Tom Casperson (July 20, 1959 – November 29, 2020) was an American businessman and 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, ...

. He formerly served as a Republican member 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 ...

, representing the 38th district, which includes much of the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...

. He previously served in 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 108th district.

Personal life

Casperson was born in

Escanaba, Michigan Escanaba ( ), commonly shortened to Esky, is a port city and the county seat of Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on Little Bay de Noc in the state's Upper Peninsula. The population was 12,450 at the 2020 census, making it the ...

, in 1959. He graduated from Escanaba Senior High School in 1977. He worked in his family's log trucking business, Casperson and Son Trucking, for 25 years, and owned the business for ten years. He was married to Diane Casperson, with whom he had four children.

Political career

Michigan Legislature

Casperson served in 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 2003 to 2008. He was the vice chair of the House Transportation Committee and was a member of the Agriculture and Resource Management; Land Use and Environment; and Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security committees. He then served in 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 ...

from 2011 to 2018 representing much of the

. As state senator, Casperson voted against the passage of right-to-work laws in 2012. In 2013, while on a radio talk program, Casperson said he was not sure President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

was born in the United States.

Congressional campaign

On May 14, 2008, Tom Casperson filed over 1700 petitions with the Secretary of State, formally launching his bid for Congress for the First Congressional District of Michigan as a Republican against incumbent Democrat

Bart Stupak Bartholomew Thomas Stupak (; born February 29, 1952) is an American politician and lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, Stupak served as the U.S. representative from from 1993 to 2011. Stupak chose not to seek re-election in 2010. He de ...

. That support translates into designating Casperson as the candidate that gathered the most support among all the candidates that have filed for the First Congressional District. Following his announcement of candidacy on March 17, Casperson traveled the entire District, covering all 31 Counties, and secured petitions from each county within the District. According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Casperson reported total campaign finance receipts of $102,059 as of July, 2008 - of which three quarters of that amount was donated by individuals, one eighth from Political Action Committees (PAC) and one eighth the candidate himself loaned to his campaign. As of July the two other Republican contenders for the 1st Congressional District seat had not filed financial reports with the FEC. (Under the Federal Election Campaign Act only candidates who have raised (or spent) over $5,000 are required to file financial reports.) Rep. Bart Stupak, (D) Menominee, reported to the FEC $730,541 in total receipts; of which the majority was contributed by PAC's. Roughly three-eighths of the congressman's contributions came from individuals. According to the FEC, Americans for Constitutional Enforcement (ACE) of Iron Mountain, the Michigan Farm Bureau PAC, the National Electrical Contractors PAC, the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association Federal PAC, the MILEAD Fund, and several Republican candidates and groups constitute Casperson's PAC support. Stupak has 16 pages of PAC's listed in his FEC report. PAC's supporting Stupak include numerous communications giants like AT&T, Alltel, Time Warner, Motorola, Sony, Universal, Verizon and Viacom. (Stupak chairs the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the U.S. House Commerce Committee - which conducts investigations and oversight of the telecommunications industry.) In the November 2008 election, Casperson was defeated by Stupak.

Death

Casperson died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on November 29, 2020.Former State Senator Tom Casperson dies at 61
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Electoral history

*2008 campaign for Congress **Tom Casperson (R), 33% **

(D), 65% *2006 campaign for State House **Tom Casperson (R), 55% ** Judy Nerat (D), 44% *2004 campaign for State House **Tom Casperson (R), 68% ** Dennis Baldinelli (D), 31% *2002 campaign for State House **Tom Casperson (R), 51% ** Laurie Stupak (D), 48%

References

External links

Senator Tom Casperson
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Casperson, Tom 1959 births 2020 deaths People from Escanaba, Michigan Businesspeople from Michigan Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Republican Party Michigan state senators Deaths from cancer in Michigan 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature