Jon Hoadley (born August 14, 1983) is an American politician from Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, Hoadley has represented the 60th district—which includes the entire City of Kalamazoo and the majority of Kalamazoo Township—in the Michigan House of Representatives since first winning election in November 2014.[1][2][3][4]

Jon Hoadley
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives
from the 60th district
In office
January 1, 2015 – January 1, 2021
Preceded bySean McCann
Succeeded byJulie Rogers
Personal details
Born (1983-08-14) August 14, 1983 (age 41)
Vermillion, South Dakota, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationMichigan State University (BA)
WebsiteOfficial website

In April 2019, Hoadley announced that he would run in the 2020 Democratic primary election in Michigan's 6th congressional district. He won the Democratic primary but lost to incumbent Republican Fred Upton in the November 2020 general election.

Early life and education

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Hoadley was born on August 14, 1983, to Michael and Diane Hoadley. He has an older sister.[1][dead link][5] Hoadley grew up in Vermillion, South Dakota.[6] After high school, he moved to Michigan and graduated from Michigan State University.[1][5]

Career

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Hoadley has been involved in LGBTQ and progressive political advocacy since college, and has worked on political campaigns since 2004.[6] He has worked for the Gill Action Fund, managed the campaign opposing South Dakota Amendment C, and served as executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats.[1][dead link][3][5] Currently, he serves on the Michigan Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.[citation needed]

Prior to his election to the Michigan Legislature, he became president and owner of Badlands Strategies, a progressive public affairs consulting firm. During this time he managed a local campaign to defend Kalamazoo's local non-discrimination ordinance, and assisted with a similar campaign in Royal Oak.[1][dead link] He also managed the campaign to elect Justice Bridget Mary McCormack and worked with the Unity Michigan Coalition.[3][5][6]

State legislature

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He was elected to serve the 60th district in the Michigan House of Representatives in November 2014[2][3][4] and re-elected in 2016 and 2018.

In his first term in the Michigan House of Representatives, he served on the House Elections Committee and the House Appropriations Committee, where he has served as the Democratic vice chair of the Judiciary and Agriculture subcommittees and sat on the Higher Education subcommittee.[1][dead link][7]

In his second term in the Michigan House of Representatives, he served on the Appropriations Committee. He was the Democratic vice chair of the Higher Education and Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development subcommittees. He also served on the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Subcommittee.[citation needed]

2014 election

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Hoadley defeated David Buskirk and Pamela Brown Goodacre in the Democratic primary for the 60th district of the Michigan House of Representatives on August 5, 2014. He then went on to defeat Republican Party candidate Mike Perrin in the general election on November 4, 2014.[2][3][4][7]

2014 Michigan House of Representatives, District 60[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jon Hoadley 15,514 70.12%
Republican Mike Perrin 6,611 29.88%
Majority 8,903 40.24%
Total votes 22,125 100
Democratic hold
Democratic Primary – 2014 Michigan House of Representatives, District 60[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jon Hoadley 3,276 58.98
Democratic David Buskirk 1,525 27.46
Democratic Pamela Brown Goodacre 753 13.56
Total votes 5,554 100

2016 election

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After being elected to his first term in November 2014, Hoadley was unopposed in the 2016 Democratic Party primary for the 60th district of the Michigan House of Representatives. He went on to defeat the Republican Party nominee, Kalamazoo College student Alexander Ross, and Libertarian Party nominee, activist Logan Fleckenstein, in the general election on November 8, 2016.

2016 Michigan House of Representatives, District 60
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jon Hoadley 26,570 69.31
Republican Alexander Ross 9,595 25.03
Libertarian Logan Fleckenstein 2,170 5.66
Total votes 38,335 100
Democratic hold

2020 congressional campaign

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Hoadley was a candidate in the 2020 U.S. House election in Michigan's 6th congressional district. He won the Democratic primary on August 4, 2020, and challenged incumbent representative Fred Upton in the November 3, 2020, general election. According to his campaign website, Hoadley ran on a platform of progressive policies, such as a Green New Deal and single-payer healthcare system.[8] His campaign website stated that he has been endorsed by Democratic politicians and organizations including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and the Sunrise Movement.[9]

The day before Michigan's Democratic primary, a blog Hoadley had kept as a college student was deleted from the Internet. In the blog, Hoadley had discussed drug use and sex and made controversial comments about women and children.[10] Hoadley's campaign said the blog was "bad college poetry."[11] The LGBTQ Victory Fund said Hoadley's controversial comments were satirical and taken out of context. The group accused the National Republican Congressional Committee of using homophobic tropes against Hoadley in relation to the blog.[12] In a Facebook video, Hoadley apologized for the comments, and his Democratic primary challenger, Jen Richardson, apologized for her part in publicizing the comments.[13][14]

Election results

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Michigan's 6th district Democratic Primary, 2020[15]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jon Hoadley 33,976 52.2
Democratic Jen Richardson 31,061 47.8
Total votes 65,037 100
Michigan's 6th district general election, 2020[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Fred Upton (Incumbent) 211,496 55.9
Democratic Jon Hoadley 152,085 40.2
Total votes 378,980 100

Personal life

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Hoadley is openly gay[4] and lives in Kalamazoo with his partner, Kris.[1][dead link][6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Biography For Rep. Hoadley". Michigan House Democrats. Archived from the original on July 2, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "2014 Live Michigan election results: State House Districts 1-110". MLive. November 4, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e Mitchell, Alex (November 4, 2014). "2014 election results: Democrat Jon Hoadley wins easily in 60th district state House race". MLive.com. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d Trager, AJ (November 5, 2014). "Jon Hoadley: Next State House Rep. District 60". Between The Lines. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d "Meet Jon". Jon Hoadley for State Representative. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d Mitchell, Alex (September 24, 2013). "Jon Hoadley announces state House bid; will face Buskirk in primary". MLive.com. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "Jon Hoadley". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  8. ^ "On the Issues". Jon Hoadley for Congress. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  9. ^ "Endorsements". Jon Hoadley for Congress. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  10. ^ Bowden, Ebony (August 4, 2020). "Michigan Democratic rising star Rep. Jon Hoadley blogged about drug use and sex". New York Post. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  11. ^ Gremore, Graham (August 5, 2020). "Lawmaker says blog posts about meth and calling sex partners "victims" are just "bad college poetry"". Queerty. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  12. ^ Burke, Melissa Nann (September 8, 2020). "GOP campaign group accused of using homophobic trope against Hoadley". The Detroit News.
  13. ^ Ring, Trudy (September 9, 2020). "Republican Group Slams Gay Candidate as 'Pedo Sex Poet'". www.advocate.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  14. ^ Moore, Lindsay (September 16, 2020). "State rep calls for end to 'swamp politics' from national Republicans in congressional race". mlive. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  15. ^ "2020 Michigan Election Results". The Office of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Michigan Department of State. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  16. ^ "2020 Michigan Election Results". The Office of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Michigan Department of State. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
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Michigan House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the Michigan House of Representatives
from the 60th district

2015–present
Incumbent