Mary Cavanagh
2023 - Present
2027
2
Mary Cavanagh (Democratic Party) is a member of the Michigan State Senate, representing District 6. She assumed office on January 1, 2023. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.
Cavanagh (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Michigan State Senate to represent District 6. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Cavanagh completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Mary Cavanagh was born in California and lives in Redford Charter Township, Michigan.[1][2] Cavanagh earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Wayne State University in 2020.[1][3] Her career experience includes working as the director of project development of New Start Construction, LLC, a program trainer with the Community Opportunity Center, and an administrative assistant with New Horizons Case Management.[3]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Cavanagh was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Economic and Small Business Development Committee, Majority Vice Chair
- Finance Committee, Chair
- Health Policy and Human Services
- Labor Committee
2021-2022
Cavanagh was assigned to the following committees:
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2022
See also: Michigan State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Michigan State Senate District 6
Mary Cavanagh defeated Ken Crider and Kimberly Givens in the general election for Michigan State Senate District 6 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Mary Cavanagh (D) | 68.0 | 74,122 | |
| Ken Crider (R) | 28.9 | 31,463 | ||
| Kimberly Givens (Working Class Party) | 3.1 | 3,396 | ||
| Total votes: 108,981 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan State Senate District 6
Mary Cavanagh defeated Vicki Barnett, Darryl Brown, and incumbent Betty Jean Alexander in the Democratic primary for Michigan State Senate District 6 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Mary Cavanagh | 43.9 | 14,908 | |
| Vicki Barnett | 35.8 | 12,158 | ||
| Darryl Brown | 20.2 | 6,865 | ||
| Betty Jean Alexander (Write-in) | 0.0 | 8 | ||
| Total votes: 33,939 | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Michigan State Senate District 6
Ken Crider advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan State Senate District 6 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Ken Crider | 100.0 | 12,588 | |
| Total votes: 12,588 | ||||
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Working Class Party convention
Working Class Party convention for Michigan State Senate District 6
Kimberly Givens advanced from the Working Class Party convention for Michigan State Senate District 6 on June 26, 2022.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Kimberly Givens (Working Class Party) | |
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Campaign finance
2020
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 10
Mary Cavanagh defeated Cathy Alcorn in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 10 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Mary Cavanagh (D) | 84.8 | 38,144 | |
| Cathy Alcorn (R) | 15.2 | 6,863 | ||
| Total votes: 45,007 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 10
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 10 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Mary Cavanagh | 29.4 | 5,250 | |
| Brenda Hill | 23.1 | 4,119 | ||
| Kevin Lamont Harris | 20.6 | 3,674 | ||
| Diajah Ruffin | 8.0 | 1,418 | ||
| Tyson Kelley | 7.5 | 1,342 | ||
| Marcus Cummings | 6.1 | 1,089 | ||
| Steele Hughes | 4.1 | 735 | ||
| Valli Smith | 1.1 | 204 | ||
| Total votes: 17,831 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 10
Cathy Alcorn advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 10 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Cathy Alcorn | 100.0 | 1,694 | |
| Total votes: 1,694 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
To view Cavanagh's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.
2016
Elections for the Michigan House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was April 19, 2016.
Incumbent Leslie Love defeated William Brang and Jeremy Morgan in the Michigan House of Representatives District 10 general election.[4]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 10 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Leslie Love Incumbent |
81.62% | 32,787 | |
| Republican | William Brang | 15.00% | 6,027 | |
| Libertarian | Jeremy Morgan | 3.38% | 1,357 | |
| Total Votes | 40,171 | |||
| Source: Michigan Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Leslie Love defeated Mary Cavanagh, Elizabeth Jefferson and Mary Mazur in the Michigan House of Representatives District 10 Democratic primary.[5][6]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 10 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Leslie Love Incumbent |
68.19% | 5,136 | |
| Democratic | Mary Cavanagh | 21.55% | 1,623 | |
| Democratic | Elizabeth Jefferson | 5.18% | 390 | |
| Democratic | Mary Mazur | 5.08% | 383 | |
| Total Votes | 7,532 | |||
William Brang ran unopposed in the Michigan House of Representatives District 10 Republican primary.[5][6]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 10 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | William Brang (unopposed) | |
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mary Cavanagh completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cavanagh's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I’m Mary Cavanagh, and I currently serve as state representative for Redford and Northwest Detroit. In the House, I've been leading the fight to protect our seniors, expand workers' rights, safeguard reproductive rights, secure access to safe housing, defend our right to vote, and implement equitable governance practices. Before taking office, I served as an AmeriCorps member in Detroit Public Schools and as the Director of Project Development for a company dedicated to homeownership that brings mental, physical, and social services, vocational job training, and housing to those in need. I come from a line of public servants, have been an activist in my community for 20 years, and graduated from Detroit's Wayne State University with a degree in Anthropology focused on the evolutionary study of human behavior. I have decided to run to carry my message, activism, and ability to work across party lines to the State Senate during the most polarizing and divisive time in history. Coming out of a global pandemic, we need active solutions to inequities in our schools, pollution to our fresh and drinking water, struggling working families, and the inaccessibility in our healthcare system.
