Michael Nolet

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Michael Nolet

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Duke University, 1986

Graduate

Wake Forest University, 1995

Ph.D

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2000

Personal

Birthplace

Manchester, N.H.

Religion

Catholic

Profession

Psychologist

Michael Nolet (Republican Party) ran for election to the Baltimore City Council to represent District 10 in Maryland. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

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

Nolet was a 2016 Republican candidate for District 10 of the Baltimore City Council in Maryland. He lost the primary election that took place on April 26, 2016.

Biography

Nolet was born on May 4, 1964, in Manchester, New Hampshire. He graduated from Duke University with a bachelor's degree in 1986. He went on to obtain his master's degree from Wake Forest University in 1995. He also received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2000. Nolet's professional experience includes working as a psychologist and sales engineer for GE.

Elections

2020

See also: City elections in Baltimore, Maryland (2020)

General election

General election for Baltimore City Council District 10

Phylicia Porter defeated Michael Nolet in the general election for Baltimore City Council District 10 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Phylicia Porter (D)	78.7	8,313
		Michael Nolet (R)	20.9	2,213
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	41

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,567
= 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 Baltimore City Council District 10

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Baltimore City Council District 10 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Phylicia Porter	32.0	1,689
	Submit photo	Keisha Allen	17.1	904
	Submit photo	Ebony Harvin	11.6	612
	Submit photo	Bill Marker	8.7	462
	Submit photo	Ray Conaway	8.7	462
	Submit photo	Natasha Guynes	8.6	457
	Submit photo	Bob Cockey	6.5	343
	Submit photo	Cynthia Hendricks Jones	3.5	184
	Submit photo	Kerry Eugene Hamilton	3.3	172

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,285
= 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 Baltimore City Council District 10

Michael Nolet defeated Mekkah Mohammed in the Republican primary for Baltimore City Council District 10 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michael Nolet	88.8	420
	Submit photo	Mekkah Mohammed	11.2	53

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 473
= 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.

2016

Christine Digman defeated Michael Nolet in the Republican primary of the Baltimore City Council election for District 10.

Baltimore City Council Election (2016), District 10, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Christine Digman	57.66%	316
	Republican	Michael Nolet	42.34%	232
Total Votes				548
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2016 Presidential Primary Election results for Baltimore City," May 31, 2016

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Michael Nolet completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Nolet'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.

Dr. Michael Nolet is a licensed psychologist. He obtained his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering with a double major in English from Duke. He obtained his master's from Wake Forest and his Ph.D. from UMBC. His decision to pursue advanced degrees was motivated by a belief in individuals' ability to bring about change in their lives and to overcome trauma and difficult upbringings to achieve their potential.

Dr. Nolet is actively involved in his church and is a member of the Baltimore City Republican Central Committee. He spends his free time tending to his pets (2 indoor cats, 4+ stray cats who adopted him and his golden retriever) and trying to restore his 96-year-old single-family home in Morrell Park. He is the proud father of 31-year-old twin sons. Dr. Nolet's background enables him to see the world from a system's perspective. He understands the realities that have created and sustained the issues with which Baltimore City is struggling (crime, homelessness, poor educational outcomes, substance abuse, political corruption, distrust between citizens and the police, etc). As a councilman, his focus would be on empowering the citizens of Baltimore to be instruments of change within Baltimore and restoring hope in Baltimore.

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?

• Riding around Baltimore, one becomes aware of the lack of hope that plagues the residents of this city. Great leaders work to restore hope and create economic opportunity by supporting our small businesses, encouraging entrepreneurs, and attracting businesses to move to Baltimore.
• Improving education is essential, not only for our youth, but job training for adults, as well. We need to help people identify their areas of strength (not everyone needs to attend college, learning a trade is as valuable, and lucrative as a college degree. ,
• By restoring hope within the city we can begin to address homelessness, substance abuse and crime.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As a psychologist, I cannot ignore the mental health issues that plague our city. The citizens in Baltimore live in fear and deal with trauma . Our children are especially vulnerable to the mental health problems. Children experiencing trauma, depression, or anxiety are not primed to learn. We must increase mental health resources available to our students. Programs like "Handle with care" can provide support for students who have recently experienced trauma. Unfortunately, our adults are also affected by trauma and we need to increase education regarding the impact of trauma, reducing the stigma associated with reaching out for mental health treatment, and making mental health treatment more readily available.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

Baltimore City Council serves as the legislative branch of the city government. As such, it's role is to create laws to improve our city. In some ways, this is the level of government, is closet to the voters and is, therefore, most likely to have an impact on voter's day to day experiences.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

As cliché as it sounds, I look up to my Dad. He is a brilliant man with an amazing work ethic and positive attitude. He came from a poor family, but was determined to make a better life for himself. As a student in high school, he worked full time jobs to help support his parents and siblings. Each pay day, he would turn his earnings over to his mother so that he could continue attending school. He also worked to pay his way through college and became the first person in his family to graduate from High School and then from college. All three of my father's sons went on to obtain advanced degrees. He worked hard at his job so that my mother could stay home and raise children and keep the house in order. He showed her respect and was clear that hers was the more important job in the family. He taught me to never complain about situations if I am not willing to resolve the problems. He served in local government in Massachusetts .

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Council members must be willing to listen to their constituents. They must be able to inspire their constituents to be actively involved in changing the course that this city is on. I am often reminded of the quote by John F. Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." I also believe that honesty and integrity, especially in Baltimore, are essential qualities for leaders. Leaders also know their strengths and weaknesses, they know when to seek guidance from subject matter experts and their constituents.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave a Baltimore City whose citizens have faith in their government officials, in their police, and in themselves. I would like to see a business community comprised of a healthy mix of small businesses, innovative and dynamic entrepreneurs, and large companies who hire a skilled work force. I would like to leave a city that has hope in its future.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

When I was ten years old, I remember Richard Nixon resigning as President of the United States.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked at Murphy's Mart in Annapolis while I was in high school. I worked there in my Junior and Senior years in High School and again after my freshman year in college.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

It's Quiet Uptown from Hamilton.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

Citizens in Baltimore are most likely going to reach out to their council member when their trash isn't picked up or they receive a citation. Voters need to be aware of the decisions their leaders are making and hold them accountable for the way city services are provided and spending.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

No, in fact, I think previous experience in Baltimore City government is a detriment for holders of this office. We need leaders who can think out of the box and find new ways to run this city. Corruption has been the norm for far too long. We need fresh ideas and leaders who are dedicated to turning this city around.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

Passion for the city and her residents is key. I also believe that the holder of this office needs to be able to see the big picture. Often times, the leaders in Baltimore City have been too quick to consider a plan before looking at the big picture. For example, Baltimore City Council voted to close down the Wheelabrator trash incinerator. While, of course, we all want clean air, we cannot simply shut down Wheelabrator without having a plan that is already operating. We need to increase recycling and composting before shutting the incinerator down. We need to work with Wheelabrator to limit the amount of trash being brought in from other jurisdictions (counties and states). Those steps would reduce the amount of trash that is being incinerated and reduce emissions and move us to a point where we could then shut the incinerator down completely. I also think that holders of this office will need to find ways to create collaborations between the many different community associations within the district, nonprofits, places of worship, and city agencies. Finally, I believe that council members must be able to inspire and lead the residents of Baltimore to change their mindset.

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.

See also

2020 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

Coronavirus Weekly Updates Documenting America's Path to Recovery The Heart of the Primaries The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Maryland State Board of Elections - Official candidate list