Michael N. "Mickey" Switalski (born January 11, 1955) 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 was a Democratic member of 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 ...

, representing the 10th district from 2003 to 2011. His district is located in central

Macomb County Macomb County ( ) is a county on the eastern shore of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the Detroit metropolitan area, bordering Detroit to the north and containing many of its northern suburbs. Its seat of government is Mt. Clemens, a ...

and includes the cities of

Sterling Heights Sterling Heights is a city in Macomb County, Michigan, Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Sterling Heights is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had ...

and Roseville. Previously he 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 1999 to 2003.

Early life

Switalski graduated from Roseville High School in 1973. He graduated from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in Classical Languages, and in 1981 earned a master's degree in History. He graduated from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

in Scotland in 1982 with an M. Litt. in Politics.

Career

Switalski worked as a sports editor for the Utica Advisor and C&G Newspapers, and contributed to the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'' and the ''

Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

''. He served as the Chief of Labor Relations at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant from 1985 to 1993. Switalski was elected to the Roseville City Council in 1989 and was elected Macomb County Commissioner in 1992. In 1998, he was elected to the

Michigan State House of Representatives Michigan ( ) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, Indiana and Illinois to the southwest, Ohio ...

, representing the 27th district. In 2002, he was elected to the Michigan State Senate. He was re-elected in 2006. On March 22, 2009, Switalski announced that he will challenge U.S Representative from the 12th district

Sander Levin Sander Martin Levin (born September 6, 1931) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2019, representing (numbered as the from 1983 to 1993 and as the from 1993 to 2013). Levin, a member ...

for the Democratic ticket of this position. In the August 3, 2010 primary Sander Levin defeated Switalski by approximately 3 to

In 2013, Switalski served the city of Roseville as its treasurer, until 2017.

Personal life

Switalski married Roma Heaney in

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 1985. He has a son, Liam, who was born in 1993. They live in Roseville, Michigan.

References

External links

Michigan Senate - Michael Switalski
official government website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Michael N. 'Mickey' Switalski (MI)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Michael N Switalski
20062004200220001998
campaign contributions
Michigan Senate Democratic CaucusMichigan Liberal - SD10
{{DEFAULTSORT:Switalski, Michael 1955 births Living people Michigan state senators Members of the Michigan House of Representatives Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Louisiana State University alumni People from Roseville, Michigan Politicians from Hamtramck, Michigan American Christians 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature 20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature