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Michele Oberholtzer

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This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Michele Oberholtzer
Image of Michele Oberholtzer
Elections and appointments
Last election

August 4, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

University of Michigan, 2007

Personal
Birthplace
Royal Oak, Mich.
Profession
Director of Tax Foreclosure Prevention
Contact

Michele Oberholtzer (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 4. She lost in the Democratic primary on August 4, 2020.

Oberholtzer also ran in a special election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 4. She lost in the special Democratic primary on August 4, 2020.

Oberholtzer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Michele Oberholtzer was born in Royal Oak, Michigan. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 2007. Oberholtzer's career experience includes working as the director of tax foreclosure prevention at the United Community Housing Coalition.[1]

Elections

2020

Regular election

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Abraham Aiyash defeated Howard Weathington, Linda Rayburn, and MD Rabbi Alam in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Abraham Aiyash
Abraham Aiyash (D) Candidate Connection
 
89.7
 
27,263
Howard Weathington (R)
 
5.7
 
1,736
Image of Linda Rayburn
Linda Rayburn (Working Class Party)
 
3.4
 
1,023
Image of MD Rabbi Alam
MD Rabbi Alam (Independent)
 
1.2
 
355

Total votes: 30,377
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Abraham Aiyash
Abraham Aiyash Candidate Connection
 
38.4
 
5,355
Image of Michele Oberholtzer
Michele Oberholtzer Candidate Connection
 
13.9
 
1,945
Image of Tawanna Simpson
Tawanna Simpson Candidate Connection
 
10.9
 
1,518
Image of Tonya Myers Phillips
Tonya Myers Phillips Candidate Connection
 
10.2
 
1,417
Image of Delorean Holmes
Delorean Holmes Candidate Connection
 
7.2
 
1,002
Shahab Ahmed
 
6.0
 
834
Christopher Collins
 
4.7
 
655
Frazier Kimpson
 
3.7
 
515
Image of Abraham Shaw
Abraham Shaw Candidate Connection
 
1.8
 
254
Anthony Ali
 
1.1
 
150
Sigmunt Szczepkowski Jr.
 
1.1
 
148
Gregory Reyner
 
0.7
 
97
Darwood Navarro
 
0.5
 
63

Total votes: 13,953
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Howard Weathington advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Howard Weathington
 
100.0
 
329

Total votes: 329
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Working Class Party convention

Working Class Party convention for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Linda Rayburn advanced from the Working Class Party convention for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on July 26, 2020.

Candidate
Image of Linda Rayburn
Linda Rayburn (Working Class Party)

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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

To view Oberholtzer's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Special election

See also: Michigan state legislative special elections, 2020

General election

Special general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Abraham Aiyash won election in the special general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Abraham Aiyash
Abraham Aiyash (D)
 
100.0
 
28,379

Total votes: 28,379
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Special Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

The following candidates ran in the special Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Abraham Aiyash
Abraham Aiyash
 
37.9
 
5,208
Image of Michele Oberholtzer
Michele Oberholtzer
 
14.7
 
2,021
Image of Tawanna Simpson
Tawanna Simpson
 
12.6
 
1,728
Image of Tonya Myers Phillips
Tonya Myers Phillips
 
10.5
 
1,444
Image of Delorean Holmes
Delorean Holmes
 
7.8
 
1,070
Shahab Ahmed
 
6.2
 
852
Christopher Collins
 
5.4
 
739
Image of Abraham Shaw
Abraham Shaw
 
1.9
 
266
Sigmunt Szczepkowski Jr.
 
1.2
 
164
Anthony Ali
 
1.1
 
152
Gregory Reyner
 
0.7
 
103

Total votes: 13,747
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2018

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Isaac Robinson defeated Howard Weathington in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Isaac Robinson
Isaac Robinson (D)
 
94.6
 
20,209
Howard Weathington (R)
 
5.4
 
1,159

Total votes: 21,368
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.

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 4

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Isaac Robinson
Isaac Robinson
 
21.2
 
2,381
Saad Almasmari
 
15.7
 
1,765
Image of Michele Oberholtzer
Michele Oberholtzer
 
15.6
 
1,750
Rico Razo
 
9.9
 
1,115
Syed Rob
 
8.5
 
953
Image of Myya Jones
Myya Jones
 
7.8
 
877
Diane McMillan
 
5.9
 
657
Image of Jeffrey Nolish
Jeffrey Nolish
 
5.0
 
560
Matt Friedrichs
 
2.9
 
324
Christopher Collins
 
2.6
 
297
Image of Ernest Little
Ernest Little
 
2.1
 
236
Image of MD Rabbi Alam
MD Rabbi Alam
 
1.4
 
162
Derek Boston
 
0.6
 
71
Justin Jessop
 
0.6
 
68

Total votes: 11,216
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.

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 4

Howard Weathington advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Howard Weathington
 
100.0
 
269

Total votes: 269
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2020

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia
Released June 25, 2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Michele Oberholtzer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Oberholtzer's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a housing advocate, a writer, an engineer, and an activist who loves people very much and is committed to working for her community. I am one of four sisters, born and raised in Michigan. I have backpacked across the state, founded a nonprofit, and have directly assisted thousands of families to keep and own their homes. After studying Mechanical Engineering at University of Michigan, I began to work in the environmental industry. I worked for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and an end to environmental racism in Detroit, South Africa and New York City. That was my passion and my focus until 2014, when I became passionate about the tax foreclosure crisis in Detroit. I have a broad range of interests, deep knowledge in many subject areas, and experience with direct service for thousands of people.
  • I am an advocate- I put my values into action through direct service to thousands of people.
  • "Roots first, then sky"- Our priority is to meet the essential needs of our community- housing, water, food, health, and education. From this strong foundation, we can accomplish great things.
  • The government is there to serve people. Its priorities must always be fair and equitable in its service to the needs of its people
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
By making education our priority. By investing in infrastructure needed for economic job attraction specifically with our unique waterways and our crumbling roads. By continuing to attract immigrants. By incentivizing Michigan graduates to stay in-state with forgivable college loans. We need to bring our populace into the economic fold and increase their access to the workforce by promoting credentialing in the form of certifications and formal education. We can train our workers to participate in the skilled trades by creating pathways through public works and infrastructure projects. We can invest in a workforce that can tackle the challenges of tomorrow by putting more money towards workforce development and education.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
Essential needs: health, housing, food, water, education, infrastructure. We must decrease our spending on policing and incarceration, invest in our future- through infrastructure and education- and invest in our immediate needs- health, housing, food and water.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
I believe all legislators and our Governor should be subject to FOIA laws. I will fight hard for this to be law. We also need greater transparency in campaign spending for PACs, SUPER Pacs, and even 501c(4) spending. We should have certain data sources that are made available without FOIA requests, including tracking police violence, education spending, and more.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
I prefer spending cuts in the area of policing and prisons. In those areas, we have a lot of excess expenditures that are unnecessary and inhumane and I believe we can work toward a more just society by significancy reducing our punitive systems, while supporting housing, education, infrastructure, health, and human services. There may be need for tax increases, primarily by expanding the scope of our state's sales tax to include online sales and other items that are no longer being captured.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
I'd like us to implement a price floor on gas below where the difference between sales price and market price funds so that in low-price periods we can pay into infrastructure repair.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
Tying funding with student need rather than population. Schools with ELL students, low performance outcomes, high class sizes, etc. should receive supportive additional funding to help improve teacher capacity and resources. Low-Performing schools need support, not mandated closure.
I am interested in a wide range of public policy issues. My expertise is in housing justice, water access, and environmental issues including renewables, efficiency, and pollution. With housing: I am passionate about creating affordable housing, increasing access to homeownership, reforming property tax/foreclosure processes, and using publicly owned residential properties to reduce homelessness and provide affordable housing opportunities. With water: I will fight for access to clean, affordable water, an end to water-shut offs, lead pipe replacement, protection of our Great lakes, and proper pricing for extraction of those resources to meet health and environmental needs. Outside of those two issues, I am also very passionate about repealing Emergency Management, improving access to health care, vastly improving our investment in public schools, and improving the quality of education students receive. I am passionate about a complete overhaul of our policing and incarceration system- we must dramatically reduce our prison population, work toward rehabilitation rather than punitive measures, invest in the social safety net, and de-militarize the police. I support outcome-based budgeting that responds to need and efficacy. There is not much that I am not passionate about, which is part of why I am drawn to save in the legislature, where I may have a positive influence on a wide range of areas that need human-centered advocacy.
I look up to many people and am fortunate to have amazing role models.

I look up to my boss, Ted Phillips, because he has given of himself in ways that are hard to even imagine. He would never ask others to do something he himself would not do, he is extremely clear about his values and is a constant advocate, yet he listens when I speak up about ways we can and should change.

I look up to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. I admire how she has retained her sense of solve and conviction through the political process, which can often manipulate and corrupt people from their values. I look to her as an example of how someone can enter into the political process.

I look up to Bernie Sanders, he is internally and externally consistent, he is not a hypocrite, he acts and says what he believes, he is creative and compassionate. That inspires me a great deal.

I look up to Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative for his work, his writing, and service in what must be one of the hardest careers imaginable. I look up to his challenging of our "justice" system and boundless capacity for service.

