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Margaret O'Brien (Michigan)

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Margaret O'Brien
Image of Margaret O'Brien
Prior offices
Michigan House of Representatives District 61

Michigan State Senate District 20
Successor: Sean McCann

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 6, 2018

Education

Bachelor's

James Madison College at Michigan State University, 1996

Personal
Religion
Christian: Protestant
Profession
Real estate agent
Contact

Margaret O'Brien (Republican Party) was a member of the Michigan State Senate, representing District 20. O'Brien assumed office on January 1, 2015. O'Brien left office on January 1, 2019.

O'Brien (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Michigan State Senate to represent District 20. O'Brien lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.

O'Brien served in the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 61 from 2011 to 2015. Prior to her departure, O'Brien served as associate speaker pro tempore.

Biography

O'Brien earned her B.S. from Michigan State University in 1996. She previously worked as a real estate agent for REMAX Advantage Realty and a volunteer for Catholic Family Services.

Committee assignments

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Michigan committee assignments, 2017
Banking & Financial Institutions, Vice chair
Commerce
Health Policy
Insurance
Veterans, Military Affairs and Homeland Security, Chair

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, O'Brien served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, O'Brien served on the following committees:

Michigan committee assignments, 2012
Insurance
Oversight
• Tax Policy, Vice chair
Transportation and Infrastructure

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, O'Brien served on the following committees:

Campaign themes

2012

O'Brien's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[1]

Jobs

  • Excerpt: "We need to turn Michigan's economy around by creating a better business climate. I will work to reduce burdensome taxes and regulations that send our jobs out of our state."

Tax Reform

  • Excerpt: "We need to find a better way to fund essential government services. We need to overhaul our tax structure, not merely change it by moving numbers around as we did with the Michigan Business Tax."

Fiscal Responsibility

  • Excerpt: "I will be a good steward of your tax dollars. As a small business owner, I understand how to budget and how to make painful cuts during difficult times. I understand the negative consequences we experience when our taxes increase. I will make the tough decisions"

Education

  • Excerpt: "I will advocate for children getting a solid education in the public, private and home school systems. I will fight to maintain parental control for their children's education."

Energy

  • Excerpt: "We must continue to provide opportunities for all sources of energy to compete."

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

See also: Michigan State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Michigan State Senate District 20

Sean McCann defeated incumbent Margaret O'Brien and Lorence Wenke in the general election for Michigan State Senate District 20 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sean McCann
Sean McCann (D) Candidate Connection
 
53.1
 
60,528
Image of Margaret O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien (R)
 
42.3
 
48,195
Image of Lorence Wenke
Lorence Wenke (L)
 
4.6
 
5,274

Total votes: 113,997
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan State Senate District 20

Sean McCann advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan State Senate District 20 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sean McCann
Sean McCann Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
29,026

Total votes: 29,026
Candidate Connection = 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 State Senate District 20

Incumbent Margaret O'Brien advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan State Senate District 20 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Margaret O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien
 
100.0
 
20,009

Total votes: 20,009
Candidate Connection = 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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Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Michigan State Senate District 20

Lorence Wenke advanced from the Libertarian primary for Michigan State Senate District 20 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lorence Wenke
Lorence Wenke
 
100.0
 
202

Total votes: 202
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2014

See also: Michigan State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Michigan State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election took place on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 22, 2014. Sean McCann was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Margaret O'Brien defeated Ron Zuiderveen in the Republican primary. O'Brien defeated McCann and Lorence Wenke (L) in the general election.[2][3][4][5]

Michigan State Senate, District 20 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngMargaret O'Brien 45.5% 36,630
     Democratic Sean McCann 45.5% 36,571
     Libertarian Lorence Wenke 9% 7,263
Total Votes 80,464
Michigan State Senate, District 20 Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngMargaret O'Brien 77.4% 11,342
Ron Zuiderveen 22.6% 3,308
Total Votes 14,650

2012

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2012

O'Brien won election in the 2012 election for Michigan House of Representatives District 61. She was unopposed in the August 7 Republican primary and defeated Michael Martin (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[6][7]

Michigan House of Representatives, District 61, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngMargaret O'Brien Incumbent 58.2% 27,726
     Democratic Michael Martin 41.8% 19,876
Total Votes 47,602

2010

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2010

O'Brien won election to the District 61 seat in 2010. She had no primary opposition. She defeated Thomas Batten (D) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[8][9]

Michigan House of Representatives, District 61 General election (2010)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Margaret O'Brien (R)' 21,919
Thomas Batten (D) 13,671

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.


Margaret O'Brien campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2014Michigan State Senate, District 20Won $1,184,954 N/A**
2012Michigan State House, District 61Won $56,046 N/A**
2010Michigan State House, District 61Won $44,855 N/A**
2008Michigan State House, District 61Lost $31,826 N/A**
Grand total$1,317,681 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Michigan

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.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on small business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


2012


2011

Endorsements

2014

In 2014, O'Brien's endorsements included the following:

  • Right to Life of Michigan[10]

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Margaret O'Brien (Michigan) endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.[11]

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
When she served in the state Senate, O'Brien and her husband, Nick, had two children.

See also

External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Michigan State Senate District 20
2015–2018
Succeeded by
Sean McCann (D)
Preceded by
Larry DeShazor (R)
Michigan House of Representatives District 61
2011–2015
Succeeded by
Brandt Iden (R)


Current members of the Michigan State Senate
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
Sue Shink (D)
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
Sam Singh (D)
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
Vacant
District 36
District 37
District 38
Democratic Party (19)
Republican Party (18)
Vacancies (1)