David Swartout (born June 12, 1948) is an American golf instructor and coach, and former educator/administrator of Jackson Lumen Christi High School in

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is a city in Jackson County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 31,309 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Interstate 94 in Michigan, Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127 in Michigan, U.S ...

. In 2013, he became one of the winningest high school coaches in history. He was given the 2013 National Golf Coach of the Year award by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association, having been previously nominated in 1986 and 1992 for the award.

Early life and family history

He was born in Petoskey, Michigan, raised in

, and is a 7th generation Michigander. His paternal many time great grandfather buried in Jackson County, Michigan, Thomas Swartout, served as Military guard in the New York Company of Rangers for the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

in 1776, during the drafting of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

. His ancestors arrived in the colonies in 1652 and include early American landowners, advocates for democratic rights, and close allies of many

Founding Fathers The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence ...

;

Tomys Swartwout Thomas or Tomys Swartwout (June 1, 1607 in Groningen – October 1679, in Amsterdam)Municipal Archives Amsterdam, Burials book 1228, p. 26 was one of the earliest importers of tobacco from New Netherland to western and northern Europe, one of earl ...

, Roeloff Swartwout, Thomas Maas Samuel Swartwout and

Jacobus Swartwout Jacobus Swartwout (1734–1827) was an early American landowner, statesman, and military leader. Swartwout served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War under General George Washington. He was a close ...

Coaching career

Swartout began teaching at Jackson Lumen Christi High School two years after it opened, in 1970, and started his golf coaching career in 1972. Since he began coaching, his teams have won 15 boys' state golf championships and two girls' state golf championships, and six of his teams have been state championship runner-up. His teams have qualified for the State Championships in 41 of the 50 seasons he has coached. He has been inducted into the Jackson, Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, Michigan Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Michigan Coaches Hall of Fame, and Jackson Lumen Christi High School Hall of Fame. He was the MIGCA Coach of the Year in 1978, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1993, and 2009. He was National High School Athletic Coaches Association national finalist in 1993 and National Golf Coach of the Year in 2013. His dual meet record winning percentage is 90% (354-38) with 13 undefeated seasons.

2014 congressional election

On June 24, 2013, Swartout announced his candidacy to run for the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, as an Independent in Michigan's 7th congressional district. He stated, "I want to make Congress work for residents of my hometown and for the entire nation. I want to bring back the vision of our Founding Fathers; to prove that compromise and good governance are actually possible in Washington D.C., your elected representatives should work for you - not special interests, not big money and not high-powered elites. To make sure I can do that - to be free of the chains that bind Congress - I am running as an Independent." Swartout was the first ever Independent candidate to be certified by the Michigan Election Commission to appear on the 7th Congressional District general election ballot.

''Swartout v. Johnson''

On July 11, 2014 Swartout filed a complaint in the United States Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against

Ruth Johnson Ruth Johnson (born January 8, 1955) is an American businesswoman and politician currently serving as a member of the Michigan Senate since 2019. She was the 42nd Secretary of State of Michigan from 2011 to 2019 and a member of the Michigan House ...

in her official capacity as

Secretary of State of Michigan The Michigan Department of State is a principal executive department of the government of Michigan. It is responsible for administering Election, elections, regulating Notary public, notaries public, and maintaining records of statutes and the S ...

. He challenged a provision of Michigan Election Law which requires that candidates for Congressional office who are Independents have the designation "NPA" or "no party affiliation" after their name on the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

ballots, creating ambiguity of their status. Swartout challenged that the inability to have "Independent" by his name, similar to the majority of American states, violated his

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. He cited ''Rosen v. Brown'' and ''Jenness v. Fortson'' as both binding and persuasive authority regarding similar

ballot access Ballot access is rules and procedures regulating the right to candidacy, the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots in elections in the United States. The jurisprudence o ...

cases. On August 22, 2014 Senior Federal District Court Judge

Bernard Friedman Bernard Friedman (1896 – 1984) was a South African surgeon, politician, author, and businessman who co-founded the anti-apartheid Progressive Party. Biography Education, Medical Training and Role in WW2 He was educated at Pretoria Boys ...

denied the

Michigan Attorney General The attorney general of the State of Michigan is the fourth-ranking official in the U.S. state of Michigan. The officeholder is elected statewide in the November general election alongside the governor of Michigan, governor, Lieutenant Governor of ...

's office request for dismissal. Judge Friedman denied the motion on the grounds that "plaintiff has submitted a viable claim". A hearing was set for September 24, 2014 at the federal courthouse in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

to hear arguments on issuance of a temporary restraining order to require the State of Michigan to reprint general election ballots. Judge Friedman turned down the requested order on the grounds that the motion was barred by laches, to not disrupt the orderly election process; he did not rule on the merits of the case. Judge Friedman further stated that "there seemed to be an issue here" and that maybe this was an issue "that state lawmakers should take up" to resolve. On October 1, 2014, Swartout and the Michigan Attorney General's office both agreed to stipulate to a

voluntary dismissal Voluntary dismissal is termination of a lawsuit by voluntary request of the plaintiff (the party who originally filed the lawsuit). A voluntary dismissal with prejudice (meaning the plaintiff is permanently barred from further litigating the sa ...

of the complaint, to allow the matter to be taken up at a later date by the

Michigan State Legislature The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of the Senate (the upper chamber) and the House of Representatives (the lower chamber). Article IV of the Michigan Constituti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swartout, David B. 1948 births Living people American golf instructors Sportspeople from Jackson, Michigan