Candidate Profile: Michelle Deatrick for Michigan State Senate

Original ARTICLE written for Medium by Anthony Pannulo

Michelle Deatrick, County Commissioner of Washtenaw County, has announced her campaign for the Michigan State Senate District 18. She is a grassroots activist who has stood up against tax cuts to education, gas pipelines, and who has led the 2017 Women’s March in Ann Arbor. Michelle is an advocate for education and the environment. She co-founded the Michigan Small Farm Council for the critical need of supporting Michigan’s family farms.

As a former Peace Corps volunteer, Michelle understands the importance of creating an equitable economy that works for all of us, rather than a select few. In 2016, Michelle unseated a three-term Republican incumbent to become the County Commissioner. Not many seats flipped in Michigan this year. We should also recall that the state was surprisingly won by a Republican presidential candidate for the first time since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Michelle is a progressive who believes in a universal single-payer healthcare system. She understands that healthcare is not a luxury, but a right. There is a connection between a person’s wealth and their life expectancy. The differences in life expectancy are not only divided among wealth, but by race as well. Furthermore, Michelle understands the need to expand our mental healthcare and to seriously rethink our approach to the opioid epidemic facing this country. Addiction should be treated as an illness, not a crime. This also works in tandem with her opposition to the prison industrial complex and mass incarceration of non-violent substance abuse victims.

On education, Michelle’s state has seen the effect of private charter schools and how they have undermined Michigan’s public education system. Without access to public schools, children are not afforded much of a choice. This forces parents to send their children to charter schools which can create a significant financial burden upon families.

“Together, we are fighting for a government that truly cares about and serves the people, a government that works to ensure better pay for workers, clean air and safe water, investments in our schools, and a vibrant economy that works for all.” — Michelle Deatrick

Michelle is quite a vocal opponent to fracking as seen by this article from the fossil fuel industry. The State of Michigan has seen and had enough environmental destruction. It is time to protect the Great Lakes as well as the many thousands of lakes and water systems in the Midwest. The field of clean and renewable energy is growing, offering good employment opportunities in opposition to the non-renewable fossil fuel industries. She currently works for the Washtenaw Food Policy Council to support local farm products for schoolchildren.

Overall, this is a candidate with a presence on the ground. She was there to fight any tax bill that would harm the working families of Michigan. Michelle was there to oppose pipelines and drilling sites that put children and the people of Michigan at risk. Last but not least, she was on the front lines to stand up for labor unions who were fighting for their wages and rights.

Michigan’s 18th State Senate District contains the following cities and towns: Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Township, Augusta Township, Milan, Pittsfield Township, Salem Township, Saline, Superior Township, York Township, Ypsilanti, and Ypsilanti Township.

Read more about Michelle on her official campaign site and stay updated on Twitter .