michigan House of Representatives District 51. He defeated John Lauve in the August 7 Republican primary and defeated Steven Losey (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[11]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Joseph Graves Incumbent |
54.3% | 26,170 | |
| Democratic | Steven Losey | 45.7% | 22,001 | |
| Total Votes | 48,171 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Joseph Graves Incumbent |
76.6% | 5,778 |
| John Lauve | 23.4% | 1,769 |
| Total Votes | 7,547 | |
Special
Graves defeated Steven Losey (D) and Cary Neuville-Justice (G) in the special election on February 28, 2012. Candidates were selected by their respective political parties.[12][13][14]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Steven Losey | 42.4% | 8,173 | |
| Republican | Joseph Graves |
53.4% | 10,290 | |
| Green | Cary Neuville-Justice | 4.2% | 803 | |
| Total Votes | 19,266 | |||
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
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Michigan scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2018
In 2018, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 10 through December 31.
- Legislators and candidates are scored on their economy policy views.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to agriculture.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on a number of bills selected by the editor of MIRS, a state capitol newsletter.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to conservative issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business in Michigan: 2017-2018 voting record
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on small business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 11 through December 31.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 13 through December 31.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 14 through December 17.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 8 through December 31.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 9 to December 31.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 11 to December 27.
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Endorsements
2014
In 2014, Graves' endorsements included the following:
- Right to Life of Michigan[15]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Joseph + Graves + Michigan + Legislature
See also
- Michigan State Legislature
- Michigan House of Representatives
- House Committees
- Michigan state legislative districts
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, "Michigan Republicans vow to reclaim seat of recalled state Rep. Paul Scott," November 9, 2011
- ↑ Joe Graves, "How Joe’s Fighting for Us," accessed June 24, 2016
- ↑ MLive, "Candidates looking to replace former House Rep. Paul Scott in 51st District debate in Grand Blanc," January 20, 2012
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 official general election results," accessed May 2, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 Michigan Candidate Listing," accessed April 22, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 Michigan Election Results," accessed August 2, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Representative in State Legislature," accessed August 6, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Representative in State Legislature," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2014 Official Michigan Primary Candidate Listing," accessed May 27, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2014 Official Michigan General Candidate Listing," accessed September 8, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "2012 Official Michigan Primary Candidate Listing," accessed June 5, 2012
- ↑ MLive, "Art Reyes, Democrat who lost to Paul Scott in 2010, considering running in special election," November 10, 2011
- ↑ Genesee County Elections Dept., Official Candidate List, December 20, 2011
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, 51st District, Unofficial election results," accessed February 29, 2012
- ↑ Right to Life of Michigan, "Elections," accessed June 18, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Paul Scott (R) |
Michigan House of Representatives District 51 2012–2018 |
Succeeded by Mike Mueller (R) |
