Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski (born December 29, 1968
/ref>) is an American politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
from Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
who was the 2010 Republican nominee for .
Early life, education and career
A resident of Troy
Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
, he is a retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army Reserves. He served as the Chief Executive of Star Tickets Plus from 2007-2010 Raczkowski endorsed Rick Perry
James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...
for the 2012 republican primary, and co chaired several events for his election, after Perry withdrawal, Raczkowski endorsed Rick Santorum
Richard John Santorum Sr. ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, author, and political commentator who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007. He was the Senate's Chairman of the United Sta ...
. In the 2016 primaries, Raczkowski endorsed Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...
.
Michigan House of Representatives
Raczkowski was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives
The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...
from 1997 to 2003, representing the 37th District ( Farmington and Farmington Hills).term-limited
A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, whe ...
, as Michigan House members cannot serve more than three two-year terms. Described as a militant law and order Republican Raczkowski was known for his extreme stances against Marijuana, Public Transit, and Detroit which has attracted controversy from both sides.
Political campaigns
2002 U.S. Senate campaign
Raczkowski won the Republican nomination for the United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
, but lost to the popular longtime Democratic incumbent
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election.
There may or may not be ...
Carl Levin
Carl Milton Levin (June 28, 1934 – July 29, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as a List of United States senators from Michigan, United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (U ...
by 60.6% to 37.9%.
2008 U.S. Senate campaign
Raczkowski was planning on running in the Republican primary to challenge Levin again, but when he was called up for active duty, he was forced to drop out of the race.
2010 U.S. Congressional campaign
Raczkowski challenged Democratic incumbent Gary Peters
Gary Charles Peters (born December 1, 1958) is an American lawyer, politician, and former military officer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Michigan, a seat he has hel ...
(who would later be elected Levin's successor in the Senate in 2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
upon his retirement) for , losing in the general election with 47% of the vote to Peters' 49% of the vote. Raczkowski won the Republican primary on August 3, 2010. Raczkowski was dogged by advertisements revealing a civil action against him, in the United States District Court of South Dakota, for fraud, theft, and breach of contract by a concert promoter (case dismissed). Raczkowski's own lawsuit, alleging defamation in the advertisements, was thrown out in January 2011.
Raczkowski's fraud trial was scheduled to begin on October 15, 2013 (dismissed).
References
External links
*
Campaign contributions
at OpenSecrets.org
Voting record
at ''Michigan Votes''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raczkowski, Rocky
1968 births
21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature
Candidates in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections
Central Michigan University alumni
Eastern Michigan University alumni
Living people
Michigan State University alumni
People from Farmington Hills, Michigan
Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives
United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni