MEET MICHAEL
I did not come to public service because I wanted a title. I came to it because this place gave me a life worth being grateful for. I want to make sure the next generation has the chance to call it home.
HOME
I grew up here. I built my life here. I am raising my children here. The streets, schools, parks, neighborhoods, businesses, and people of this community are woven into nearly every part of my story.
This is where I learned that a community is not something that simply exists around you. It is something people build together, quietly and over time. It is the postman who knows your name, the coach who believes in your kid, and the family down the street that shows up when something goes wrong.
Those things may never make headlines. But they are what make a place home. MI-10 is home to me, and I want to make sure it is home for the next generation too.
FAMILY
I am a husband and a father of three. No role I have ever held has mattered to me more than those.
Being a dad changes the way you look at your community. A school budget is no longer an abstract number when your children walk through those classroom doors every morning. The cost of groceries is not a political talking point when you are standing at the register, deciding if the bananas are the worth the cost. The future of Michigan's economy feels much more immediate when you wonder what kind of opportunities will be waiting for your children when they grow up. I know that because I experience it, every day.
I want my kids and yours to have the chance to build a good life here if they choose to. I want them to know their neighbors, feel proud of where they come from, find meaningful work, afford a house, and someday raise families of their own in a community that still feels like home.
I know I am not the only parent who wants that.
PUBLIC SERVICE
As mayor, I have had the privilege of seeing this community from a perspective few people ever get to experience. I have sat across the table from business owners, families, auto-industry workers, and residents who simply want government to solve problems instead of creating new ones.
Again and again, I have been reminded that good government is not really about government at all. It is about people.
It is about making sure the family working hard every day can still put dinner on the table. It is about keeping good jobs in Michigan. It is about giving children a strong education and young adults a reason to build their future here. It is about protecting the neighborhoods, waterways, businesses, and institutions that make this place ours.
And it is about understanding that when one part of our community struggles, the rest of us feel it too.
WHY I'M RUNNING
I have spent my life in the community that made me who I am. Now I want to make sure the next generation gets the same chance to love this place, build a life here, and call it home.
I am running for Congress because Michigan's 10th deserves leadership rooted here, accountable here, and invested in what happens here long after an election ends.
This community raised me. It is raising my children. And whatever comes next, I believe our future will be strongest when we build it the same way we always have: together.
READY TO SERVE
Experience matters. I have spent more than fifteen years in local government, more than a decade as mayor, and my entire adult life working in and around the communities that make Macomb County home. I know how to build a budget, bring people to the table, protect jobs, attract investment, strengthen neighborhoods, and turn a good idea into something residents can actually see and use.
I was first elected to the Sterling Heights City Council in 2009. In 2011 and again in 2013, I earned the highest number of votes and became Mayor Pro Tem. In 2014, I was entrusted with leading the city as mayor, becoming, at the time, the youngest mayor of a city with more than 100,000 people in the country.
Since then, I have had the privilege of helping lead one of Michigan's largest cities through years of growth, change, investment, and challenge. That work has required more than speeches. It has meant making decisions about roads and public safety, parks and development, budgets and long-term planning, and the thousands of small details that determine whether a city actually works for the people who live there.
My work has also taken me beyond City Hall. I serve on the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive Committee, helping guide statewide economic development strategy. Through the U.S. Conference of Mayors, I have served as Vice Chair of the Manufacturing and Career and Technical Education Task Force, working on the same questions that sit at the heart of Michigan's future: how we protect American manufacturing, prepare young people for skilled careers, and make sure communities like ours remain competitive.
Before I ever held public office, I was trained to think carefully about institutions, incentives, and the law. I studied economics at Kalamazoo College, earned my law degree from Wayne State University, and have spent my legal career representing individuals, families, and businesses through some of the decisions that matter most to them.
All of that experience has prepared me to serve in Congress. But it is not the reason I am running.
I am ready because I have spent years doing the work. I am driven because I know exactly who the work is for.
OFF THE CLOCK
A few favorites, habits, and things Mike will always have an opinion about.
On Repeat
Fleetwood Mac
Music
Best with the windows down.
Team
Through thick and thin.
Sport
Especially on a fall weekend.
Food
Corner piece preferred.
Michigan Tradition
Cider, donuts, and cold weather.
Dog
The friendlier, the better.
Season
Football weather.
Saturday
Kids’ sports, coffee, and dinner together.
Card Game
A Michigan classic.