Doug Spade (born February 11, 1951) is a

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, ...

politician and radio personality.

Early life

Spade was born on February 11, 1951.

Education

Spade attended the

Michigan School for the Blind The Michigan School for the Blind (MSB) was a state-operated school for blind children in Michigan. Its former academic campus is at 715 W. Willow Street in Lansing, Michigan, and is now The Abigail, a senior apartment complex. The building was ...

for four years. Spade graduated from Camden-Frontier High School before moving to his current residence,

Adrian, Michigan Adrian is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Lenawee County, Michigan, Lenawee County. The population was 20,645 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Adrian lies in Michigan's 5th congressional district. The c ...

, where he graduated from

Adrian College Adrian College is a Private college, private United Methodist Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre (0.40&nbs ...

Career

Spade hosted the WLEN Radio talk show ''Party Line'' for 25 years. On November 3, 1998, Spade became the second blind person to be elected to 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 ...

, where he represented the 57th district. He served in this position from January 13, 1999, to 2004. Spade was succeeded by his brother,

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, Spade was the Democratic nominee for the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

's 17th district, but was defeated by his Republican opponent. Spade was nominated by the Democratic Party 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 ...

for the Michigan Senate's 16th district, but was again defeated.

Personal life

Spade is married to JoAnn. Spade has had multiple Leader Dogs. During his time in the legislature, Spade's Leader Dog was named Toby. Toby was the first seeing eye dog used by a member of the

Michigan 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 Con ...

. Spade's most recent Leader Dog is Lucky.

References

Living people 1951 births Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Adrian College alumni American politicians with disabilities American blind people Blind politicians Radio personalities from Michigan 20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature {{Michigan-MIRepresentative-stub