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.
1. Rouge River — Protecting and restoring the rouge river
2. Sewer Infrastructure — S polluting groundwater
3. Lead Pipes — Outdated infrastructure, lead pipes
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
This is an attainable goal, especially if corporations believe that we mean it. We cannot afford to flinch.
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?
These facilities need to either develop and install their own renewables or buy that green energy. They should not be able to drive up demand for energy and pass costs on to consumers.
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?
Investing in research is our best bet at eventually eliminating the risk that PFAS brings. In the immediate, investing in water filtration is the best thing we can do for public health.
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, the Senate should always use their oversight power for any MPSC appointee. Regardless if it is a renewal of a term or not.
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 hope that we can come to a solution that doesn't put our great lakes at any more risks.
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
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
They need to pay for the immediate and long lasting damages our state will suffer due to negligence.
Key Environmental Votes
Selected by Planet Detroit from the Michigan Legislature’s 2025–26 session. Each title links to the official bill page. Votes cast as the member for State House District 22.
Creates new state safety rules for dams on inland lakes, a response to the 2020 Edenville and Sanford dam failures that flooded Midland. A Yes vote supported the rules.
SB 947 · Sep 22, 2026 · Passed 96–7 · Official title: Natural resources: inland lakes; dam safety regulations; provide for.
Limits how many times the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy can ask an applicant to revise a permit application, part of a package to speed up permitting. A Yes vote supported the limit.
HB 5938 · Jun 25, 2026 · Passed 62–45 · Official title: Environmental protection: permits; revisions of permit applications; limit.
Requires the state to use the longest time period the federal Clean Air Act allows when it calculates a facility's emission rates for the state emissions inventory. Averaging over a longer period smooths out short-term spikes, so reported rates can come out lower. The state environmental agency and environmental groups opposed the bill; business and conservative groups supported it. A Yes vote was to require the longer averaging period.
HB 5557 · Jun 4, 2026 · Passed 58–50 · Official title: Environmental protection: air pollution; calculation of emission profile data; modify.
Rewrites the legal definition of a wetland so that fewer wetlands fall under state protection. A Yes vote was to narrow the definition.
HB 5536 · Jun 4, 2026 · Passed 57–51 · Official title: Natural resources: wetlands; definition of wetland; update.
Requires electric utilities to lower residential rates in line with the savings they got from the 2023 cut in business personal property taxes. A Yes vote supported the requirement.
HB 5879 · May 20, 2026 · Passed 57–44 · Official title: Public utilities: rates; reduction of residential rates in correlation to personal property tax savings; require.
The 2023 clean energy law requires utilities to reach 100% clean electricity by 2040 and 60% renewable by 2035. This bill eliminates those standards. A Yes vote was to eliminate them.
HB 5711 · May 12, 2026 · Passed 57–48 · Official title: Energy: alternative sources; clean and renewable energy standards; eliminate.
Prohibits cities, townships and counties from banning natural gas service or gas appliances in new buildings. A Yes vote was to block local gas bans.
HB 4486 · Dec 17, 2025 · Passed 61–42 · Official title: Public utilities: natural gas utilities; local units of government imposing a ban on the use of natural gas or installation of natural gas infrastructure; prohibit.
Requires counties to issue a 'brown alert' when sewage or E. coli reaches dangerous levels in local waters. A Yes vote supported the alerts.
HB 4427 · Oct 30, 2025 · Passed 94–10 · Official title: Counties: employees and officers; brown alert for dangerous levels of sewage or E. coli; require.
Defines advanced nuclear reactors in state law, part of a package to promote nuclear and hydrogen energy and training in Michigan. A Yes vote supported it.
HB 4127 · Oct 28, 2025 · Passed 85–19 · Official title: Energy: nuclear; definition of advanced nuclear reactors; provide for.
Raises the fees the state charges for environmental permits and programs under the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, to fund the agency's work. A Yes vote was to raise the fees.
SB 579 · Oct 2, 2025 · Passed 104–5 · Official title: Natural resources: other; certain fees in the natural resources and environmental protection act; modify.
Loosens state permit requirements for discharging wastewater into the ground. A Yes vote was to loosen them.
HB 4192 · Jun 12, 2025 · Passed 65–32 · Official title: Environmental protection: permits; groundwater discharge permit requirements; modify.
The bill defines a natural gas fueled reciprocating internal combustion engine (RICE) placed in service before the bill’s effective date to facilitate the retirement of coal-fired generation in the Upper Peninsula as a clean energy system for purposes of the act. A Yes vote supported the broader definition.
HB 4007 · May 7, 2025 · Passed 82–27 · Official title: Energy: alternative sources; clean energy system; expand definition of.
Michigan's 2023 clean energy law lets the state approve large solar, wind and battery projects that local governments reject. This bill repeals that power and leaves the decision to local zoning. A Yes vote was to repeal the state's authority.
HB 4028 · Apr 30, 2025 · Passed 58–48 · Official title: Energy: alternative sources; zoning exemptions for large-scale solar, wind, and energy storage facilities; eliminate.
Vote tallies are the Michigan Legislature’s roll calls as published by MichiganVotes.org. Votes chosen and summarized by Planet Detroit.
Campaign Money
- COMMITTEE TO ELECT MATT KOLESZAR$41,000
- AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES PEOPLE$15,000
- SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE$3,000
- PLYMOUTH DEMOCRATIC CLUB$3,000
- REALTORS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE OF MICHIGAN$3,000
Transactions reported to the Michigan Secretary of State through Aug 24, 2026 (Post-election 2026 campaign statement), summed for the 2025–26 cycle. Search the state database →