Michigan House of Representatives District 47 candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in Michigan, 2022

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This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Michigan House of Representatives District 47 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

• Click here to see candidates and election results.
• Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 47

Carrie Rheingans defeated Tina Bednarski-Lynch in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 47 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Carrie Rheingans (D)	63.4	31,552
	Submit photo	Tina Bednarski-Lynch (R)	36.6	18,187

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 49,739
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

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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.

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Carrie Rheingans (D)

Carrie is a health and human services policy expert, which is Michigan’s single largest budget area, with programs, services, and protections that touch every resident of the state

Carrie is part of a working family and knows what it takes to get through daily life as a working parent, with rising housing and high childcare costs, and massive student loans

Carrie seeks the voices and experiences of those affected by policy to guide her when she makes policy decisions.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Carrie Rheingans (D)

Carrie is passionate about healthy people, healthy families, and healthy communities. Every policy issue is a health issue, from basic rights for voters, workers, and LGBTQ+ neighbors, to climate action, education, and care for children and elders – reducing harm from things that kill us and increasing access to health and behavioral health care is only part of what affects our health. With overdose and gun-related deaths rising, an expected increase in maternal mortality as a result of the overturn of Roe v. Wade protections, and increasing demand for mental health services, there has never been a better time to send a seasoned public health expert to Lansing. Carrie has been focused on and worked for health equity for two decades now, and has the experiences and technical expertise to push for legislation that will enable healthy people, healthy families, and healthy communities.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Carrie Rheingans (D)

When I was a junior at Linden High School in April 1999, the shooting at Columbine happened. In my small town, we knew just how serious it was, because one of our own classmates had previously been expelled for bringing a handgun to school, so we realized immediately that it could have happened in our school. We spent the rest of that school year plotting out how we could barricade each of our classrooms should a copycat shooter come to our school. That year and the following year, we also had two young men from our school die by suicide by firearm. Gun violence has been a part of my entire adult life, which is why I want to work to enact sensible gun safety policies in Michigan.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Carrie Rheingans (D)

Michigan is facing many great challenges in the next decade, including more severe weather as a result of climate change, an influx of climate migrants, and increasing needs for mental health and substance use disorder services. These are challenges that are decades in the making, and will take concentrated, strong effort to reverse or adapt to. We must ramp up funding for sustainable and carbon-neutral energy and enact policies that allow us to rapidly increase our housing stock at a wide range of income levels. In addition, implementing a single-payer, universal healthcare system will stabilize and expand our service provision by focusing on service delivery and not profits.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Carrie Rheingans (D)

In a state like Michigan with such short term limits, it is beneficial to have legislators with some experience in government and understanding of how public budgeting processes work, so that legislators spend less of their initial months learning how things work, and more of their time getting things done. I'm thankful for my years working as a contractor for Michigan's largest state budget area - Health and Human Services - which will enable me to walk into office on the day I'm sworn in and get right to work.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

Carrie Rheingans (D)

I'm proud of Michigan voters for passing the ballot initiative in 2018 to enable Michigan's Independent Citizens' Redistricting Commission. Thanks to the MICRC, our legislative districts are the fairest they've been in decades. I hope other states follow our success for the next round of redistricting later this decade.

See also

More about these elections:

• Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2022

Select a district below to read responses from candidates in those races:

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