News and analysis right to your inbox. Click to get Ballotpedia’s newsletters!

Sheryl Kennedy

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
This page was current at the end of the official's last term in office covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Sheryl Kennedy
Prior offices:
Michigan House of Representatives District 48
Years in office: 2019 - 2021
Successor: David Martin (R)
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 3, 2020
Education
Bachelor's
Seattle Pacific University, 1998
Personal
Birthplace
Flint, MI
Religion
Episcopalian
Profession
Educator
Contact

Sheryl Kennedy (Democratic Party) was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 48. She assumed office on January 1, 2019. She left office on January 1, 2021.

Kennedy (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 48. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

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

Biography

Kennedy's professional experience includes working as an educator. She earned her bachelor's degree from Seattle Pacific University in 1988, master's degree from Marygrove College in 2003, and Ph.D. from Oakland University in 2012.[1]

Kennedy has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]

  • MEA - Retired
  • AFT - LEO Lecturers Organization
  • Greater Flint AFL-CIO - LEO Delegate
  • Former MEMPSA and MASSP member

Elections

2020

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 48

David Martin defeated incumbent Sheryl Kennedy in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 48 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of David Martin
David Martin (R) Candidate Connection
 
50.5
 
24,796
Image of Sheryl Kennedy
Sheryl Kennedy (D) Candidate Connection
 
49.5
 
24,307

Total votes: 49,103
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.

Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 48

Incumbent Sheryl Kennedy defeated Andalib Odulate in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 48 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sheryl Kennedy
Sheryl Kennedy Candidate Connection
 
91.2
 
10,824
Image of Andalib Odulate
Andalib Odulate
 
8.8
 
1,050

Total votes: 11,874
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 48

David Martin defeated Sherri Cross in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 48 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of David Martin
David Martin Candidate Connection
 
65.0
 
4,226
Image of Sherri Cross
Sherri Cross Candidate Connection
 
35.0
 
2,272

Total votes: 6,498
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 Kennedy's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

2018

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 48

Sheryl Kennedy defeated Allen Hardwick in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 48 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sheryl Kennedy
Sheryl Kennedy (D)
 
54.8
 
19,998
Image of Allen Hardwick
Allen Hardwick (R)
 
45.2
 
16,474

Total votes: 36,472
(100.00% precincts reporting)
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 48

Sheryl Kennedy defeated Eric Gunnels and Jordan Tiffany in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 48 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sheryl Kennedy
Sheryl Kennedy
 
73.3
 
7,042
Eric Gunnels
 
17.7
 
1,702
Jordan Tiffany
 
9.0
 
867

Total votes: 9,611
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 48

Allen Hardwick defeated Sherri Cross in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 48 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Allen Hardwick
Allen Hardwick
 
58.4
 
3,812
Image of Sherri Cross
Sherri Cross
 
41.6
 
2,712

Total votes: 6,524
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

Candidate Conversations

Moderated by journalist and political commentator Greta Van Susteren, Candidate Conversations is a virtual debate format that allows voters to easily get to know their candidates through a short video Q&A. Click below to watch the conversation for this race.

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Sheryl Kennedy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kennedy's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

State Representative Sheryl Y. Kennedy is currently serving her first term representing Michigan's 48th House District, which includes the Genesee County communities of Clio, Davison, Montrose and Otisville, as well as the townships of Davison, Forest, Genesee, Montrose, Richfield, Thetford and Vienna.

Before joining the Legislature, Sheryl spent 30 years in public education, working to empower youth as a local teacher for her first 22 years. After receiving her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration in 2011, Sheryl became a school administrator, most recently serving as principal in Walled Lake Consolidated School District from 2013 to 2018. She continues to work in education as a lecturer at the University of Michigan.

