Lauren Plawecki

Lauren Plawecki (born 1994) is an American politician from Michigan who represented the 11th District—which comprises the cities of Garden City and Inkster, and parts of Dearborn Heights, Livonia and Westland—in the Michigan House of Representatives after being elected in November 2016 in a special election to fill the remaining two months of the term left vacant by the death of her mother, Julie Plawecki.

Lauren Plawecki
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives
from the 11th district
In office
November 29, 2016 – January 1, 2017
Preceded byJulie Plawecki
Succeeded byJewell Jones
Personal details
Born1994 (age 28–29)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Parent(s)Julie and Mark Plawecki
ResidenceDearborn Heights, Michigan
Alma materUniversity of Michigan (B.A. 2015)
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life and education

Plawecki is a graduate of Divine Child High School in Dearborn, Michigan and the University of Michigan with a degree in Art History and has worked or interned at museums all over the world, including the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and the Norton Simon Museum in California.[1]

Career

Plawecki had never planned on following her mother's footsteps by entering politics.[2] On June 25, 2016, Julie Plawecki was hiking out in Oregon when she suddenly collapsed. Attempts to revive her proved unsuccessful and she was then pronounced dead. It is presumed she suffered a heart attack.[3]

Gov. Rick Snyder called a special election on July 5, 2016, to fill the remainder of Plawecki's term, with the special primary taking August 30 and the special general election to take place alongside the regularly scheduled general election on November 8, 2016.[4] On July 6, 2016, Lauren was one of 11 Democrats that filed to be the Democratic nominee for her late mother's seat in the 2016 general election.[5] Since Rep. Plawecki was slated to face no Democratic opposition in the August 2 primary, Democratic precinct delegates in the 11th House district would select the Democratic nominee for the November 8 general election.[6] On July 7, 2016, Lauren Plawecki was not chosen to replace her mother. Inkster City Councilman Jewell Jones, who at 20-years-old became the youngest ever Inkster City Councilman and is an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, was chosen and will run unopposed in the Democratic primary on August 2.[7]

Despite not being chosen to run for the full two-year term, Lauren filed to run to finish her mother's remaining term. Since she was the lone Democrat to file for the seat (along with only one Republican filing for the seat, Robert Pope, an 85-year-old retired sheriff's deputy who was also running for the full two-year term against Jones), a primary was not necessary.[8] Lauren won the special election, taking 65 percent of the vote[9] and was sworn-in as a state representative on November 29, 2016.[10]

Electoral history
Michigan's 11th state House of Representatives District special General Election, 2016[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Lauren Plawecki 24,020 65.8 N/A
Republican Robert E. Pope 10,905 29.9 N/A
U.S. Taxpayers Marc J. Sosnowski 1,586 4.3 N/A
Democratic hold

References
  1. "Biography For Rep. Plawecki". Michigan House Democrats. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  2. Diane Gale Andreassi (October 11, 2016). "Daughter runs for Plawecki's seat". hometownlife.com. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  3. Michigan legislator collapses, dies of presumed heart attack while hiking on Smith Rock
  4. Paul Egan (July 5, 2016). "Gov. Rick Snyder calls special election after death of Michigan rep". Detroit Free Press.
  5. Paul Egan (July 6, 2016). "Julie Plawecki's daughter among 11 seeking to fill seat". Detroit Free Press.
  6. Kathleen Gray (June 28, 2016). "Dems to gather next week to select replacement for Julie Plawecki". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  7. Paul Egan (July 7, 2016). "Inkster councilman chosen to succeed late lawmaker". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  8. Kathleen Gray (July 12, 2016). "Plawecki's daughter files to finish mother's term". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  9. "2016 Michigan Election Results". Michigan Department of State. November 28, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  10. "No. 72 STATE OF MICHIGAN JOURNAL OF THE House of Representatives" (PDF). Michigan House of Representatives. November 29, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
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