Dudley Spade (born March 8, 1956) is a politician from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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, ...

. He served as State Representative from the 57th district from 2005 to 2010. He is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. His district includes almost all of Lenawee County. Prior to becoming a State Representative, Spade was a child and family activist.

Early life

Dudley Spade was born on a small farm in

Hillsdale County, Michigan Hillsdale County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 45,746. The county seat is Hillsdale. Hillsdale County is the only county in Michigan to border both Indiana and Ohio. Due to an a ...

to Victor and Mirabel Spade. His father was a retired

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veteran, and his mother was a teacher. His older brother,

Doug Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is a hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) whi ...

, also served as a Representative from the 57th District despite being blind. Dudley Spade received his bachelor's degree in business and accounting from

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

. Spade spent 25 years as a child and family advocate, including 17 years as the controller of the Boysville of Michigan, a facility for troubled youth. In 1994, he received Michigan Federation of Private Child and Family Agencies' Peer Award for outstanding dedication in service to Michigan's families and children.

Political career

Dudley Spade was 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 ...

in 2004. He is noted for introducing legislation to ban the sale of Marijuana-Flavored Candy in Michigan and amending the state's Deaf-Interpreter Act. Spade sats on the Appropriations Committee and chairs the Subcommittee on Human Services. He is also Chair of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. Dudley succeeded his brother

in the 57th District, making them the first Democrats since 1914 to represent that area. In 2005 he was named as the "Visionary Freshman Legislator" by Michigan's Children, honored in 2006 by the Michigan Agri-Business Association as their "Legislator of the Year", and in 2007 was selected for that same honor by the Association of Independent Colleges." Spade received criticism for supporting the closing of the Adrian Training School, a public girls juvenile detention facility. It was alleged that this act was a conflict of interest, as he continued to work closely with Boysville and Star Commonwealth, both private facilities. His brother had actively campaigned against closing the Adrian Training School during his term. On November 4, 2008, Dudley Spade was re-elected for his third term with 68% of the vote. After being term-limited, Spade was appointed to a position in the administration of Republican governor

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, ...

Personal

Spade lives in

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeas ...

with his wife Nancy. They have three children. He belongs to the First Presbyterian Church in Tecumseh, where Dudley used to serve as a deacon.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spade, Dudley 1956 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Eastern Michigan University alumni 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature