Lee Chatfield
Lee Chatfield (Republican Party) was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 107. Chatfield assumed office on January 1, 2015. Chatfield left office on January 1, 2021.
Chatfield (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 107. Chatfield won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Chatfield served as state house speaker from 2019 to 2020. He was the youngest state house speaker in more than a century.[1] Chatfield's legislative experience also includes serving as the chair of the Government Operations and Michigan Competitiveness Committees.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Government Operations, Chair |
| • Michigan Competitiveness, Chair |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Chatfield served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Education |
| • Health Policy |
| • Local Government, Chair |
| • Tax Policy |
Campaign themes
2016
Chatfield's campaign website highlighted the following issues:[2]
| “ |
Fight for jobs
Efficient government
Strengthen education
We need more local control, parental choice and funding equity between Northern Michigan school districts and districts downstate." Energy independence
|
” |
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
2020
Lee Chatfield was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.
2018
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2018
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 107
Incumbent Lee Chatfield defeated Joanne Schmidt Galloway in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 107 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Lee Chatfield (R) | 58.7 | 24,834 |
 | Joanne Schmidt Galloway (D)  | 41.3 | 17,448 | |
| Total votes: 42,282 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 107
Joanne Schmidt Galloway defeated Kurt Perron in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 107 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joanne Schmidt Galloway | 84.5 | 6,624 |
| Kurt Perron | 15.5 | 1,218 | ||
| Total votes: 7,842 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 107
Incumbent Lee Chatfield defeated Bruce Newville Jr. in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 107 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lee Chatfield | 84.0 | 10,284 |
| Bruce Newville Jr. | 16.0 | 1,961 | ||
| Total votes: 12,245 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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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 Lee Chatfield defeated Phil Bellfy in the Michigan House of Representatives District 107 general election.[4]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 107 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Lee Chatfield Incumbent |
67.09% | 30,131 | |
| Democratic | Phil Bellfy | 32.91% | 14,781 | |
| Total Votes | 44,912 | |||
| Source: Michigan Secretary of State | ||||
Phil Bellfy ran unopposed in the Michigan House of Representatives District 107 Democratic primary.[5][6]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 107 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Phil Bellfy (unopposed) | |
Incumbent Lee Chatfield defeated Kathy Twardy in the Michigan House of Representatives District 107 Republican primary.[5][6]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 107 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Lee Chatfield Incumbent |
72.77% | 9,616 | |
| Republican | Kathy Twardy | 27.23% | 3,598 | |
| Total Votes | 13,214 | |||
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. Jim Page was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Incumbent Frank Foster was defeated by Lee Chatfield in the Republican primary. Chatfield then defeated Page in the general election.[7][8][9][10][11]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Lee Chatfield |
60.9% | 19,342 | |
| Democratic | Jim Page | 39% | 12,402 | |
| Write-in | William Damsgaard | 0.1% | 23 | |
| Total Votes | 31,767 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Lee Chatfield |
54.1% | 6,561 |
| Frank Foster Incumbent | 45.9% | 5,570 |
| Total Votes | 12,131 | |
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.
2020
In 2020, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 8 to December 31.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on labor 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 business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 9 through December 31.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 10 through December 31.
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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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Criminal charges (2024-2025)
On April 16, 2024, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced 13 charges against Chatfield, and an additional two charges against his wife. [12]
"Our investigation has uncovered evidence that Lee Chatfield used various different schemes to embezzle, steal, and convert both private and public monies to fund a lavish lifestyle that a state salary could not possibly afford,” Nessel said in announcing the charges.
“It took almost 2 ½ years for the Attorney General’s Office to come up with charges against Mr. Chatfield,” Chatfield's attorney Mary Chartier said in response to the charges. “We are prepared to fight them each and every step of the way.” [13]
On May 2, 2024, Chatfield and his wife pleaded not guilty to the charges.[14]
On May 30, 2025, East Lansing District 54B judge Molly Hennessey Greenwalt ruled that there was sufficient evidence in the case for Chatfield and his wife to face a jury trial.[15]
See also
- Michigan House of Representatives
- Michigan House of Representatives District 107
- Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2014
- Michigan State Legislature
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Profile from Vote-USA
- Lee Chatfield on Twitter
Footnotes
- ↑ The Detroit News, "Youngest lawmaker in a century prepares to lead Michigan House
- ↑ leechatfield.com, "Issues," accessed June 24, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 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, "Unofficial General Election Results as of November 5, 2014," accessed November 6, 2014
- ↑ ‘’Bridge Michigan’’, "Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, wife face corruption charges," April 16, 2024
- ↑ ‘’Bridge Michigan’’, "Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, wife face corruption charges," April 16, 2024
- ↑ ‘’Atlanta Journal-Constitution’’, "Former Michigan House leader, wife plead not guilty to misusing political funds," May 2, 2024
- ↑ ‘’Detroit Free Press’’, "Ex-Speaker Lee Chatfield, wife to stand trial over alleged misuse of political money," May 30, 2025
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Frank Foster (R) |
Michigan House of Representatives District 107 2015–2020 |
Succeeded by John Damoose (R) |