I look up to Frances Perkins, the first female labor secretary in the United States. She was an activist-turned-policy maker who was driven to make systemic change by witnessing horrible workplace conditions. She overcame a very sexist environment and made lives better for countless workers.
The movie American Revolutionary is very influential to me and informs a lot of my views. I am a great admirer of Grace Lee Boggs, of her philosophy, for her vision of being a "solutionary" and for her life-long dedication to betterment of her community. She was a true activist, a consummate reader and thinker, and she believed in starting to bring change in one's own immediate community.
I'll refer to my slogan "head, heart, hustle" in answering that. I possess a balance of intelligence, compassion and very strong work ethic that makes an effective public servant.
I want to be known as someone who is helpful, who cares deeply for people, and who is effective. I want to be an example of creative holistic solutions.
The first historical event I can remember was September 11, 2001. I was 16 years old and in high school when the breaking news came out. I remember being in class, the teacher turned on a TV and we watched the plane hit the second World Trade Center building. I had taken my first trip to New York City the year before and I had been in that building. The combination of personal experience to a global event was really jarring, and watching the country enter into a war afterward was very sad, scary, and confusing for me. That was part of my political awakening.
My first job was at the age of 15, I worked the cash register in a gift shop. I had that job for two years and swapped it for a job across the street at a local restaurant. My first boss told me it was hard work over there, as though it might be too much for me, but I loved the fast-paced environment and the hard work a lot more than I liked the "easy" job and ended up working that second job for the rest of my high school career!
Braiding Sweetgrass- this book taught me about healing, taught me about nature and people and ways of living I deeply want to believe in. It is full of beautiful wisdom from indigenous practices and Western science. I believe that this book has made me a better person.
One struggle has been the fact that I have extremely different political views from my parents. Since I graduate college and dedicated myself to working on environmental issues, I received positive reinforcement from many people but faced tension in my own family for fighting climate change and business interests. Since Trump's election, these divisions have strained my relationships even more, but I feel that it is my responsibility and opportunity- as someone with loving relationships with people who have opposing political views- to engage in conversation, debate and even understanding- with people who I disagree with deeply.
The way in which the institutions are designed are a product of our government's founding documents. The House was designed to be an institution responsive to the pulse of the people, a check in every two years with constituents regarding the state of things. The Senate is designed to be the more deliberate body where members don't have the constant pressure of re-election and act as a more "thoughtful" body. The frequency of elections for the state house is a unique and important difference between the state legislature and the senate.
I do believe its beneficial, it is one part of an educational and experiential background that is helpful. Our term limits in Michigan are such that we do not have a great deal of institutional knowledge contained within our electorate, and there are no such term limits for lobbyists or special interests. Having exposure to and understanding of legislative process, is helpful is ensuring greater efficacy of elected officials, but it is not more important than grassroots and other direct service experience!
Our greatest challenge will be to change our structure to be economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable before it reaches a breaking point. We are running off of the fumes of our investment into infrastructure in the past, we are spending inordinate sums of our revenue on incarceration and punitive measures, we are underinvesting in education and accumulating environmental costs that will be difficult to pay. Can we re-orient our society to be economically viable, equitable, and supportive of the basic needs of our people before catastrophic loss forces our hand. Can we build systems wherein taking care of others also serves us? Can we provide for the essential needs of our state while preserving independence, equality, creativity and democracy?
Collaborative, proactive relationship where the both parties trust that the priorities of the other body are substantive and are in the public interest. Ideally, the legislation brought to the governor is policy she can confidently sign and there is a relatively small need for executive orders other than for time-sensitive issues. The bodies should challenge each other to stay focused on the public's priorities.
Yes, I think its beneficial for legislators to build relationships amongst themselves. I am a believer in the power of communication as a tool for finding common interest and values. The Detroit caucus must build relationships within itself to work collaboratively for the collective interests of the city, and legislators at the state level must work with others in their own party and across the aisle. We cannot wait to have a majority to begin the work of serving our communities.
I want to be part of the Tax Policy and Appropriations committees. I am interested in Energy or Natural Resources and possibly Ways and Means.
I would like to model myself after Senators Stephanie Chang and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. Both of them have very strong records of constituent services and advocacy for their communities. I believe they have stayed strong to their values and their original service-oriented reasons for running for office. I see them as leaders who show me that politics, while it can be corrupting for some, can also be a way to do great public service.
It's something I could consider but I have no specific plans for holding subsequent positions until I prove myself at the State Legislative level.
I hear incredible personal testimony every day and it is the individual stories of people that informs my policy views. To chose just one, I recall speaking with Mr. Mack, a man who had completed a 30-year mortgage for his home on Detroit's east side. After paying off the mortgage he never received property tax bills and didn't know that he still owes them, because he had never paid them directly before. His home faced tax foreclosure and he applied for Step Forward relief through MSHDA. He was approved but then retroactively denied because he allowed his bank balance to rise or fall above some pre-ordained level. His house was put up for auction and he did not even receive information about how to participate in the auction. I was able to work with him to buy his home for $500 and he lives there today. He came so close to losing this home. This man is the patriarch of his community and everyone on the block is lucky to have him. If he'd lost that home, his family would have left and we would all be worse off. His story of trying to navigate the foreclosure process has stuck with me since I met him in 2014.

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.

See also


External links


Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 26, 2020


Current members of the Michigan House of Representatives
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