Michigan State Senate District 5 candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in Michigan, 2022

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This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Michigan State Senate District 5 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 State Senate District 5

Incumbent Dayna Polehanki defeated Emily Bauman in the general election for Michigan State Senate District 5 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dayna Polehanki (D)	61.1	64,455
		Emily Bauman (R)	38.9	41,091

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 105,546
= 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

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

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?

Emily Bauman (R)

Trustworthy, balancing grace with action

Experienced & fiscally conservative

Effective & fearless in order to be sure all sides are heard

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Emily Bauman (R)

Families & parental rights--preserving the laws already in the Michigan Constitution about parental rights and education and raising the bar and incresaing opportunities for students to have access to quality academic education

Prosperity, including jobs, businesses and communities

Freedom, constitutional rights, health freedom and limiting government interference of life, liberty & pursuit of happiness

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Emily Bauman (R)

My father was one of my first role models. Though it took me years to appreciate, he was up at the crack of dawn every day. He worked without someone telling him he had to and many times without help. He had a just do it anyway motivation. I have always admired hard-working people who persevere through major crises and tribulations. They step up and do what needs to be done for their families, their community, their world, without complaint. I want to follow in the example of people who serve and give to others so humbly, freely, generously & graciously you wouldn't know they have a world of troubles surrounding them. I try to follow that-everyone has troubles and something they are going through-mine are no more important than anyone else's and my job is to listen and care for other person and be a helper.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Emily Bauman (R)

An understanding of the US Constitution and Michigan Constitution as well as representative government. It is very important that elected officials understand that the state and government are on the shoulders of 'we the people' and that, 'All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their equal benefit, security and protection,' (Article 1 of the Constitution of Michigan of 1963). After that, elected officials need characteristics of being and acting in trustworthy ways and the ability to learn about their district/people they serve with understanding and discernment.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Emily Bauman (R)

The core responsibilities are to preserve and uphold the US and Michigan Constitutions and ensure that bills and resolutions do not infringe on the rights of the people. Having the ability to ask questions and see the effects of a bill from all sides is necessary.

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

Emily Bauman (R)

One of the earliest events I remember is the shootings at Kent State University in Ohio. I was only 4 at the time of the shooting but this event had a profound impact on me and there was a lot of discussion about these shootings and the protest for many months and years following, in my household and various settings.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Emily Bauman (R)

My very first job (after babysitting) was a right of passage in my home town--raspberry picking. We had a local farmer who supplied many of the area farm markets with wonderful, fresh raspberries and employed many of the local teens every summer. Finding the berries, and especially the best berries on the bush was rewarding and hard work. The perks of eating a few fresh black and red raspberries was wonderful too. I only worked there one summer.

From that point on, I just knew I needed to work and the next few years consisted of nannying, retail, and waitressing, until my first professional job in telecommunications.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Emily Bauman (R)

The Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson and Dream on by Aerosmith

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Emily Bauman (R)

It is very important to have healthy, working, respectful relationshihps with other legislators as relationships are the first level of negotiation. It is very difficult to accomplish resuts if people cannot work together. In politics and life, at any given time, we will be on different sides of an argument. It is vital to maintain relationships so as to achieve positive results. Additionally, one of my favorite quotes is by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to William Hamilton: "I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend. During the whole of the last war, which was trying enough, I never deserted a friend because he had taken an opposite side; and those of my own state."

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Emily Bauman (R)

Yes, I have thought about the committess I would want to be a part of: Education and Career Readiness, Judiciary and Public Safety, Oversight and Local Government.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Emily Bauman (R)

I believe that negotiation is necessary, however, compromise for the sake of compromise can be problematic. I find many times multiple sides want the same solution and just need to negotiate the bests path to it.

See also

More about these elections:

• Michigan State Senate elections, 2022

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