WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO

Save for Representative Michael Webber (R-Rochester, Rochester Hills) of the 45th District, readers of Downtown will have all new state and congressional legislators come January. Webber will be Assistant Floor Leader in the new state House session, where Representative Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) has been named Speaker of the House. Incoming state Representative Mari Manoogian (D-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township), for the 40th District, said that she didn’t have her committee assignments yet, a week after the election. Her background is in the State Department. Incoming state Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester, Rochester Hills) said she is hoping for committee assignments in Michigan Competitiveness and Energy and Technology. The new state Senator for the 13th District, who beat Republican Senator Marty Knollenberg, is excited that incoming Senator/Representative Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), elected as the Democratic caucus Floor Leader, asked her to be Assistant Floor Leader. Incoming Senator Rosemary Bayer, for the 12th District, said, “The things I heard throughout the campaign are that education is not working and school funding isn’t working; from Pontiac to Lake Orion to Bloomfield Township, people have environmental and water concerns; and they’re concerned about the costs of insurance – auto, health and prescriptions.” As a technocrat and a data specialist, she said she is looking to work with leadership to leverage her skills. In Washington, Haley Stevens, Democrat for the 11th Congressional district, is looking to sit on the Education and Workforce and Transportation and Infrastructure committees, as well as to join caucuses to help her work on issues related to manufacturing. Incoming 8th District Representative Elissa Slotkin (D) is interested in serving on two committees, one relevant to her background, the House Armed Services Committee, and the other highly-focused on the district, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. We didn’t hear back from Democrat Andy Levin, elected to the 9th congressional seat, but can imagine Education and Workforce would be top of his list, as that has been top of his agenda, as is Energy and Technology.