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Phil Cavanagh
Phil Cavanagh is a former Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 10 from 2011 to 2015. Cavanagh did not seek re-election in 2014.
Cavanagh is a former four-term member of the Wayne County Commission. He also served as an appointee to the Detroit-Wayne County Community Mental Health Authority and on the Wayne County Land Bank Authority.
Biography
Cavanagh earned his bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting from Aquinas College, and his MBA and J.D. from the University of Detroit Mercy.
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Cavanagh served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2012 |
|---|
| • Financial Liability Reform, Vice chair |
| • Judiciary |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Cavanagh served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Energy and Technology |
| • Judiciary |
| • Tax Policy |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Cavanagh served on the following committees:
| Michigan committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Tax Policy |
| • Energy and Technology |
| • Judiciary |
Issues
2012
Voting record details
- List of all of Phil Cavanagh’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).
Elections
2012
Cavanagh won re-election in the 2012 election for Michigan House of Representatives District 10. He defeated Leslie Love, David McNeal and Jerry Thomas in the August 7 Democratic primary and defeated Jasmine Bridges (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[1][2]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Phil Cavanagh Incumbent |
86.4% | 36,190 | |
| Republican | Jasmine Bridges | 13.6% | 5,682 | |
| Total Votes | 41,872 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Phil Cavanagh Incumbent |
51.3% | 5,625 |
| Leslie Love | 36.1% | 3,962 |
| David McNeal | 6.9% | 753 |
| Jerry Thomas | 5.8% | 632 |
| Total Votes | 10,972 | |
2010
Cavanagh won election to the District 17 seat in 2010. He defeated Frank Tomcsik in the August 3 Democratic primary. He defeated Mike Adams (R) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[3][4]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 17 General election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Phil Cavanagh (D)
|
16,668 | |||
| Mike Adams (R) | 9,985 | |||
Campaign themes
2012
A questionnaire distributed by the League of Women Voters asked the candidates to provide information about their legislative priorities and proposed actions regarding those priorities. Cavanagh submitted the following response:
- Improving the educational system
"I am reviewing a variety of facets pertaining to the educational system including curriculum and teacher evaluation methods. The House already passed teacher tenure reform."[5]
- Fighting/reducing crime
"Police officers should be adequately funded, and if the PPT is repealed, there needs to be a method for replacing lost revenue to municipalities."[5]
- Protecting MI workers
"Protecting collective bargaining rights and ensuring that workers have a safe working environment are key to accomplishing this."[5]
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.
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.[6]
January 2011 - March 2012
Phil Cavanagh received a 13% rating on the January 2011 - March 2012 Tea Party Scorecard.[6]
Noteworthy events
Recall effort
A Republican group started a recall campaign against Cavanagh and fellow Democratic state Reps. Dian Slavens and Tim Bledsoe in the fall of 2011. Early in January 2012, attorney and GOP strategist Stu Sandler said they would be suspending all three recalls.[7]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Phil + Cavanagh + Michigan + Legislature
See also
- Michigan State Legislature
- Michigan House of Representatives
- House Committees
- Michigan state legislative districts
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2010
- Michigan Votes - Phil Cavanagh
- Campaign Facebook page
Footnotes
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Election Results - Primary Election - August 07, 2012," accessed June 18, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Election Results - General Election - November 06, 2012," accessed November 29, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "State Representative," accessed March 23, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "State Representative," accessed March 23, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Vote411.org, "Candidate detail," accessed August 7, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Michigan Votes, "Tea Party Scorecard Jan 2011-Mar 2012," accessed June 22, 2012
- ↑ Hometown Life, "Group abandons Cavanagh recall," January 8, 2012
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Michigan House of Representatives District 10 2013–2015 |
Succeeded by Leslie Love (D) |
| Preceded by Andy Dillon (D) |
Michigan House of Representatives District 17 2011–2013 |
Succeeded by - |