- Every student deserves the opportunity to a quality education regardless of zip code. I will put our children first by redirecting funds from for-profit schools back to public schools and continue to push to raise the per-pupil allocation so each district is able to meet their students' unique needs. To best prepare our students for the growing needs of our workforce, I will help facilitate career and technical education opportunities in our schools. Our students need adequate access to mental health care to cope with the trauma of the past several years and end the school-to-prison pipeline. I will work to lower the student to counselor ratio in schools and expand opportunities for trained mental health professionals to work in schools.
- I will work tirelessly to protect every Michigander's right to an abortion. In the senate, I will continue the fight to repeal Michigan's 1931 law criminalizing abortion and work to expand reproductive freedoms. We need to pass the Reproductive Health Act, which protects an individual's ability to make their own decisions about contraception, sterilization, and abortion. It also removes barriers to funding for facilities that provide abortion, repeals laws that require those seeking abortion to receive biased, medically inaccurate information, and ends the 24 hour mandatory waiting period. I won't stop fighting until we've secured the rights lost in the Dobbs v. Jackson decision and expanded Michiganders' access to reproductive healthcare.
- I am committed to making sure that every Michigander can vote, free from unnecessary burdens. I support legislation that makes it easier to vote, including bills that will expand drop box locations and early in-person voting, allow clerks to process absentee ballots 48 hours before the election, codify the ability for voters to request an AV ballot through the SOS website, protect the affidavit option for those without ID, and create a process to notify a voter if their signature does not match. I also introduced a bill to impose a fine on people who intentionally spread misinformation about elections. As a state senator, I will continue to fight back against restrictive laws and protect voters from misinformation about elections.
Education: Every child deserves access to a quality education where they are given the freedom to explore their interests and discover how their community fits into the larger world around them. It is essential that we support our schools to create an environment where students feel safe to learn, comfortable asking for help, and supported in their aspirations beyond school.
Criminal Justice: Conventional approaches to criminal justice have not made our communities any safer, but have had a disproportionate, negative impact on low-income communities, those struggling with mental health issues, and people of color. It is time to pursue proven strategies that strengthen our communities by targeting the source, not the perpetrator, of crime. I will fight to end mandatory minimums, invest in jail-diversion programs and specialty courts, and establish community re-entry programs that include the ability to vote.
Healthcare: Access to healthcare, including mental healthcare and reproductive healthcare, is one of the largest issues facing our state. We must create affordable healthcare alternatives so no one is prevented from receiving treatment they need or left in financial ruin after a visit. This includes expanding paid leave so workers can spend time with their children or ill family members in addition to recuperating from illnesses themselves. We also need to work to eliminate biases in healthcare and target environmental hazards that perpetuate health disparities.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2020
Mary Cavanagh completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cavanagh's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My name is Mary Cavanagh. I am an articulate, self-motivated, and quick-thinking, young, Hispanic, democratic woman running for Michigan House of Representatives in my community, District 10. I have been very involved in my community for almost 20 years. If elected, I will be a greater voice and conscience for change, and issues important to HD10. As a long-term resident, proud alumni of the South Redford Schools, and participant in local campaigns, democratic clubs, and neighborhood associations, District 10 is my home. I also am very involved in state politics in my role as an Executive Board member of the MI Women's Democratic Caucus. This will allow me to create relationships at the state and federal levels to benefit the residents HD10. I have served as an AmeriCorps member in an under-funded Detroit Public School, Osborn High School. This position has shown me first-hand the consequences and strains experienced by staff, students, family, and community when our local schools are not made a priority. There is an urgent need for equal dollars and reform. Currently, I have the honor of working as the Director of Project Development for a county-wide construction company who partners with nonprofits and one of the largest mental health facilities in the State to bring mental, physical, and social services, vocational job training, and housing to those in need. With a family lineage of public service, I am the candidate to continue the fight for equality in Lansing for HD10.