Sheryl is a 6th generation resident of the 48th District, her lifelong home. She and her husband, Mike, have been married for 27 years and have three adult children and two daughters-in-law - David (Megan), Joe (Stefanie), and Karissa. David is a First Lieutenant in the Michigan National Guard and will be deploying to Afghanistan in the summer of 2020. Joe will be attending Episcopal seminary in the fall, and Karissa will be seeking a cosmetology license in the fall.
  • I fight daily for a fully and equitably funded public education system.
  • I fight to support workers' rights.
  • I believe in working across the aisle to to whatever needs to be done to move Michigan forward.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
I support last-dollar support for two years of post-high school education or training. I also support aligning these post-high school systems with the K-12 system, especially in the senior year. The high school senior year is the best opportunity to connect the student with the next step in the plan of their futures, be it through participating in dual-enrollment on a community college campus, or participating in an internship on the job-site.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
We must make sure that through it all we are supporting education, local government and make investments in systems that will make our state run more efficiently, thus more economically.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
I support full transparency within government. I also support creating a council of governmental ethics to advise and create a system of due process where ethical considerations are concerned.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
If we arbitrarily cut funding, it will take a decade to recover in areas that we can not afford. The children who are in first grade next year can't wait for 10 years to take first grade over again in a smaller classroom. They only get to be in first grade once. I continue to hope for support from our federal government to build a bridge to 2022 when our revenue will recover and we can get back on the path we started last year. In the meantime we must make cuts in our budget with a scalpel to make sure there is absolutely no waste, and then we must look at creative temporary revenue solutions that can move us seamlessly through our current challenge to the 2022 budget when we are expected to be in full recovery.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
We must take a comprehensive look at our total tax structure in the state. We must align the actual cost of building and maintaining the state that we want to live in with the amount of revenue that we need to collect to build that state. We should invest in efficiencies within our governmental system (i.e. updating IT infrastructures), and then use those efficiencies to attract business and grow employment, which in turn, supports revenue. Over time, a short-term, intentional use of tax-revenue for investment will pay-off in dividends of revenue saved because of the efficiencies they create. Once we get a balance between revenue, investment and growth, we will have an appropriate level for all of the state's systems and infrastructure needs without being an over-burden on individuals, small business or corporations.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
If we fund schools at the level described in the 2017 School Funding Research Collaborative, AND if the federal government funded special education at the level that it was supposed to be funded per the IDEA, we would have the resources to teach students and build programs in the way we know they are supposed to be taught. This would include wrap-around services, weighted funding for special needs populations including rural transportation and the economically challenged, and a full Multi-Tiered System of Support for all children. Educational professionals know what to do. They simply need the resources to do it.
After spending 30 years as a public school teacher and administrator, and acquiring my Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration, I believe that I am uniquely suited to work alongside all stakeholders to solve many of the issues created by legislators that have negatively affected our public school systems across the state. I believe that investment in a cradle to career education system is what is necessary to level the socio-economic playing field regardless if one lives in the city center, or the most remote areas of Michigan. This system includes comprehensive pre-K through a seamless connection to skilled trades and stack-able credentials available at our community colleges. This is why I was the sponsor of the MI Opportunity Grant, and primary cosponsor of the MI Reconnect Grant. This is why I am honored to serve on Governor Whitmer's Return to Learn Task Force.

