In preparation for the 2024 election on Nov. 5, The Michigan Daily sat down with candidates from local races to learn more about them, their platforms and their plans for Michigan. Democrat Jason Morgan and Republican David Stamp will face off to represent Michigan’s 23rd District in the Michigan House of Representatives. David Stamp could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Jason Morgan (D)
The Michigan Daily: Why did you decide to run for Michigan House of Representatives?
Jason Morgan: I ran for office because I felt like I could make a difference in our community and our state. I have seen the work that we were able to do over the six years that I served as a county commissioner prior to serving in the legislature and found that a lot of the challenges that we are facing in our community could either be helped or hindered by the state legislature. For 40 years in Michigan, we have had a Republican-led legislature in some way or another, and we felt the effects of that.
As young people, we felt higher tuition prices and the higher cost of living in our community. We felt a worsening climate and an increase in restrictions on our bodily autonomy and our reproductive rights and we’ve seen a state government that did not respect LGBTQ+ people. I felt like we could make a change, and ultimately wanted to be part of making that change in the state legislature.
TMD: How have your previous experiences qualified you for the position?
JM: I’ve worked in a lot of different parts of government at this point in my life, from serving as a Washtenaw County commissioner to working for five different members of Congress, including Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, who is our amazing member of Congress that we have today, and also taught government at Washtenaw Community College. I understand government, I know how it works and I know that with the right people serving the community, government can be a force for good to help improve people’s lives.
Having those experiences has shown me that we need elected officials who are tough and persistent and care about good public policy and, most importantly, care about the people that they’re serving, so that the people are on their minds every single day as they’re casting their vote or deciding how much they want to show up for the community.
TMD: Can you tell the readers of The Daily specifically about your election campaign platform and the most important points?
JM: My campaign has been focused on a few key points. One is making sure that we’re looking out for everyday people. Whether that be families trying to get by and buy a house and live in our community and have access to affordable housing, young people trying to go to school and pursue a job that they care deeply about, or just people who want the government to stay out of their personal lives and not interfere with the control of their body or their ability to love whoever they want to love.
Also, I have prioritized making sure that we have clean air and safe drinking water and that we have the basic infrastructure that we need in our community, from roads to public transportation to housing. And lastly, I would just say the government needs to actually be good. We need strong ethics policy and campaign finance reform, and we need to make sure that the levers of government are being controlled by the people that we represent as elected officials, as opposed to lobbyists, dark money and powerful financial interests that always have a stake in the decisions being made. We have to make sure that the people are the ones that get prioritized when we’re making our decisions.
TMD: Is there anything you want to say to college students at the University of Michigan?
JM: Students at the University of Michigan are going to decide the outcome of my election and the presidency nationally. We really, truly need students to understand how important they are and how important their vote is, and we need them to turn out and vote in this election because their future and our future depends on it.
TMD: Why should Michigan residents vote for you?
JM: I would hope that folks will vote for me because they understand that I care deeply about the work that I’m doing and those that I serve. I work hard and try to work smart, being focused on good public policy and prioritizing the issues that are the most important to our community and to our state. I hope folks will see the work that I’ve been doing and allow me the opportunity to continue doing that work for them and with them, so I hope they’ll send me back to Lansing on behalf of Ann Arbor.
Daily News Editor Mary Corey can be reached at mcorey@umich.edu.
The post Meet the Candidates: Q&A with candidates for Michigan’s 23rd State House District appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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