Sheryl Kennedy
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 | ||
| ✔ | David Martin (R) ![]() | 50.5 | 24,796 | |
Sheryl Kennedy (D) ![]() | 49.5 | 24,307 | ||
| Total votes: 49,103 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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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 | ||
| ✔ | Sheryl Kennedy ![]() | 91.2 | 10,824 | |
| Andalib Odulate | 8.8 | 1,050 | ||
| Total votes: 11,874 | ||||
= 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 | ||
| ✔ | David Martin ![]() | 65.0 | 4,226 | |
Sherri Cross ![]() | 35.0 | 2,272 | ||
| Total votes: 6,498 | ||||
= 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 | ||
| ✔ | Sheryl Kennedy (D) | 54.8 | 19,998 | |
| Allen Hardwick (R) | 45.2 | 16,474 | ||
| Total votes: 36,472 (100.00% precincts reporting) | ||||
= 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 | ||
| ✔ | Sheryl Kennedy | 73.3 | 7,042 | |
| Eric Gunnels | 17.7 | 1,702 | ||
| Jordan Tiffany | 9.0 | 867 | ||
| Total votes: 9,611 | ||||
= 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 | ||
| ✔ | Allen Hardwick | 58.4 | 3,812 | |
| Sherri Cross | 41.6 | 2,712 | ||
| Total votes: 6,524 | ||||
= 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
Sheryl Kennedy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kennedy's responses.
| Collapse all
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.
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.
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
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 scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Michigan State Legislature in 2020.
- Clean Water Action & Sierra Club — Legislators are scored on environmental issues.
- Michigan AFL-CIO — Legislators are scored on labor issues.
- Michigan Farm Bureau — Legislators are scored on agriculture-related bills.
- Michigan League of Conservation Voters — Legislators are scored on environmental issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on business-related bills.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Michigan State Legislature in 2019.
- Clean Water Action & Sierra Club — Legislators are scored on environmental issues.
- Michigan AFL-CIO — Legislators are scored on labor issues.
- Michigan Farm Bureau — Legislators are scored on agriculture-related bills.
- Michigan League of Conservation Voters — Legislators are scored on environmental issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on business-related bills.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on conservative issues.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Pam Faris (D) |
Michigan House of Representatives District 48 2019–2020 |
Succeeded by David Martin (R) |