- Unemployment is at an all-time high. COVID-19 is devastating residents across our communities and putting hardworking families out of work for months, perhaps indefinitely, with assurances of the future. As the 10th District State Representative, I will begin by ensuring a healthy workforce, unemployment benefits expansion, and an elaborate district-wide job creation plan. Having the honor of being endorsed by the Small Business Association of MI, I will prioritize legislation that brings small business opportunities and relief. In addition, if elected, my focus will be on creating a state-driven small business incentive helping our "mom-and-pop" shops from never reopening after this global crisis.
- Senior Protection and The Basic Necessities for All: The global pandemic has magnified existing gaps within our healthcare system resulting in death and unjust hardships in District 10, especially for our seniors and the most vulnerable. I will bring the much-needed resource and the necessities of housing, quality air, clean water, and affordable healthcare to all residents. I will focus on strengthening environmental protection including prohibiting all water shut-offs while providing long-term health funding solutions for my community. Not only are seniors taking the hardest hit during the last few months, abuse and fraud are still highly prevalent in Michigan, as State Representative, I will protect our seniors and the most vulnerable.
- Education and Prioritizing School Funding: In a post-COVID era, our education system needs reform, so every student has the opportunity to a quality education regardless of zip code. If elected, I will put our children first by redirecting funds from for-profit schools back to public and demand a higher State allocation per pupil. I will work to make skilled-tradesmen, training, and jobs a priority for both the future of our infrastructure and the increase job creation. I will focus on continuing my mission of eliminating the school-to-prison pipeline starting with de-criminalizing students with the removal of police officers, metal detectors, and body searches in our educational structures.
Although I am not particularly fond of any tax hikes, I will have to say, in such unprecedented times, we may need to be open with certain tax hikes and spending cuts to the budget in order to prioritize schools, healthcare, and local communities and resources.
I have a democratic political ideology that includes social equality, protecting the environment, strengthening social safety nets, supporting minority rights, and multiculturalism. My political ideologies seek to protect social programs, labor unions, equal opportunity for all, disability rights, and support pathways to citizenship. I believe every person is made equal, seniors and veterans need to be a priority, along with it being a governmental responsibility to provide equal opportunity for education in our school systems.
Addressing the health care issue begins with a healthy workforce and elaborate job creation plan that focuses on testing, contact tracing, and prevention. As a possible future policy maker, I will focus on fixing the fundamental problems our American health care system has been experiencing over the years, but are now more exposed than ever due to COVID-19. This biggest hurdle we need to realize and address is that we, as a nation, are spending far too much and getting far too less in return as far as healthcare dollars. We need to focus on the fact that healthcare is too expensive with widespread waste estimated to represent a third of every dollar we spend. We need to focus efforts on prevention, not only for COVID, but for everyday illnesses where we are often failing to provide low-cost treatments, triggering unnecessary procedures, and a higher cost of care. We need to make healthcare safer for patients, hold insurers accountable, require a local stockpile of necessary PPE and healthcare equipment for pandemic emergencies, as well as price transparency for healthcare services and a public option health plan allowing a cheaper alternative to commercial health insurance.
Being a democrat all my life, I have worked in several positions where fostering a bipartisan and cooperative atmosphere were crucial and had overwhelming success. As State Representative, I will do just that and continue to foster relationships across the aisle to achieve quick and effective results for my community and Michigan.
Over the past several months, resources, aid, and financial assistance was priority number one. Now that we are left to handle the financial consequences of COVID-19, taxes or spending cuts will not be enough. The only way I see Michigan getting out of such a financial crisis is the help of federal funds. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has created a huge deficit at a national level by the great out pour of trillions of dollars in economic stimulus. Being the largest budget shortfall in history where some debt may be good and necessary to promote economic growth and stability, after a certain threshold, the economic growth will subside. We should move proactively by directing the deficit spending in ways that are thoughtful and strategic and look at the budget for ways we can slowly decrease the increasing federal deficit, especially for our states and communities.
