Steven Marion Bieda (born January 21, 1961) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who is the former Assistant Democratic Floor Leader of the

Michigan State 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 Constitution of Michigan, Mi ...

. Bieda has served in the Michigan Senate since 2011, representing the 9th district, which includes the communities of Center Line, Eastpointe,

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...

, Roseville,

Warren Warren most commonly refers to: * Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits * Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named Warren may also refer to: Places Australia * Warren (biogeographic region) * War ...

, and portions of Clinton Township and Grosse Pointe Shores. In December 2017, Bieda announced he would seek election to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

in 2018, representing

Michigan's 9th Congressional District Michigan's 9th congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, United States congressional district located in The Thumb and northern portions of Metro Detroit of the Michigan, State of Michigan. Counties either wholl ...

. He ultimately lost the nomination to now incumbent representative Andy Levin. In February 2023 Bieda was appointed by Governor

Gretchen Whitmer Gretchen Esther Whitmer (; born August 23, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 49th governor of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan House of R ...

to the 37th District Court in Warren, Michigan.

Early life, education, and career

Bieda was raised in

Warren, Michigan Warren is a city in Macomb County, Michigan, Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Warren borders Detroit to the north, roughly north of downtown Detroit. The population was 139,387 at the ...

, and attended Cousino High School. He received his bachelor's degree and

Masters in Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the i ...

from

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

, and later earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law is the law school of the University of Detroit Mercy and is located in Downtown Detroit, Michigan across from the Renaissance Center. Founded in 1912, Detroit Mercy Law is a private Roman Catholic l ...

as well as a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

in taxation from

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

. Before seeking public office, Bieda worked as the Director of Labor Relations for the City of Warren, and as a Senior Policy Analyst for 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 ...

Michigan House of Representatives

In 2002, Bieda was elected to the

for the 25th District. His first term as State Representative, Bieda voted against a 2004 measure banning same-sex marriage in Michigan, which caused pundits to rank him as one of the three most vulnerable members of the House. He went on to be re-elected in 2004 and 2006.

Michigan State Senate

Bieda was elected to the

in November 2010, and was re-elected in November 2014. Bieda has sponsored and passed more than 50 bills and public acts, in addition to co-sponsoring hundreds of others, as he's served in both the majority and minority during his tenure. In Lansing, Bieda is known as a "policy wonk" and is noted to have "an ability to work with Republicans in the legislature; he finally got them to pass a law to pay compensation to innocent people who were wrongly convicted and imprisoned." Governor Whitmer appointed Mr. Bieda as Chairman of the Michigan Tax Tribunal within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

Personal life

Bieda designed the reverse side of the U.S. Olympic Half Dollar that was issued in 1992. His design is an image of the Olympic torch and an olive branch. The inscriptions above and below read "United States of America" and "Half Dollar". A central inscription reads "Citius Altius Fortius" which is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger".

Electoral history

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bieda, Steve 1961 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Democratic Party Michigan state senators People from Warren, Michigan University of Detroit Mercy alumni Wayne State University alumni Candidates in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature