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Tom Kunse

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Tom Kunse
Image of Tom Kunse

Republican Party

Michigan House of Representatives District 100
Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Compensation

Base salary

$71,685/year

Per diem

No per diem is paid. Legislators receive an expense allowance of $10,800/year for session and interim.

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Michigan Tech, 1994

Graduate

Central Michigan University, 2012

Personal
Birthplace
Pontiac, Mich.
Religion
United Methodist
Profession
Business owner
Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Tom Kunse (Republican Party) is a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 100. He assumed office on January 1, 2023. His current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Kunse (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 100. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Tom Kunse was born in Pontiac, Michigan. Kunse earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University in 1994 and an M.S. in nuclear physics from Central Michigan University in 2012. His career experience includes owning Northern Dry Bulk. Kunse has served on the Grant Township Board.[1][2]

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Kunse was assigned to the following committees:


Elections

2024

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 100

Incumbent Tom Kunse defeated Tracy Ruell in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 100 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tom Kunse
Tom Kunse (R)
 
69.3
 
35,024
Image of Tracy Ruell
Tracy Ruell (D) Candidate Connection
 
30.7
 
15,522

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 50,546
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.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 100

Tracy Ruell defeated Jamie McClendon in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 100 on August 6, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tracy Ruell
Tracy Ruell Candidate Connection
 
71.6
 
3,060
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Jamie McClendon
 
28.4
 
1,212

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,272
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 100

Incumbent Tom Kunse advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 100 on August 6, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tom Kunse
Tom Kunse
 
100.0
 
12,272

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 12,272
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.

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Campaign finance

Endorsements

Kunse received the following endorsements.

  • Citizens for Traditional Values – PAC

Pledges

Kunse signed the following pledges.

  • U.S. Term Limits

2022

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 100

Tom Kunse defeated Nate Bailey in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 100 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tom Kunse
Tom Kunse (R) Candidate Connection
 
68.4
 
26,911
Image of Nate Bailey
Nate Bailey (D)
 
31.6
 
12,452

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 39,363
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 100

Nate Bailey advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 100 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Nate Bailey
Nate Bailey
 
100.0
 
4,422

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,422
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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 100

Tom Kunse advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 100 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tom Kunse
Tom Kunse Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
12,783

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 12,783
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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign finance


Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Tom Kunse did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Candidate Connection

Tom Kunse completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kunse's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Married 24 years, father of two wonderful children.

Small business owner for 29 years Dedicated to small, local government Conservative Pro Life Pro 2nd Amendment and a Lifetime member of the Clare Rod & Gun Club Jobs come from entrepreneurs, not from the Government.

People should be able to make their own life decisions without cumbersome governmental intervention.
  • Education is the key to changing the world. We need more skilled trades training in our high schools.
  • Small Local governement is what is most responsive and best for our society.
  • Mask mandates and shutting businesses down were imoral and unlawful.
Education: If you want to change the world, it will start with education.

Governmental overreach: Government is usually the source of the problem and rarely the solution. Our society would be better off with less governmental burden.

Energy independence: we should do whatever we can to be self sufficient with our energy needs.

I admire those quiet leaders that are examples of their beliefs. I am not impressed with the loud "look at me" type people. They are more for show. I admire the leaders who do not seek recognition - they just want to get the job done.

Ronald Regan did a great job communicating with the American people. I'd love to be able to relate to people as well as he did.

George Washington - what I admire most about him is not his leadership during a very difficult time, but the fact that he turned down the opportunity to run for another term. He declined becuase he knew our country should not have power concentrated in one person / office. I wish all our leaders were so selfless.
I enjoy listening to Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro.

Reading:
Atlas Shrugged
Anything by De Tocqueville
The Road to Serfdom, FA Hayek

Free to Choose, Milton and Rose Friedman
Honesty. It all starts with being honest. Even if you disagree with a person, you have to be honest.

Hard working - they cannot take their responsibility lightly.

Open minded - you cannot possibly know everything. Be willing to listen to others before making a decision.
Fiscal responsibility. We are spending other people's money and have to be very frugal with it.

Remember that we work for the people. Don't run for office if you are looking for a position to display your authority.

Effort - it is guaranteed that there will be issues and events you disagree with. That setback cannot stop you from continuing to work towards your goals. Be relentless in your effort.

When I leave office, I would like people to remember my honesty.

Even when we disagree, I want to be professional. It is never the wrong time to be kind.
I would love for people to understand that I did my best and when I made a mistake, I owned it.

The best I could hope for is that when I leave, even my opponents remember me as honorable.
I remember President Regan getting shot and of course the Miracle on Ice (1980 Olympics) - I was 10 and remember watching the game. It still gives me goosebumps.
When I was 15 I started working for a company that put on Demolition Derbies - mainly at County fairs all over the midwest. I worked there three summers. It was a great way to see the local areas and I loved the traveling. Everyday was different and I got to work with all kinds of people. It was very interesting.
The Book of Virtues
William J Bennett
Superman.
Love Song by Tesla
I need to have more patience.
Open communication.

We can disagree without being disagreeable. It is not productive to call each other names.
Be professional.
Be able to listen as well as speak.

Personal attacks are unproductive.
The mass exodus. We need to show our younger generations that this is a great State to raise a family. We need to help them with having a productive life.
The pendulum should be dampered. We should not swing wildly from one end of the spectrum to the other, depending on who controls the only body of legislature.

Unicameral is a way to get things done quickly, but I fear that it would overreact in certain situations. I think it is not a desirable format for our government.
Possibly a local board, so they are at least familiar with basic meeting procedures. FOIA, Open meetings act, etc.

Otherwise, honest hard working people will be fine without that experience.

I think it is more important for people to have small business experience.
Yes, of course. Even if we disagree, it is best if we understand how people like to communicate. I find that if you know people, they are more open to share their input.
I like have public input - having citizens on the committee, but they needed help with the process. This was the first time for Michigan and it was a mess.
If the Citizens committee cannot get it done by a specific deadline (no exceptions) then the Legislature should take it over.
Education - if we are going to change the world, it starts with education.

Transportation - I've been in Logistics for nearly 30 years and can help with real world experience.

Finance - we need more fiscal responsibility in government.
I am not currently a legislator.
Ronald Regan can communicate amazingly well.

George Washington was able to eschew power and leave it with the people.

Lincoln was amazing under pressure. His speeches are enjoyable to read even today.
Not at this time. I am focused on State Representative.
How can you tell when a cow is laughing?

Milk comes out it's nose.
Yes. Without a doubt.

I can see a very brief window (possibly 5 days) where the Governor can declare a state of emergency for a specific reason. After that, the Legislators should be back in session to oversee the situation.

That power should not be held by one person / office.
There are absoultes - certain things that people hold dearly that should not be compromised under any circumstances.

We should not be above learning about a situation - and it is a good thing when we process new information and our position evolves.

Basically, we can work together on issues, but at the end of the day, we have to stand fast on issues that are paramount to ourselves.

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.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Tom Kunse campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Michigan House of Representatives District 100Won general$66,300 $0
2022Michigan House of Representatives District 100Won general$112,668 $0
Grand total$178,967 $0
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

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.


2024


2023


2022


2021








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External links

Candidate

Michigan House of Representatives District 100
  • Website
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    Officeholder

    Michigan House of Representatives District 100
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
    		•

    Personal

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 10, 2022
    2. ↑ Michigan House Republicans, "Tom Kunse," accessed April 29, 2023

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Scott VanSingel (R)     		Michigan House of Representatives District 100
    2023-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -


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