I am equally passionate about the ability for workers to bargain for better wages, benefits and work environments as equal members of the bargaining table. The best thing we can do for our students to help them learn is to make sure they are living in homes with food security and health care. Too many hard working families are struggling to make ends meet through an imbalance of power between the worker and management.
I am a Christian and do my best to learn about the teachings of Christ and follow them to the best of my ability. I also study other faiths to seek out the universal teachings that are common to all beliefs, like "the Golden Rule." I also study great women in history to identify what elements of their leadership made them great. From Catherine the Great, to Queen Victoria, to Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, I find their challenges as women in leadership somewhat a universal experience of which most women in leadership can still relate.
My political philosophy is actually a business philosophy. I believe in lean management, and being a good steward of tax dollars. I believe that the person closest to the work is most likely to have the solutions to the problem. I believe in building trusting relationships. I believe in creating systems that make a fair and just society. I believe in Democracy. I believe in the Golden Rule.
I have built a skillset of leadership over the course of my career both as a leader in my professional organizations, and also as an administrator. Under my leadership, every organization I have been a part of has grown exponentially. I am a skilled communicator, and I am ethical. I seek first to understand, but I can make difficult and unpopular decisions when I need to for the common good. I am a servant leader and my service is steeped in my faith.
I hope that when I leave office that the public school system is more appropriately and equitably funded than when I arrived in office. I also hope that at a time of financial crisis as we are about to experience due to COVID, that my voice will lead to better decisions about the limited resources that we currently have.
I remember the moon landing when I was nearly four. My parents made me sit in front of the television and watch it. It interrupted "The Wonderful World of Disney." The event was so special in my home that I thought it was one of those things that happened every year, like birthdays and Christmas.
I was a waitress/cashier at a Flint Coney Island for two years in high school. I also taught up to 13 piano students while still in high school. I went to college and became a K-12 music teacher in public schools.
Patrick Lencioni - The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. It creates the framework for all organizational culture work that I have ever done, and it works.
I would say that growing up I related best to Fern from Charlotte's Web, or Meg from A Wrinkle in Time. As an adult, I'm not much of a fiction reader, except with my children as they grew up. I've always preferred histories and documentaries to comedies or drama. I have enough real-life heroes to choose from. I apologize in advance for being so boring.
I am a goal-setter. I love challenges and creating a pathway to meet those challenges. My struggles are always those things we can not control - the illness and death of a loved one; meeting the needs of a marriage and three children while achieving and advancing professionally; making difficult financial decisions because it is in the best interest of the family; being a woman and a part of the sandwich generation that requires you to take care of ill and elderly parents while you still have school-aged children at home. My struggles are no different and much less than many women my age.
Due to the numbers of State Representatives as compared to the Senate, there are an equal number of disparate ideas, philosophies and personalities. Even within parties there are groups that ally due to common experiences based on geography or socio=economics. The Senate, with smaller numbers have a greater opportunity to align and work together for a common goal. Simply put, it is easier to get 38 individuals to work together than 110. However within a Senate District, there may be tremendous differences and needs between regions. The Representative body has a greater opportunity to speak to specific needs unique to their own district. This push-pull between the two chambers and the executive branch in the end, I believe creates more comprehensive policy that in the end serves the greater good.
I believe what is more important is that state legislators come from a range of experiences that they can speak to as policy is being crafted. I am an expert in education, but no in other areas, such as soil chemistry or the health system. I appreciate my colleagues who I can turn to for clarity of ideas and expertise.
Clearly the global pandemic has created a financial challenge for our state in the near-term. However the pandemic highlighted the systems in our state that have been neglected over time. We need to rebuild the systems of infrastructure across the state from internet access, to education, to post-high school opportunities, to roads. We need a fair tax system that provides enough revenue in a way that is less susceptible to economic down-turn and less burdensome to the middle class, while it still supportive of small business and investment.
The executive branch is meant to be separate from the legislature. I believe in checks and balances. I also believe that it is the role of the governor to be the lead administrator, and the legislature should work with the executive branch to achieve common goals for the state while meeting the needs and expectations of the constituents they serve.
Yes. Within the first few months as a freshman legislator, I created the Educators' Caucus. It is bi-partisan group of legislators who have served in the areas of education in some way. Some were teachers. Others PTSA members, or school board leaders. I believe that if we are going to move forward good policy for schools it must be de-politicized, and created for the benefit of ALL Michigan students. I co-chair the Caucus with Rep. Brad Paquette (R).
Because I believe that to meet the needs of public education, we must first fully and equitably fund public education, Appropriations was a perfect fit for me. I currently serve on Agriculture, Corrections and School-Aid subcommittees of Appropriations.
I hope to take on leadership within the Appropriations subcommittee structure. I am currently the minority vice-chair of Agriculture. If the Democrats take the majority next term, I would hope to the the Chair of School-Aid Appropriations.
I appreciate the women who came before me, especially Debbie Stabenow. It is because of their efforts that the Michigan House Democrats have gender parity for the first time in history.
My laser-focus is on getting our schools fully and equitably funded. Ask me after I accomplish that task.
My story is not an individual one, but rather a common one. It is the story of schools that are asked to outperform their achievements year over year, without a commitment to keep up with the cost of educating students. It is the story of having programs that are successful in putting students on the right path for reading and math and behaviors, cut because of lack of funding. It is the story of having nothing else to cut, so that kindergartens grow to have 30 students or more. It is the story of parents working two full-time jobs with no benefits or sick days so that they can not take time to meet with a teacher or a principal, or to follow-up on homework. It is the story of teachers who completely changed their skill-set and curriculum in the matter of a few weeks to meet the needs of their students and parents who find it impossible to cope with distance learning because they do not have internet access. It is the story of the teacher who can not afford her own computer, and can not gain access to the school desk-top to complete her distance learning modules. It is the story of working 30 years in a profession I loved and watching Michigan slip from being the best educational system in the nation to one of the worst. To be clear - not because of the failures of the schools, but rather because of the failures of the policies that schools are forced to follow, in spite of the expertise and professionalism that exists within the human resources in that school and this state.

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.

Committee assignments

2019-2020

Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Michigan

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Michigan scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.






2020

In 2020, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 8 to December 31.

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
Legislators are scored on labor issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to agriculture.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.


2019






See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 26, 2020
Political offices
Preceded by
Pam Faris (D)
Michigan House of Representatives District 48
2019–2020
Succeeded by
David Martin (R)


Current members of the Michigan House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Matt Hall
Minority Leader:Ranjeev Puri
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
Mai Xiong (D)
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
Matt Hall (R)
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
District 62
District 63
District 64
District 65
District 66
District 67
District 68
District 69
District 70
District 71
District 72
District 73
District 74
Kara Hope (D)
District 75
District 76
District 77
District 78
District 79
District 80
District 81
District 82
District 83
District 84
District 85
District 86
District 87
District 88
District 89
District 90
District 91
District 92
District 93
Tim Kelly (R)
District 94
District 95
District 96
District 97
District 98
District 99
District 100
Tom Kunse (R)
District 101
District 102
District 103
District 104
John Roth (R)
District 105
District 106
District 107
District 108
District 109
District 110
Republican Party (58)
Democratic Party (52)