Margaret O'Brien (Michigan)
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:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Banking and Financial Institutions |
| • Health Policy, Vice Chair |
| • Insurance |
| • Veterans, Military Affairs and Homeland Security, Chair |
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:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Education |
| • Families and Children's Services |
| • Insurance |
| • Tax Policy |
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."
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
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 | ||
| ✔ |  | Sean McCann (D)  | 53.1 | 60,528 |
 | Margaret O'Brien (R) | 42.3 | 48,195 | |
 | Lorence Wenke (L) | 4.6 | 5,274 | |
| Total votes: 113,997 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
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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 | ||
| ✔ | | Sean McCann | 100.0 | 29,026 |
| Total votes: 29,026 | |||
| = candidate completed 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 | ||
| ✔ | | Margaret O'Brien | 100.0 | 20,009 |
| Total votes: 20,009 | |||
| = 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 | ||
| ✔ | | Lorence Wenke | 100.0 | 202 |
| Total votes: 202 | |||
| = 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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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]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Margaret O'Brien |
45.5% | 36,630 | |
| Democratic | Sean McCann | 45.5% | 36,571 | |
| Libertarian | Lorence Wenke | 9% | 7,263 | |
| Total Votes | 80,464 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Margaret O'Brien |
77.4% | 11,342 |
| Ron Zuiderveen | 22.6% | 3,308 |
| Total Votes | 14,650 | |
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]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Margaret O'Brien Incumbent |
58.2% | 27,726 | |
| Democratic | Michael Martin | 41.8% | 19,876 | |
| Total Votes | 47,602 | |||
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 | |||
| 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.
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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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 12 to December 28.
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Endorsements
2014
In 2014, O'Brien's endorsements included the following:
- Right to Life of Michigan[10]
Presidential preference
2012
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
- Michigan State Legislature
- Michigan House of Representatives
- House Committees
- Michigan state legislative districts
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Official campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2010
Footnotes
- ↑ "margaretobrien," Official Campaign Website
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "State Senator," accessed August 6, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "State Senator," 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, "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
- ↑ Right to Life of Michigan, "Elections," accessed June 18, 2014
- ↑ Romney for President, "Mitt Romney Announces Support of Michigan Speaker of The House Jase Bolger and Additional Members of The Michigan Legislature," September 19, 2011 (Archived)
| 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) |