Education, Criminal Justice, Environment, Health, Social Welfare: Education, being one of my key messages, has been a key focus in my life. The idea that any child was limited by the color of their skin, a zip code, or the lack of proper quality resources and necessities was unacceptable for me. Feeling a need for change, I joined the AmeriCorps serving in a Detroit Public School, Osborn High, where I learned first-hand of the emotional and educational consequences of a under-prioritized, under-funded, and militarized school had on every individual from Corps Members, Teachers, and Staff, to the Students, Families and Communities. As State Representative, I will continue to fight for equality within my community's and Michigan's educational system abolishing the school-to-prison pipeline. Criminal Justice Reform is long overdue and, as a proud peacefully-protesting youth, I know this is a time for a "Revolution". I am passionate about eradicating minimum sentencing, eliminating mass incarceration, creating jail-diversion programs, and establishing community re-entry programs that includes the ability to vote. In addition, with flooding, diminishing water quality, and lack of clean air, and experiencing COVID-19, MI is no stranger to the effects of the Environment when it is not made a priority. During this global pandemic, we cannot overlook how vital our Environment, Health System, and Social Welfare are, and how largely it affects our health, equality, and sustainability.
The one and only person I have looked up to for the last 28 years would be my father, Phil Cavanagh, who has taught me all of my core values and beliefs of fairness, equality, and social justice while watering my tenacity for leadership, perseverance, and understanding. As my first cheerleader in academics and school sports, I knew the love he showed me was the one of a father who would never give up on his children; and he was exactly that. Working full time and raising three newborns, my father obtained his law degree and became a lawyer in his attempt to give both me any my sister a life where we had choices, opportunity, and the ability to succeed. The first example I am trying to follow from my father is to go for your dreams, just as he did during the summer months of 2001 when he decided to run for his first political office, Wayne County Commissioner. Although it was not easy, he showed me the love, attention, care, consideration, and openness every public servant needs to represent, understand, and stand up for your community and neighbors. Secondly, perhaps the most literal example I would like to follow is my father's service as a Michigan State Legislator in the 10th District. Fighting for affordable healthcare, auto insurance transparency, mental health, and the need to work across the aisle are just some attributes and monumental contributions my father has made to both his district and all of Michigan. I do have large shoes to fill but know for a fact, for the past 28 years of having such a great light, mentor, and predecessor, I will make him proud.
I would have to say the novel Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, where author Arlie Hochschild investigates a 'deep story' behind the rise of Donald Trump and, what the New Yorker has dubbed the "Tea Party Era". Hochschild draws on ethnographic research as well as close interactions with her research subjects in what she claims to be "the geographic heart of the right- the South", specifically southern Louisiana, over a five-year period. In this novel, Hochschild exposes a 'deep story' of why red-state, right-wing Americans are constantly voting against their own interest and support policies that economically, physically, and socially hard themselves. Hochschild's intense immersion and interconnected research methods through the keyhole issue of environmental pollution makes it a valuable contribution to understanding the diverse topics of left and right-wing supporters in the hopes of overcoming an 'Empathy Wall' to understand the emotion in politics, and have more open-minded discourse of nation-wide problems potentially leading to attainable solutions. This book elaborates deeply with my political philosophy of working across the aisle and understanding the 'deep story' of why people believe in the political, environmental, and social positions that they do across the nation we live in.
I come from a long lineage of social activism and public service from my Great Grandfather, Sylvester Cavanagh, one of the founding fathers of the UAW, my Grandfather, 64th Mayor of Detroit during the 1960 riots bringing MLK Jr. and unity throughout Detroit, as well as, my father, Phil Cavanagh, former Wayne County Commissioner and 10th District State Representative, fighting for mental health, equality, social justice, and political transparency. The Cavanagh family has established a set of core values, beliefs, and ideologies that I believe would make me successful as an officeholder including honesty, empathy, integrity, confidence, compassion, and, as several lawyers in the family have taught me, the ability to fight for what you think is right while knowing how to negotiate. All of these qualities will allow me to be a State Representative who inspire others, recognize setbacks, learn, and move forward from them, has a sound and moral code that encompasses honesty, integrity, and ethical principles. Above all, compassion allows me to understand the suffering and aids to my earn to my need to alleviate that suffering. I have the ability to see the needs of those I represent in order to determine the best course of action with the greatest benefit to those involved.
