Planet Detroit Candidate Survey
What are the three most pressing environmental issues facing the communities you seek to serve? Please rank them in order of priority and briefly explain why you chose each.
Flooding, poor air quality, and extreme heat are three issues that Michiganders are currently experiencing and are ones we must address immediately. When I was a kid, my basement flooded almost every time it rained more than a drizzle. My father and I would then spend hours with a ShopVac sucking up the water, carrying it up the stairs, and dumping it outside. This is a system failure that we must use our votes to fix. My hometown of Detroit is plagued by flooding caused by aging infrastructure, and poor air quality that can cause asthma among the biggest threats. Detroit was recently ranked first on a list of "asthma capitals" as a result of the high rates of asthma deaths we have in our city. Extreme heat is also making life in Detroit harder and disproportionately impacting low income families in the area. When I was growing up there were around 7 annual days about 91 degrees Fahrenheit. That number is expected to rise to 35 by 2050 and the cost is significant as dangerously hot days can lead to excess deaths as a result of extreme heat.
Michigan law requires utilities to reach 100% clean energy by 2040. If elected, would you support maintaining this law, or would you support revising or repealing it? Please explain your position.
Maintain the current law and timeline
Strictly speaking, this question has been applied to the office in which I'm going to be a candidate. I will note that I was the chief executive of the board, having the deadline be sooner than 2050, as was originally outlined in the MI Healthy Climate Plan. That is because I recognize the importance and urgency of Michigan achieving more aggressive clean energy standards, given our amazing natural resources that we are blessed to have the responsibility to steward.
More than two dozen Michigan communities are considering or have approved large-scale data center developments. These facilities can consume as much electricity as a small city and place significant demands on local water and energy infrastructure. What role should state government play in overseeing data center development, and what guardrails should the state legislature enact to protect communities where data centers are proposed?
I am a software engineer—the only one elected statewide in America. I recognize both the potential and risk of what technology can do to transform lives, industries, and society, for better or worse. I understand the goals of the big tech companies and the aspirations of the people of Michigan thanks to my time spent in communities across all of our 83 counties.
Michiganders deserve to have high standards set for data centers if these companies want to build them in our state. These are the most valuable companies in the world that employ some of the smartest and most creative people—they are capable of meeting whatever standards we set.
Those standards should include: - 0 impact on utility ratepayers - 0 impact on water ratepayers - 100% closed-loop recycled water systems - Generate your own power - 100% clean energy usage - Built with union labor
In order for data center projects to make sense in Michigan, they need to pay 100% of the cost for their impact on utilities for residential ratepayers. When it comes to electricity, they should generate their own 100% clean, green, renewable power separate from the existing grid infrastructure. The data center companies must pay for 100% of their water usage so that existing residential customers see zero increases on their bills. These companies must also be responsible for building out the water filtration and processing infrastructure for 100% closed-loop recycled water systems that minimize the amount of water they draw from the ground, and that any water that is returned to our groundwater reservoirs be absolutely clean.
Finally, companies like OpenAI and Oracle should not be allowed to bully municipalities into allowing them to build data centers, which is what we recently saw in Saline. After the municipality voted against the construction of a data center, it was sued and forced to settle and allow the construction of a data center to proceed to avoid paying hefty legal bills it could not afford. None of the regulatory requirements that I suggested above were followed, and this was the exact opposite of how companies that want to come to do business in Michigan should operate. As Secretary of State, I will be a voice for rules that put residents, workers, and their needs first.
PFAS contamination has been detected in drinking water, groundwater, and surface water across Michigan. Cleanup efforts are underway, but many affected communities are still waiting for action. What is the single most important step the officeholder in this position should take on PFAS in the next term?
The single most important step is securing dedicated, recurring state funding for PFAS remediation and municipal water system upgrades. Michigan needs a sustainable funding mechanism that gives affected communities long-term certainty. We have made progress identifying contamination sites, but identification without remediation is just documentation of harm. Many communities are stuck waiting because the cleanup cost exceeds what local governments can absorb, and federal funds are competitive and unpredictable.
A funding commitment also sends a clear signal to polluters that Michigan will pursue full remediation and full cost recovery, which strengthens deterrence alongside cleanup. Every other PFAS action, stricter standards, better monitoring, faster permitting for remediation, is more effective when backed by the financial infrastructure to actually deliver clean water to the people who need it.
Michigan residents in some communities face disproportionate exposure to air pollution, contaminated water, and industrial waste. Do you support requiring Michigan regulators to assess cumulative environmental and health impacts on overburdened communities before approving new permits for polluting facilities?
Yes
Utility rate cases directly affect what Michigan residents pay for electricity and gas. DTE and Consumers Energy have requested frequent significant rate increases in recent years. Should elected officials play a greater role in holding utility companies accountable for rate hikes and rising energy costs?
Yes. Michigan ratepayers have seen relentless rate increase requests from DTE and Consumers Energy, while service reliability has lagged. The Michigan Public Service Commission shouldn't be the only check on utility power, elected officials have both the platform and the accountability to demand transparency, scrutinize cost justifications, and push for legislative reforms that strengthen ratepayer protections. Utilities are granted monopoly status in exchange for serving the public interest. When that bargain isn't being met, elected officials have an obligation to intervene on behalf of constituents.
Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline runs through the Straits of Mackinac and carries crude oil and natural gas liquids between Wisconsin and Ontario. A proposed tunnel beneath the lakebed to house a replacement pipeline has faced legal and regulatory challenges for years. What is your position on the future of Line 5?
I have significant concerns about Line 5 and the risk it poses to the Straits of Mackinac and the land the pipeline rests upon elsewhere in Michigan. Enbridge is the company responsible for one of the largest pipeline spills in the history of the United States, which also concerns me about them as an operator. Any work on Line 5 must be done in a way that respects, stewards, and protects our natural resources.
Drinking water is becoming increasingly unaffordable for Michiganders in both rural and urban areas, leading to water shutoffs. Would you support legislation that caps water bills for low-income Michiganders and adds shutoff protections?
Yes, I would support legislation that caps water bills for low-income Michiganders and adds shutoff protections.
Michigan is home to more than 18,000 contaminated sites. Do you support or oppose legislation to hold polluters accountable for cleaning up these sites?
Support