Mark Zacharda
Mark Zacharda (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 71. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Mark Zacharda was born in Michigan. He earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University in 2002. He also earned a degree from Saginaw Valley State University in 2005. His career experience includes working as a farmer and small business owner. Previously, he was a high school biology teacher and worked at a John Deere dealership parts counter and service department.[1]
Zacharda has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- Shiawassee County Farm Bureau Board of Directors
- Shiawassee County Democratic Party, vice chair and chair
- Michigan Farm Bureau
- Michigan Corn Growers Association
- Michigan Soybean Growers Association
- Michigan Democratic Party Rural Caucus
Elections
2024
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 71
Incumbent Brian BeGole defeated Mark Zacharda in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 71 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Brian BeGole (R) | 62.6 | 33,831 |
 | Mark Zacharda (D) | 37.4 | 20,183 | |
| Total votes: 54,014 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 71
Mark Zacharda advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 71 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Zacharda | 100.0 | 6,818 |
| Total votes: 6,818 | |||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 71
Incumbent Brian BeGole defeated Kevin Rathbun in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 71 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brian BeGole | 67.2 | 7,267 |
| Kevin Rathbun | 32.8 | 3,551 | ||
| Total votes: 10,818 | |||
| = 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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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Zacharda in this election.
2022
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 71
Brian BeGole defeated Mark Zacharda in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 71 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brian BeGole (R) | 57.7 | 25,156 |
| Mark Zacharda (D) | 42.3 | 18,408 | |
| Total votes: 43,564 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 71
Mark Zacharda advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 71 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Zacharda | 100.0 | 6,710 |
| Total votes: 6,710 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 71
Brian BeGole defeated Kevin Rathbun, Bob Carlin, and Ali Williston in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 71 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brian BeGole | 46.0 | 6,369 |
| Kevin Rathbun | 36.2 | 5,012 | ||
| Bob Carlin | 14.4 | 1,987 | ||
| Ali Williston | 3.4 | 474 | ||
| Total votes: 13,842 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
To view Zacharda's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mark Zacharda did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Mark Zacharda completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Zacharda's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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With the Great Recession looming, teaching jobs were thin in Michigan. Finally, I found a union teaching job in Stafford County, Virginia. I taught high school biology for four years; the lessons I learned in that role were valuable, as I worked with multiple learning styles, behaviors, and families. During that time, I married my wife, Stephanie, and we bought our first home and welcomed two daughters.
I see my candidacy as a patriotic duty to represent the citizens of my district. I’ll do my part to preserve our environment for future generations, enhance public education, support farmers and the state’s economy by bringing jobs back to rural communities, and preserve our democracy against the growing threats we face today.
- To ensure every kid in Michigan has equal access to a public world-class education, we need to simplify and stabilize the way our public schools are funded. It’s also key for our kids to have training in essential life skills, in civics, in the arts, and in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. Our students need practical skills that will help them get jobs that enable them to thrive, whether or not they attend college. To ensure this, I’ll continue to expand the established dedication in this district to Career & Technical Education (CTE) programs, by partnering with local institutions of higher education, like Baker College, the Regional Education Service District (RESD), and local unions and businesses.
- The right to vote is foundational to democracy, and our citizens deserve unfettered access to exercise their most crucial right. I’ll be a tireless advocate for maintaining our record of accurate elections in Michigan while working to make it as easy as possible for all Michiganders to vote.
- I manage a small business with our family farm, so I know the challenges of small business ownership first-hand. With continuing trends toward globalization and endless corporate consolidation, it’s essential we empower small businesses to thrive, and provide the support they need from our state government. It’s crucial to lower the state tax burden on small businesses, freeing up revenue to help them grow, and empowering them to pay living wages to their teams. I’m happy to see healthy corporate profits, but big corporations should not be reaping windfalls at the expense of Americans in poverty and in the middle class.
One of the largest problems is the battle of the “culture wars.” The problem is that culture wars often involve the choices of private individuals. I believe there is no good reason we should allow private issues or personal views to strip us of our ability to have thoughtful, fair, and just government. I will work with anyone who is willing to collaborate thoughtfully on the problems that Michiganders face, and I won’t be bogged down by culture wars, which are little more than a pot-stirring distraction.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
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.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Michigan House of Representatives District 71 |
Personal |
Footnotes
