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) Water quality. District 10 has 7 miles of shoreline on one of the busiest waterways in the Midwest for recreation & fishing; there are serious flooding & contamination issues that affect drinking water. 2) Air quality. I-94 runs through the middle of the District, and there is a lot of trucking that runs through; and the Stellantis plant is nearby. 3) Soil quality; urban farming is becoming more popular and there are at the least 3 community food gardens in the District.
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
As an incumbent, I voted for this legislation my first term. Clean energy helps the environment, is affordable, and it's a reasonable timeline.
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 have voted "No" on data center developments. I believe the state could mandate inspections, utility regulations, and no tax incentives or at the least clawback clauses of tax incentives, infrastructure and municipal responsibilities (which should be covered by the data center), and paying the same water rates as everyone else.
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?
Actually two. Health screening individuals for PFAS in their blood, and prohibiting PFAS in household items.
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
As an incumbent, I have voted accordingly.
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
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 am opposed. Should there be better oversight, assurances, "polluter pay", union workers, etc., then I will reconsider.
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 have co-sponsored water affordability legislation, and prohibits liens due to water bills.
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
Because people and businesses should pay to clean up their own messes and not push it off on taxpayers.
Data center proposals have multiplied across Michigan since the spring, and it is by far the most common topic readers have asked candidates about. Would you support a pause on new hyperscale data center approvals until state guardrails on water use, noise, utility rate impacts, and local approval are in place? Please explain, including whether data centers should keep their state tax breaks, whether local communities should be able to reject them, and whether they should pay the full cost of the grid and water capacity they require.
Yes
Please see earlier response (below).
Communities near heavy industry see frequent air quality alerts, wildfire smoke now adds unhealthy-air days statewide, and EGLE has limited staff to inspect facilities and enforce permits. Do you support stronger air pollution enforcement, such as higher penalties for repeat violators or emission limits on unhealthy-air days? What specifically would you do to protect vulnerable residents, including those in the most polluted zip codes, on those days?
Yes.
Michigan Public Act 104 of 2023 (SB 14) repealed the "no stricter than federal law" for environmental and public health standards. This positions us to take greater responsibility and obligations for our health.
However, enforcement is difficult without first inspecting facilities. Increased financial penalties for large polluters is an option but not a serious deterrent, in my opinion. Increased permit costs or limiting or revoking permits are options. Broadening and strengthening Michigan's non-regulatory provisions of the State Implementation Plan, should be the least difficult and most timely way to address emergency situations.
Michigan is already seeing more extreme heat, storms, and flooding, and households pay some of the highest electric rates in the Midwest for some of the least reliable service. What specific steps would you take in your first term toward the MI Healthy Climate Plan goals, and would you support community solar and expanded weatherization so residents can own or share in clean power and lower their bills?
I do support community solar. The state budget supports these goals. Expanding energy savings should be a matter of funding not just by the state, but also by energy suppliers, working with local municipalities on programs best suited to residents' needs.
Federal cuts to EPA staffing, enforcement, and Great Lakes funding are shifting responsibility for air, water, and public health protection to the states. Should Michigan backfill that funding and enforcement, and how would you pay for it? What would you do to make Michigan's own environmental protections durable against future rollbacks?
Considering the current presidential administration's ignoring laws, wreaking financial chaos, and belittling the lives of Michiganders with punitive financial punishments, I'd say it's near impossible at the moment to protect against the uncertainty of further or repeated financial rollbacks. That said, I believe in increased permit fees for hunting and other recreational activities in Michigan state parks as a start to protecting natural resources in those areas; increased permit and inspection fees on businesses with greater potential for environmental damages would be a start.
Michigan's forests, wetlands, and public lands support clean water, wildlife, outdoor recreation, and flood protection, yet the DNR estimates nearly a billion dollars in backlogged capital needs. What are your top priorities for protecting these lands over the next term, including wetland and floodplain protection, groundwater withdrawals by bottlers, and native habitat, and how would you fund them?
Broad question, and too complex to answer here; see my response to #4. The answer would include working with EGLE, DNR, and MDARD, as well as other stakeholders.
Key Environmental Votes
Selected by Planet Detroit from the Michigan Legislature’s 2025–26 session. Each title links to the official bill page.
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
- MICHIGAN BEER AND WINE WHOLESALERS STATE PAC$6,000
- MICHIGAN LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS INC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE$3,500
- MICHIGAN REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE$3,000
- REALTORS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE OF MICHIGAN$1,500
- MICHIGAN FARM BUREAU POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE$1,250
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 →