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Paul Opsommer
Paul Opsommer was a Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 93 from January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2013. He served as the Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore.
Rep. Opsommer graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in secondary education. Paul and his wife of 35 years, Barbara, have lived in Clinton County for the last 32 years. They have two sons and two grandchildren.
Previous offices held
Opsommer is a former DeWitt mayor and city councilman. He also has extensive experience on many local government agencies and boards, including DeWitt Schools Strategic Planning, Clinton County Conservation District, DeWitt Downtown Development Association, the DeWitt Area Community Alliance, and the Tri-County Ground Water Management Board.
Voting record
Key votes of 2009-2010
- Click below to see how this representative voted.
- Super Speedway, Lawmakers voting on whether TO EXTEND A SPECIAL TAX PERK for a super speedway.
- Driver Responsibility Fees, Lawmakers voting on whether TO IMPOSE 'driver responsibility fees.'
- Crony Capitalism, Lawmakers voting on whether TO RESTRICT THE RIGHT of shareholders to sell their own stock.
- Right to Work, Lawmakers voting on an amendment SUPPORTING RIGHT-TO-WORK zones.
- Dept. of State Cost-Saving, Lawmakers voting on whether TO SLOW DOWN PROGRESS ON THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S COST-SAVING CONSOLIDATION PLAN.
- Golf Carts, Lawmakers voting on whether TO SUBSIDIZE the production of electric vehicle batteries.
- Home Court Disadvantage, Lawmakers voting on whether TO GIVE MORE TAXING POWER to local government in Kalamazoo so it can finance a taxpayer-subsidized sports arena.
- Fire Safe Cigarettes, Lawmakers voting on whether TO BAN the sale of cigarettes that are not "fire safe."
- Balancing Act, Lawmakers voting on a budget to CUT REVENUE SHARING PAYMENTS to local governments as a way to balance the state budget without raising taxes.
- Balancing Act 2, Lawmakers voting on a cut of less than 3 percent to K-12 school aid payments so as to balance the state budget without tax increases.
- A Good Tax Gone Bad?, Lawmakers voting on the Michigan Business Tax.
- It’s From the Children, Lawmakers voting on whether to RAID $90 MILLION from the Michigan Higher Education Student Loan Authority.
- Left Behind, Lawmakers voting on whether TO FINANCE "No Worker Left Behind" with a 59.9 percent increase in general fund spending in the 2009 DELEG budget.
- First Class Schools, Lawmakers voting on whether to keep Detroit Public Schools' "first class" status even though the district no longer meets the population standard.
- Politically Correct Capitalism, Lawmakers voting on whether to INCREASE SUBSIDIES for plug-in traction battery packs used in electric cars.
- Politically Correct Capitalism 2, Lawmakers voting on whether to GIVE SUBSIDIES for Michigan film production.
- Politically Correct Capitalism 3, Lawmakers voting on whether to INCREASE ELECTRIC CAR SUBSIDIES for a subsidiary of a Korean battery company.
- Secret Ballot, Lawmakers voting on whether to keep a SECRET BALLOT for union elections.
- Property Taxes Assaulted Again, Lawmakers voting on whether to allow public schools to EXPAND THE USE OF SINKING FUND property tax spending.
- Sneak Attack, Lawmakers voting on whether to allow public schools to EXPAND THE USE OF SINKING FUND property tax spending.
- Grapes of Wrath, Lawmakers voting on whether TO BAN home shipment of beer and wine to Michigan consumers.
- Subsidize Manufacture of Electric Cars, Lawmakers voting on whether to authorize a refundable Michigan Business Tax credit for makers of plug-in traction battery packs used in electric cars.
- Authorize Special Tax Breaks for Ethanol Gas Stations, Lawmakers voting on whether to authorize a non-refundable Michigan Business Tax credit equal to 30 percent of the costs incurred by a gas station to convert existing pumps and tanks, or acquire new ones that deliver E85 ethanol or biodiesel fuel.
More voting record details
- List of all of Paul Opsommer’s roll call votes, bills introduced, and floor amendments from MichiganVotes.org (use site’s “advanced search” to narrow by date range, issue category and/or keyword).
- List of Paul Opsommer’s 35 missed roll-call votes
Committee assignments
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Opsommer served on these committees:
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Opsommer served on these committees:
- Commerce
- Energy and Technology
- Transportation (Minority Vice Chair)
Elections
2010
Opsommer won re-election to the District 93 seat in 2010. He had no primary opposition. He defeated Travis Lacelle (D) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[1][2]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 93 General election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
 Paul Opsommer (R)
|
22,287 | |||
| Travis Lacelle (D) | 9,476 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Paul Opsommer ran for District 93 of the Michigan House of Representatives, beating Ron McComb and Darryl Schmitz.[3]
Paul Opsommer raised $51,331 for his campaign.[4]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 93 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Paul Opsommer (R)
|
26,515 | |||
| Ron McComb (D) | 17,957 | |||
| Darryl Schmitz (L) | 1,356 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
Campaign contributions
Contributions Report from Michigan Secretary of State
Contact
Rep. Paul Opsommer
N-1197 House Office Building
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48933
(517) 373-1778
PaulOpsommer@house.mi.gov
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Paul + Opsommer + Michigan + Legislature
Scorecards
Tea Party Scorecard
The Independent Tea Party Patriots, a Michigan Tea Party group, grades the votes of this and every other Michigan legislator on “core tea party issues” in a regularly-updated scorecard. 100% is considered an ideal rating.[5]
January 2011 - March 2012
Paul Opsommer received a 77% rating on the January 2011 - March 2012 Tea Party Scorecard.[5]
External links
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Michigan Votes - Paul Opsommer
- Campaign Contributions: 2008, 2006
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Michigan House of Representatives District 93 2007 - 2013 |
Succeeded by Tom Leonard (R) |
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "State Representative," accessed March 23, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "State Representative," accessed March 23, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "Election Results - General Election - November 04, 2008," accessed May 30, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money's report on Opsommer's 2008 campaign contributions
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Michigan Votes, "Tea Party Scorecard Jan 2011-Mar 2012," accessed June 25, 2012