The legacy I would like to leave is that anyone, no matter how big, small, young, or old, has the ability to change the world, even if it just the little bit around you. Ever since my father took his first political office, I knew, not only the struggles of a campaign, long nights at the office, or bipartisan fights constantly happening, I understood the tremendous benefits that came with standing up and fighting for what you believed in and witnessed first-hand the lives and families that were helped by the small acts of social activism and public service. From that moment on, I knew what I needed to do with my life and the legacy I wanted to leave, it was to change the world, even the little bit around me, towards equality, social justice, and until infrastructural equity became 'the standard'.
Until 2001, September 11th was a pretty joyful day in my household, with my older twin sisters, Erin and Veronica Cavanagh, turns a year older than myself. Being just ten months younger than them, I cherished the three months prior to this day where I was the same age, no longer qualifying me as "little-sister" status even if it was only for ninety days. Although, on their 11th birthday, September 11th, 2001, at just 10 years old, will never forget my first historical event that changed the lives of so many and the country as a whole. During this time of devastation, I was able to experience a President to bring a nation together, unite our differences, and create a moment of hope where I have too often seen from leadership in our current troubling time. After experiencing and witnessing a myriad of inequalities throughout this global pandemic, particularly in my hometown, now more than ever, we need new, effective leadership to navigate through these unprecedented times. I believe I can help unite and bring much-needed relief to my community and district like we were able to create after such a time of 9/11.
My first job was in 2008 when I was 17 years old working on my father's, Phil Cavanagh, county-wide campaign as his volunteer and outreach coordinator. Although, I have been shaking hands, fighting for equality, and garnering Cavanagh support since his first campaign for Wayne County Commissioner in 2001, I was old enough to know, I was essential to the campaign and needed to be put on payroll. I began to establish relationships with local leaders, state legislators, neighborhood activists, and residents throughout all of Wayne County, particularly in Redford Township and Detroit. I wanted to learn everything I could so I was able to gather support, volunteers, and donations, not only for my father, but for the values, public policies, and ideals he has carried with him from his own father, Jerome Cavanagh, former 64th mayor of Detroit. My grandfather, a supporter of unions, social and political equality, transparency and fairness for all, has run deep in my family and will be no different when I hold public office. Since the day I attended my father's swearing in, I knew I needed to continue my public activism. Although my first paying campaign position ended after the election, I continue to participate and spend my time on local, state, and nationwide campaigns fighting until infrastructural equity in the 'standard', so in a way, I feel as though I have never left my first job. As 10th District's next State Representative, I will continue my life's mission of protecting, fighting, and standing up for my community and the residents of Michigan.
My favorite book is a tie between "Yooper Talk: Dialect as Identity in Michigan's Upper Peninsula" by Kathryn Remlinger and "Language Myths" edited by Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill. Yooper talk takes history, environment, ethnicity, tourism, economic changes, and language and explains how they all have created a colorful and regionally distinctive dialect and identity right in our backyards. This book allowed me to understand the regional language an culture of Northern Michigan combining its distinctive historical, geographical, and cultural atmosphere than any other place in Michigan. "Language Myths" brings so many misconceptions to light about language while giving thorough linguistic discussions. A collection of essays, this book debunked widely held views about language and bring valuable insight and educational feedback on language myths, such as: The media are ruining English, Some Languages have no Grammar, and Bad Grammar is Slovenly.
Honestly, I would have to say Disney's Moana. Being a darker-skinned, darker haired, dark-eyed, curvy Hispanic, I really felt like I finally saw a fictional character I could relate to that is not only strong but a fighter for her and her community. As a female warrior, I closely related to her personal struggle of fitting in, finding herself, and having the courage to do what is needed for both herself, her family, but her entire island. Moana is also a fictional character that embraces her roots, history, and culture to realize the economical threat to her island and showed the sort of female leadership I hope to embody as a political leader. Moana builds on almost all fictional heroines archetypes; independence, intelligence, sense of duty, and strategic mind where she shows that leadership does not need to look like an aggressive forceful man, but a young woman reaching out with compassion.
Get up by T-Pain. In such a time of fear and uncertainty, this song reminds me that after you're pushed down, there is only one thing to do...is to get up. A powerful message to both the #BLM Movement, as well as, a great song to keep you motivated for a political campaign where you are slowly beginning to learn that a necessity to win is that you grind until you're the last one asleep and first one awake.
Something that has been a constant struggle in my life would have to be being born in San Diego, but moving to Michigan before I was 5 years old. Although, being half-Irish and half-Mexican, being blessed with my Hispanic dark brown hair, darker complexion, and my Mexican mother's brown eyes, I did not have to tell people I was not from here. Caught in a world of "almosts" and losing the ability to speak Spanish almost instantly after arriving in Michigan, I was not Mexican and I was not Irish. Over the years, I have grown accustomed to embracing both my heritages and love the history, traditions, and stories my family will always have and cherish. Although I have been struggling with the racism, colonialism, and "fitting in" aspects of being biracial, it has taught me how unique America, immigrants, and our nation is where we all must embrace ourselves and work towards a more inclusive future.
I favor the independent commission process for redistricting that is responsible for drawing both the congressional and state legislative district maps. This process hands over district line-drawing from state lawmakers to a commission of 13-members. The redistricting commission includes four members of both parties and five unaffiliated where lobbyists, elected officials and relatives are unable to serve on the commission. This is a great way to put power back into the people and provide the most accurate representation of the people, based on population, where there can be more accountability and fairness to the redistricting process.
I do believe it is beneficial for representatives to have some previous experience in government or politics, not excluding grassroots and community organizing rolls as well. Working in either government or politics before allows the candidate to have a keen sense of the unique needs of the community, local governments, and the urgency for change. Myself, I have worked over 19 years on local, statewide, and national campaigns, meeting local and political leaders making relationships and continuously working for equality, social justice, and appropriate funding for those most in-need. I continued to work in the private sector for a Wayne County construction company that partnered with non-profits, mental health facilities, municipalities, and community leaders where, as the next State Representative, I will have already formed relationships with business leaders, elected officials at the state, local, and county level, as well as have a keen familiarity and incite on how to successfully pass effective bills, policies, and work across party lines.
As we are seeing cases to continue to rise, COVID-19 and it's economic, political, financial, and social effects it is having on our nation will last longer than the next decade. This global pandemic is magnifying issues my community, its neighbors, and us as a nation have been dealing with for years and is exposing gaps that are having real life and death consequences. The lack of PPE, food shortages, water shutoffs, and basic necessities in Detroit and other lower-income communities exposes the challenges our healthcare system faces with reliability, sustainability and affordability. Being under-prioritized for years, our Education System is at high risk of loosing more funding and obtaining little-to-no resources for distance learning lacking the resources for a safe re-entry into schools. With jails overpopulated, Corona sweeping the nation, and demand for police reform, another great challenge will be criminal justice that cannot afford to be put on the back burner any longer. Issues such as mass incarceration, mandatory sentencing, require de-escalation tactics, jail-diversion programs, and the elimination to the school-to-prison pipeline too prevalent in many schools in Michigan and our nation. I am confident I can be the future State Representative that takes these challenges head on and bring effective leadership and result to my community, district, and Michigan.
Not a current State Representative, the committees that I would like to be a part of would be Tax Policy, Judiciary, Education, Family, Children & Seniors, Elections and Ethics, Local Government & Municipal finance, along with being a part of the COVID-19 pandemic committee. At this time, I believe being at the front-ends and the forefront of the policies and legislation that is occurring for our healthcare workers, unemployment complications, resources, aid, and guidance for the re-opening of Michigan schools and businesses, would be very beneficial to my community and district who are being hit among the hardest in Michigan and who are in desperate need of relief and assurances. Education especially because I believe we need a plan for the re-opening of our schools, with ensuring both our teachers and students that they will have access to all the latest learning tools- from Internet access and laptops to ongoing social and emotional support for teachers, families, and students during such unprecedented times. Judiciary committee would also be one that I would want to be a part of because there are some serious issues happening on a local, statewide, nation, and global level where reform is needed, the old ways will not do, and a fresh, new, innovative voice needs to be a part of the conversation for change. Tax policy, Family, Children & Seniors, Elections & Ethics, along with Local Government & Municipal Financing are all committees I would want to be a part of because they would directly impact the lives of my constituents and their needs or wants where I would want to be able to a fighting voice for.
I believe that two years is a little short for State Representative term lengths, as far as, building trust and relationships throughout Lansing to be meaningful to your constituents as you would like to be. Although the two year term limits put more power in lobbyists and Michigan workers.
Term limits are a must, in my opinion. Legislators, and politicians in general, are not designed to be there for years on end. Not only may this increase the chances of corruption or have negative impacts on the full representation of an ever-changing community, but may hinder the increasingly diverse leadership of people of color as well as female representation as public servants if we restrict term limits or re-elections.
I am currently am a member and have been a member of the Democratic Caucus for over 15 years and will continue to participate and join my party's leadership in both the US House and the Michigan House of Representatives. I have always migrated toward leadership roles, but as a young, and new Legislator, my role would continue to be a social activist learning and striving to become the best public servant I can for my constituents and community.
I would have to say my father, Phil Cavanagh, former State Representative in House District 10 who preceded our current brilliant State Representative, Leslie Love. Serving as Minority Vice Chair for the Judiciary Committee and Financial Liability Reform and a member of the Governor's Commission on Mental Health and Wellness, Committee on Public Health Policy, Energy and Technology, Tax Policy, and the Human Trafficking Commission, my father, Phil Cavanagh, was able to introduce and steward seven bills during his terms that were signed into law through cross-party collaboration and facilitation. As a State Representative, I want to have the ability to close the gap between party lines, work with both parties in order to achieve greater successes over a two year term. I hope to demonstrate such comprehensive and result-driven leadership as my father did as the next State Representative for House District 10.
During such a time as these, unfortunately the only stories I have been hearing from my residents in my community and district are of lack of resources, inability to obtain unemployment, and the need for health care, education, and judicial reform. During the early days of my campaign, I was told a heart wrenching story that involved a resident from my district losing both her husband, sister, and niece within the entire three month stay-at-home order. Although nothing I could say could come close to making her feel better, I was able to make sure she was safe, had all the resources she needed, and knew my direct line in case of any problems. This story not only broke my heart but showed me the real life and death consequences people in my community and district are experiencing due to the lack of resources, the constant disregard to social distancing, and the Presidential support of opposing mask-wearing. I will never forget that phone call and know staying home, wearing a mask, and practicing in social distancing saves lives and, although, many may be fortunate enough to not have lost a loved one, that is not true of over 200,000 American families have not been so lucky.
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Campaign finance summary
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Noteworthy events
Arrested for operating while intoxicated (2022)
Cavanagh pleaded guilty to operating while intoxicated (OWI) on April 13, 2022. The charge was in connection to a drunk driving arrest on February 25 of that year. According to Livonia Police Department, this was Cavanagh's second OWI arrest. She wrote on her Instagram: "I am writing you to ask for forgiveness, give a little clarity as to what is happening, and assurances that I will continue to serve you with the highest of integrity...What I can offer you is the very real truth that addiction is a hard road to travel. It is a road that may get easier with education, counseling and treatment, all of those which I am fully engaged, but it is a road that requires discipline and determination and, most of all, my faith."[7][8]
On May 6, 2022, Cavanagh was sentenced to two years of probation, a $500 fine, a 10-day work program, and sobriety court.[9]
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
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2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 10 to December 23.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 11 to November 14.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 12 to December 28.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 13 to December 31.
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See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Michigan State Senate District 6 |
Officeholder Michigan State Senate District 6 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 19, 2022
- ↑ Michigan Senate Democrats, "Bio - Senator Mary Cavanagh," accessed May 6, 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 LinkedIn, "Mary Cavanagh," accessed May 6, 2023
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 official general election results," accessed May 2, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 Michigan Candidate Listing," accessed April 22, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 Michigan Election Results," accessed August 2, 2016
- ↑ Click on Detroit, "Michigan Rep. Mary Cavanagh pleads guilty to drunk driving charge in Livonia," April 14, 2022
- ↑ La Crosse Tribune, "Michigan lawmaker charged in February with drunken driving," April 6, 2022
- ↑ Click On Detroit, "Michigan Rep. Mary Cavanagh gets probation, must pay fines for drunk driving charge," May 6, 2022
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Erika Geiss (D) |
Michigan State Senate District 6 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by Leslie Love (D) |
Michigan House of Representatives District 10 2021-2023 |
Succeeded by Joseph Tate (D) |
