Susy (Heintz) Avery (born October 30, 1947) is an American politician from the state of

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, ...

. She was Chairman of the

Michigan Republican Party The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan, United States, sometimes referred to as MIGOP. Ronna Romney McDaniel was the chairwoman of the party, having been elected in 2015 by delegates ...

from 1995 to 1996 and the Party's 1996 nominee to represent

Michigan's 10th congressional district Michigan's 10th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It consists of southern Macomb County, Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County. District boundaries were redrawn i ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

Biography

A native of

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

, Susy Heintz graduated from the

University of Michigan–Dearborn The University of Michigan–Dearborn (UM-Dearborn) is a public university in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1959 with a gift from the Ford Motor Company, it was initially known as the Dearborn Center, operating as a remote branc ...

, where she earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in political science and served on the Alumni Board of Governors. In 1995, she was recognized as the Distinguished Alumna of the Year by the University's Dearborn Alumni Society. In 1995, Avery became the chairman of Michigan Republican Party until 1996. In the course of her political career, Heintz has served as vice chair of the

Wayne County Commission The Wayne County Commission is the legislative body for Wayne County, Michigan. It is made up of 15 commissioners elected by district every two years. Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County, which includes the City of Detroit, is the most populous co ...

; was elected supervisor, clerk and trustee of the charter township of Northville; and held the office of the executive director of the Conference of Western Wayne. She has been a member of the Michigan Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, the

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 ...

Water Board and the board of directors of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan and was appointed to the Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority, where she served on the board of directors and executive committee of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. In November 1996, after serving as the Republican Party's State Chairman, Susy Heintz mounted a strong challenge to the 10th district's veteran Democratic Representative,

David Bonior David Edward Bonior (born June 6, 1945) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, Bonior served as Democratic whip in the House from 1991 to 2002, during which time De ...

, the

House Minority Whip Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

, who had represented the district since his election in 1976. On Election Day, Heintz received 106,444 votes to Bonior's 132,829. Following her defeat, she was appointed by Republican Governor

John Engler John Mathias Engler (born October 12, 1948) is an American politician, lawyer, businessman, and lobbyist who served as the 46th governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003. Considered one of the country's top lobbyists, he is a member of the Republi ...

in August 1997 as the director of his

Southeastern Michigan Southeast Michigan, also called southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are c ...

office. She held the job until January 1999, when she was appointed to become the new director of the state's tourism agency Travel Michigan. Governor Engler appointed Susy Avery to be Director of Public Affairs for the Office of the Governor. Another of her appointments was to the Michigan Capitol Committee, a position in which she advised and made recommendations on the implementation of all permanent physical changes to be made in or on the Capitol building, or its grounds. The term expired January 24, 2003. Gov.

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, ...

appointed her executive director of the Michigan Women's Commission, a post from which she retired in 2016. In 2017, Susy Avery became the new co-director of the Michigan Political Leadership Program, Michigan State University's training program for up-and-coming leaders.

Personal life

On January 9, 1999, Avery married Lance Avery.

References

Governor Appoints Four to Michigan Capitol Committee

IPPSR Taps Susy Avery as New MPLP Co-Director
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, Susy University of Michigan–Dearborn alumni Michigan Republican Party chairs Michigan Republicans Politicians from Kalamazoo, Michigan Living people 1947 births Women in Michigan politics Candidates in the 1996 United States elections 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians