Gary Peters (Michigan politician)

Gary Peters
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 9th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2009
Preceded by	Joe Knollenberg
Member of the Michigan Senate from the 14th district
In office 1995–2002
Succeeded by	Gilda Jacobs
Personal details
Born	(1958-12-01) December 1, 1958 Pontiac, Michigan
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Colleen Ochoa
Children	Gary Jr., Madeleine, Alana
Residence	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Alma mater	Alma College, University of Detroit, Wayne State University Law School
Profession	Financial Advisor
Military service
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1993-2000, 2001-2005
Rank	Lieutenant Commander
Unit	Reserve
Awards	Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal

Gary Peters (born December 1, 1958) is the U.S. Representative for Michigan's 9th congressional district, serving since 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of Oakland County, a suburban county northwest of Detroit. He previously represented the 14th District in the Michigan Senate, and was a political science professor at Central Michigan University. After the 2010 United States Census, Peters' old district was dismantled, and he announced in would run in the newly redrawn 14th district.

Early life, education, and military service

Peters was born December 1, 1958 in Oakland County, where he grew up. He graduated from Alma College in 1980 and received a master of business administration degree from the University of Detroit in 1984. Peters also holds a degree from the Wayne State University Law School and an M.A. in philosophy from Michigan State University.

Peters served as a Lieutenant Commander and a Seabee Combat Warfare Specialist in the United States Navy Reserve. His reserve duty included time in the Persian Gulf supporting Operation Southern Watch, and he served overseas during increased military activity following the September 11, 2001 attacks. During his service he received awards and citations, including the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

Business and academic career

Peters has taught finance at Wayne State and strategic management and business policy courses at Oakland University.

He has also been a senior policy and financial analyst for the Michigan Department of Treasury and a financial manager at Merrill Lynch, and has served on arbitration panels for the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange.

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm appointed Peters as the Michigan Lottery commissioner on April 9, 2003.

In April 2007, Peters became the third Robert and Marjorie Griffin Endowed Chairman in American Government at Central Michigan University. The position required him to teach one course and organize one public policy-related forum each semester during the 2009-2010 academic year. He received a salary of $65,000 per year, from the Robert and Marjorie Griffin endowment.

Michigan Senate

Elections

In November 1994, Peters was elected to the Michigan Senate to represent the Oakland County-based 14th district. He was re-elected in 1998 and served until 2002, when he was compelled to retire owing to the law on term limits. Peters was succeeded in the 14th district by Gilda Jacobs.

Tenure

The district is one of the most diverse state Senate districts—containing nearly every racial, ethnic and religious group in Michigan. Located in southeastern Oakland County, it includes the cities of Huntington Woods, Southfield, and Oak Park.

Peters was chosen by his Democratic colleagues to chair his party's caucus. He was also a member of the Michigan Law Revision Commission and served on the Michigan Sentencing Commission. Both the Michigan State House of Representatives and the Senate passed a bill sponsored by Peters which banned any new wells under the state waters of the Great Lakes except in case of a state energy emergency. The bill passed into law without the signature of Governor John Engler. Peters supported a bill that led to the criminalization of the possession of body armor by convicted felons. He also wrote a bill that was the initial establishment of penalties for false threats of chemical and biological weapons, which became law before the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Committee assignments

He served as the vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and was a member of the Education, Judiciary and Families Committee and the Mental Health and Human Services Committee.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2008

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan, 2008#District 9 and United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan, 2010#District 9

On August 7, 2007, Peters ended months of speculation by formally announcing he would run against Joe Knollenberg for his congressional seat. Peters resigned as state lottery commissioner to devote his full energy to the campaign.

National Democrats and local pundits considered Peters to be a strong candidate. Knollenberg was considered vulnerable due to an increasing Democratic trend in what was once a heavily Republican district. He was nearly defeated in 2006 by Nancy Skinner, a former radio talk-show host who spent virtually no money, leading the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to target him for defeat. Knollenberg's opponents in 2002 and 2004 performed significantly below the Democratic base in the 9th District. In the 2002 state attorney general race, Peters performed at or above the Democratic base in 72 percent of the 9th District precincts. In his 1998 state Senate campaign, he performed at or above base in 99 percent of the precincts.

Peters won the November 4 election by 33,524 votes, taking 52 percent of the vote to Knollenberg's 43 percent. Barack Obama carried Oakland County by 15 points; roughly two-thirds of Oakland County is in the 9th. He is only the fourth person to represent this district since its creation in 1933 (it was the 17th District from 1933 to 1953, the 18th from 1953 to 1973, the 19th from 1973 to 1983, the 18th again from 1983 to 1993, the 11th from 1993 to 2003 and has been the 9th since 2003), and the first Democrat.

2010

Peters was challenged by Republican Andrew (Rocky) Raczkowski, Libertarian Adam Goodman, Independent Bob Gray, Independent Matthew Kuofie, and Green Douglas Campbell. Peters won the election.

2012

Michigan lost a district as a result of the 2010 census. As a result of redistricting, Peters' district was dismantled. Most of his old district, including his home in Bloomfield Hills, was drawn into the 12th district, represented by fellow Democrat Sandy Levin.

In September 2011, Peters opted to run in the newly redrawn 14th district. The reconfigured district is based in Detroit, but contains a large chunk of his old State Senate district and portions of his current congressional district. He will face 13th District Congressman Hansen Clarke (whose residence is in the 13th, but opted to follow most of his constituents into the 14th) and Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence in the Democratic primary. The 14th is a 58 percent black-majority district, and is so heavily Democratic that whoever wins the primary will be overwhelmingly favored in November.

Tenure

Peters is pro-choice, voted against Budget Control Act, against cut, cap and balance, against reducing spending to 2008 levels, against debt increase, against increasing debt limit, for increasing debt ceiling, for the Stimulus, for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, against opening Outer Continental drilling, against barring EPA on greenhouse regulations, and for enforcing limits on global warming pollution.

In March 2010, The Hill reported that Peters “may have violated House franking rules.” In a press release, he had criticized Sen. Jim Bunning and “called on 'everyone who cares about this issue' to call Bunning’s office, and provided the number.” The Hill noted that “House franking rules bar members from using press releases for 'grassroots lobbying or soliciting support for a member’s position on a legislative, public policy or community issue,' according to House regulations on the use of the franking privilege.”

In July 2010, the Michigan Messenger wrote that Peters was "criticizing the leadership of his own party. Peters and three other Democratic legislators...this week formed the Spending Cuts and Deficit Reduction Working Group and proposed a series of bills to cut spending. Peters’ bill makes cuts in the federal energy budget.” “We have been growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of action and talking about specifics and putting those on the table,” Peters said. “We’ve been frustrated with both Democratic leadership and Republicans.”

In 2011, Peters was described as the most moderate member of Congress from Michigan.

Peters spoke to the Occupy Wall Street movement, making an appearance at Occupy Detroit on November 6. Speaking to reporters, he stated:

“

It's speculation on Wall Street that we're still paying the price for here, particularly in Detroit that almost brought the auto industry to a collapse because of what we saw on Wall Street. So we put in restrictions, or put in regulations necessary to reign that in, and right now in Washington I’m facing a Republican majority that wants to undo that.

”

Peters, a former lieutenant commander in the Navy, states on his Website that “The United States should have two goals: to maintain the best equipped and best trained fighting force in the world, and to use it as sparingly as possible.” Peters voting record reflects this, particularly a resolution in the house which prohibits the president from deploying ground troops in Libya.

On the issue of Abortion, Peters has received (100%) ratings consistently from pro-choice groups such as Planned parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America. In addition, he was one of 118 house democrats who signed a letter to the president urging him to support the United National Population Fund (UNFPA), a multinational organization that provides health services (including Birth control) to women, children and families in over 150 countries.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology
• Committee on Small Business

2002 statewide elections

In his final year as a member of the Michigan Senate, Peters was a candidate for governor and later for Attorney General. As the Democratic nominee for attorney general, he lost to Republican Mike Cox. Peters came within 5,200 votes of Cox—less than a 0.17 percent margin. Peters decided not to contest the election results despite reported irregularities. Several mistakes were reportedly found during analysis, including a precinct in Dearborn which recorded Peters with 96 votes when he actually had 396. The race was the closest statewide contest in Michigan since the 1950 gubernatorial race.

Personal life

Peters is married to Colleen Ochoa from Waterford and they have three children. They reside in Bloomfield Hills.

External links

• Congressman Gary Peters official U.S. House site
• Gary Peters for U.S. Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Follow the Money - Gary Peters
  • 2002 Attorney General campaign contributions
  • 2000 Governor campaign contributions
  • 1998 State Senate campaign contributions
• Profile at SourceWatch

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Joe Knollenberg	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 9th congressional district 2009–present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Erik Paulsen R-Minnesota	United States Representatives by seniority 320th	Succeeded by Chellie Pingree D-Maine