Top three focus areas:
Economic development: “We have to help small businesses grow their companies. That’s called economic gardening. We need to be supportive of any economic development policies that grow those companies. We have to expand workforce developmental programs; we have a lot of people unemployed and (who) need new skills for new jobs.”

Education: “I’m a strong proponent of funding of early childhood programs (and the) expansion of resources to the K-12 system and additional state investment in community colleges. I think, unfortunately, the Michigan Legislature has made dramatic cuts … to public universities, and for us to be competitive in the global economy, we have to be investing in institutions that are training workers.”

Environment: “We need to make sure we are strengthening the enforcement of existing environmental regulations and making sure we have enough resources to be able to follow up on that regulation.”

Unrealistic dream job as a child: “When I was a child, I always wanted to be an astronaut. I remember watching all the space launches and reading up on all the books I could possibly get on space travel. I was devastated when I found out I had bad eyesight and needed glasses; I wouldn’t necessarily be able to be a fighter pilot and certainly not an astronaut.”

Best experience during world travels: “I had the opportunity to work in an orphanage in Tanzania that a friend of mine helped start. When you travel, you get an opportunity to see how the rest of the world works, and it also gives you the opportunity to reflect on how we do things in our own country. I’m constantly amazed sometimes by the things we argue about in the world of politics when other parts of the world are trying to get access to water.”

Favorite movie: “I would say it was the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I remember reading the books as a child and reading the books in middle school, and to actually see them in a movie format that was done so well was (great).”