David Agema (born February 11, 1949) is a politician from the U.S. state of

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, ...

. Presently the chairman of the Top Gun Republican

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

, he is a former 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 ...

and of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

. Agema, formerly a commercial pilot for

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

, is an Air Force Reserve veteran. He currently resides in Grandville, Michigan.

Early life and education

Agema was born in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

, Michigan, on February 11, 1949, in an American family of Dutch origin. He received a Bachelor of Arts from

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reforme ...

in 1971 and an M.B.A. from

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

in 1975. He served as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

but never served overseas. In 1978, he joined the

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Agema then worked for

and later as a business consultant.

Political involvement

Agema is an

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

Republican, who is actively vocal in his opposition to

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

s. Agema served three terms (the constitutional limit) in the

, from 2007 to 2013, representing parts of the Grand Rapids area. The

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for Conservatism in the United States, conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Poli ...

gave him a 100% rating. He was elected at the 2012 Michigan Republican State Convention to the Republican National Committee, defeating incumbent

Saul Anuzis Saulius "Saul" Anuzis (born March 6, 1959) is the president of the 60 Plus Association and a Republican Party politician from the U.S. State of Michigan. He was chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 2005–2009 and was also a candida ...

. In 2016 he was replaced by Robert Steele.

Political controversies

In 2013, he faced calls to resign from the

by only 11 members of Chairman Priebus's executive committee after he posted extracts from an article allegedly written by a doctor entitled "Everyone Should Know These Statistics On Homosexuals" which said that

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

s lived a "filthy lifestyle", were responsible for 50 percent of U.S. murders in certain cities and that many are

pedophiles Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pubert ...

. Agema was rebuked by RNC chairman

Reince Priebus Reinhold Richard "Reince" Priebus ( ; born March 18, 1972) is an American politician, attorney, and naval officer who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017 and as White House chief of staff during the first s ...

, who drew a distinction between Republican policies on gay rights and the language used in Agema's post, adding "all human beings deserve to be treated with dignity and respect." The Republican platform opposes gay marriage. Later that year, Agema was condemned by

Michigan Governor The governor of Michigan is the head of government of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-elect ...

Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. Snyder, who was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, ...

after saying that homosexuals were in favor of healthcare reform because "some are dying between 30 and 44 years old." Agema posted several statistics on his web page from newer biased sources confirming earlier death. In addition to his comments about homosexuals, Agema quoted an article written by another in response to Obama's statement that Muslims have a rich fabric in the history of the United States, "Have you ever seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life?". This was in reference to the lack of historical record of Obama's statement. Muslim Republicans took offense to this and cited contribution from their families and friends. Additionally, his bill to ban foreign law and Sharia Law (ALAC) (passed by several other states) was seen as an attempt to engender paranoia against Muslims. Agema's comments on Muslims, "styled as an open missive to President

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

", led to the resignation in 2015 of a Maine private-academy lacrosse coach who had re-posted them on Facebook. On December 31, 2014, Agema reposted an article printed by former Congressman and retired Army lieutenant colonel Allen West in his news letter. West stated he had personally observed some of this and that it would seem racists but needed to be addressed. The article was written pseudonymously and ran in the white nationalist magazine ''

American Renaissance The American Renaissance was a period of American architecture and the arts from 1876 to 1917, characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance hu ...

'', and included sentences by a public defender concerning certain felons with multiple convictions he had to defend stating certain " acks are different by almost any measure to all other people. They cannot reason as well (referring to these felons). They cannot communicate as well. They cannot control their impulses as well. They are a threat to all who cross their paths, black and non-black alike." Chairman

subsequently called on him to resign his RNC position. He did not resign.

Electoral history

Personal life

He has been married for more than forty five years to his wife Barb. They have three children and ten grandchildren.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agema, David 1949 births American politicians of Dutch descent Living people Calvin University alumni Central Michigan University alumni American critics of Islam Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives United States Air Force officers People from Grandville, Michigan Republican National Committee members American commercial aviators Military personnel from Grand Rapids, Michigan 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature