Tom McMillin

Tom McMillin

Republican Party

Michigan State Board of Education

Tenure

2017 - Present

Term ends

2033

Years in position

8

Prior offices

Michigan House of Representatives District 45

Successor: Michael Webber

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Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Rochester Adams High School

Bachelor's

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1987

Personal

Religion

Baptist

Profession

Certified public accountant

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

Tom McMillin (Republican Party) is an at-large member of the Michigan State Board of Education. He assumed office in 2017. His current term ends on January 1, 2033.

McMillin (Republican Party) ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Michigan State Board of Education. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

McMillin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Tom McMillin earned a high school diploma from Rochester Adams High School and a bachelor's degree in accounting/economics from the University of Michigan in 1987. His professional experience includes working as a certified public accountant.

Political career

Michigan State Board of Education (2017-present)

McMillin was first elected to the board in November 2016 and took office in January 2017.

Michigan House of Representatives (2009-2015)

McMillin was first elected to the House in 2008 and was re-elected in 2010 and 2012.

Elections

2024

See also: Michigan State Board of Education election, 2024

General election

General election for Michigan State Board of Education (2 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Michigan State Board of Education on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nikki Snyder (R)	24.5	2,507,968
✔		Tom McMillin (R)	24.2	2,477,547
		Theodore Jones (D)	23.6	2,413,996
		Adam Zemke (D)	22.6	2,311,379
		Mary Anne Hering (Working Class Party)	2.3	234,584
		Scott Boman (L)	1.5	152,846
		Christine Schwartz (U.S. Taxpayers Party)	0.9	90,372
	Submit photo	Ted Gerrard (U.S. Taxpayers Party)	0.6	56,683

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,245,375
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• N. Jefferey Sparling (G)

Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Michigan State Board of Education (2 seats)

Theodore Jones and Adam Zemke advanced from the Democratic convention for Michigan State Board of Education on August 24, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Theodore Jones (D)
✔		Adam Zemke (D)

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

Republican convention for Michigan State Board of Education (2 seats)

Incumbent Tom McMillin and incumbent Nikki Snyder advanced from the Republican convention for Michigan State Board of Education on August 24, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Tom McMillin (R)
✔		Nikki Snyder (R)

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

Green convention

Green convention for Michigan State Board of Education (2 seats)

N. Jefferey Sparling advanced from the Green convention for Michigan State Board of Education on June 15, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		N. Jefferey Sparling (G)

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

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Michigan State Board of Education (2 seats)

Scott Boman advanced from the Libertarian convention for Michigan State Board of Education on July 20, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Scott Boman (L)

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

U.S. Taxpayers Party convention

U.S. Taxpayers Party convention for Michigan State Board of Education (2 seats)

Ted Gerrard and Christine Schwartz advanced from the U.S. Taxpayers Party convention for Michigan State Board of Education on July 27, 2024.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Ted Gerrard (U.S. Taxpayers Party)
✔		Christine Schwartz (U.S. Taxpayers Party)

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

Working Class Party convention

Working Class Party convention for Michigan State Board of Education (2 seats)

Mary Anne Hering advanced from the Working Class Party convention for Michigan State Board of Education on June 23, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Mary Anne Hering (Working Class Party)

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

Endorsements

McMillin received the following endorsements.

• Citizens for Traditional Values – PAC

2016

Michigan State Board of Education, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Tom McMillan	23.3%	1,958,602
	Republican	Nikki Snyder	22.8%	1,919,895
	Democratic	John Austin Incumbent	22.7%	1,912,983
	Democratic	Ish Ahmed	20.2%	1,698,927
	Working Class	Mary Anne Hering	2.7%	224,392
	Libertarian	Scotty Boman	2.4%	198,349
	US Taxpayers	Karen Adams	1.7%	140,215
	Green	Sherry A. Wells	1.5%	124,124
	Libertarian	Bill Hall	1.5%	123,637
	Green	Derek M. Grigsby	0.8%	66,051
	US Taxpayers	Douglas Levesque	0.7%	55,313
Total Votes				8,422,488
Election results via Michigan Secretary of State

2014

See also: Michigan's 8th Congressional District elections, 2014

McMillin ran in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Michigan's 8th District. McMillin was defeated for the Republican nomination in the primary against Mike Bishop on August 5, 2014.

U.S. House, Michigan District 8 Republican Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mike Bishop	60.3%	35,422
Tom McMillin	39.7%	23,358
Total Votes		58,780
Source: Michigan Secretary of State

2012

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2012

McMillin won election in the 2012 election for Michigan House of Representatives District 45. He ran unopposed in the August 7 Republican primary and defeated Joanna VanRaaphorst (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.

Michigan House of Representatives, District 45, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Tom McMillin Incumbent	56%	25,972
	Democratic	Joanna VanRaaphorst	44%	20,408
Total Votes				46,380

2010

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2010

McMillin won election to the District 45 seat in 2010. He had no primary opposition. He defeated Mary Ward (D) in the general election on November 2, 2010.

Michigan House of Representatives, District 45 General election (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Tom McMillin (R)		24,974
Mary Ward (D)		11,815

2008

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2008

On November 4, 2008, McMillin ran for District 45 of the Michigan House of Representatives, beating Randy Young.

McMillin raised $67,286 for his campaign.

Michigan House of Representatives, District 45
Candidates		Votes
Tom McMillin (R)		29,450
Randy Young (D)		21,785

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Tom McMillin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by McMillin's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a husband, a father of three daughters and grandfather of four grandchildren. I am a CPA. I have been a state representative (including member of the house education committee for six years and temp chair); a county commissioner, city councilman and mayor.

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?

• Local Control - education decisions should be made at the local level - preferably by a teacher and parent.
• Parent satisfaction surveys, conducted by a third party, should be used as a key metric for schools.
• Parents should have as many educational options as possible for their children. Every child learns differently and we need to stop making the Prussian model - the industrialized model, the only option.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Local control of education; parental choice in education; move toward individualizing education for students; stop the sexualization of kids in schools; promote intensive phonics over the failed (and previously considered "the science" of reading) whole language effort. Also put merit into the teaching system and reduce the thousands of standards to only essential standards, which would give more freedom for teachers to arrange instruction for what they see as best for the students in front of them.

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

Reduce the power of the state in education as much as possible and return that power to the local level.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The Bible. It is the Word of God.

Who are your constituents?

The children in government schools and their parents.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

Push to reduce administrative costs so more can go to direct instruction in the classroom.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

Remove compulsory education for students with mental health needs so parents can focus on their child's mental health without worrying about looking over their shoulder for a truant officer to throw them in jail.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Citizens of Traditional Values; Right to Life of Michigan

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.

2012

McMillin's website highlighted the following campaign themes:

Jobs

• Excerpt: "Eliminated the jobs-killing Michigan Business Tax"

Freedom

• Excerpt: "Authored the bill to stop the unconstitutional indefinite detention authorized under the federal NDAA law"

Transparency

• Excerpt: "First elected official in Michigan to post online his salary & benefits and his staffs' names and salaries and his office expenditures"

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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Tom McMillin campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Michigan State Board of Education	Won general	$13,617	$0
2012	Michigan State House, District 45	Won	$39,754	N/A**
2010	Michigan State House, District 45	Won	$20,008	N/A**
2008	Michigan State House, District 45	Won	$67,286	N/A**
2006	Michigan State Board of Education	Lost	$10,607	N/A**
Grand total			$151,272	N/A**
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
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
McMillin and his wife, Dalila, have two daughters.

State legislative tenure

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.

January 2011 - March 2012

Tom McMillin received a 92% rating, the highest score awarded, on the January 2011 - March 2012 Tea Party Scorecard.

Committee assignments

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, McMillin served on the following committees:

Michigan committee assignments, 2012
• Education
• Financial Liability Reform
• Oversight, Chair
• Regulatory Reform

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, McMillin served on the following committees:

Michigan committee assignments, 2011
• Education
• Government Operations
• Oversight and Investigations, Chair
• Regulatory Reform

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, McMillin served on the following committees:

Michigan committee assignments, 2009
• Education
• Families and Children's Services
• Government Operations
• Labor

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 Tom McMillin’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 Tom McMillin’s missed roll-call votes

External links

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Candidate

Michigan State Board of Education

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Officeholder

Michigan State Board of Education

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Michigan State Board of Education 2017-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Michigan House of Representatives District 45 2009-2015	Succeeded by Michael Webber (R)