Jase Bolger

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Jase Bolger
71st Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 12, 2011
Preceded by Andy Dillon
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives
from the 63rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2009
Preceded by Lorence Wenke
Personal details
Born Grand Rapids, Michigan,
United States
Political party Republican
Residence Calhoun County, Michigan
Religion Roman Catholic

James "Jase" Bolger is the current speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives. He was sworn in as Speaker on January 12, 2011.

Contents

Political career[edit]

Bolger was first elected as a State Representative in November 2008. He is in his third term as a State Representative and his second as Speaker.

He represents Michigan's 63rd legislative District, which includes the eastern Kalamazoo County city of Galesburg and the townships of Brady, Charleston, Climax, Comstock, Pavilion, Richland, Ross, Schoolcraft and Wakeshma; as well as the central/north-western Calhoun County city of Marshall and townships of Bedford, Emmett, Marshall, Newton and Pennfield.

Personal life[edit]

James "Jase" Bolger was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of James and Eileen Bolger.[1] Because of his father's job as a Michigan State Police trooper, the family moved around the state often, before settling in Charlotte, Michigan when Jase entered first grade. Jase graduated Western Michigan University with a degree in business.

Bolger founded and operates a small business that offers telephone- and computer-based support to Fortune 100 companies throughout the country. Bolger also continues to run a Marshall-based repossession company.

Bolger was first elected to public office in 2004 as a Calhoun County Commissioner. One of his stated priorities as a Commissioner was to minimize the county's spending which he believed was necessary to secure the county's future. He opposed many measures to extend health care coverage to needy Calhoun County residents and voted against proposals to ensure fair wages for workers employed on county contracts.

Bolger graduated from Western Michigan University with a bachelor of Business Administration with a dual major in Finance and Political Science.

Bolger was an Eagle Scout. He has been involved with AYSO Soccer, the Rotary, United Way, the KAAAP mentor program, Oaklawn Hospital, the Knights of Columbus, and several Chambers of Commerce.

Bolger is married to his high school sweetheart, and they have two children. Jase and his family are Roman Catholic and members of St. Mary Parish in Marshall.

Fake Democrat Controversy[edit]

In 2012, Bolger was involved in the recruitment of a phony Democrat, 22-year old Matt Mojzak, to run against then-Democratic Michigan state Rep. Roy Schmidt so that Schmidt would have no real opposition. In turn, Schmidt would switch his party affiliation to Republican immediately prior to the filing deadline, ensuring victory for now Republican Schmidt. The plan was to give Mojzak $450 to file as the Democratic challenger. When Mojzak started to get skittish, Schmidt upped the amount to $1000, but Mojzak backed out anyway. Bolger was involved in the scandal, as demonstrated by text messages that he exchanged with Schmidt. Bolger later claimed to not know that Schmidt offered money to Mojzak to run. He also said he has no plans to resign from his position as Michigan House Speaker.[2]

Electoral History[edit]

2008 General Election - Michigan's 63rd state House of Representatives District[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jase Bolger 27,641 56.6 +1.4
Democratic Phyllis Smith 21,188 43.4 -1.4
2010 General Election - Michigan's 63rd state House of Representatives District[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jase Bolger (I) 20,935 62.8 +6.2
Democratic Dave Morgan 12,408 37.2 -6.2
2012 General Election - Michigan's 63rd state House of Representatives District[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jase Bolger (I) 22,196 50.9 -11.9
Democratic Bill Farmer 21,440 49.1 +11.9

References[edit]

  1. ^ Davis, Paula M. (January 9, 2011). Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger says GOP has 'no excuses,' must deliver results. Kalamazoo Gazette.
  2. ^ Egan, Paul (July 18, 2012). State House speaker, representative blamed in election candidate scam. Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  3. ^ "2008 Official Michigan General Election Results - 63rd District State Representative 2 Year Term (1) Position". 
  4. ^ "2012 Official Michigan General Election Results - 63rd District State Representative 2 Year Term (1) Position". 
  5. ^ "2012 Official Michigan General Election Results - 63rd District State Representative 2 Year Term (1) Position". 

External links[edit]

Preceded by
Andy Dillon		 Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives
2011-present		 Succeeded by
incumbent
Members of the Michigan House of Representatives
   
  1.    Brian Banks (D)
  2.    Alberta T. Talabi (D)
  3.    John Olumba (I)
  4.    Rose Mary Robinson (D)
  5.    Fred Durhal, Jr. (D)
  6.    Rashida Tlaib (D)
  7.    Thomas Stallworth III (D)
  8.    David Nathan (D)
  9.    Harvey Santana (D)
  10.    Phil Cavanagh (D)
  11.    David Knezek (D)
  12.    Douglas Geiss (D)
  13.    A. Kandrevas (D)
  14.    Paul Clemente (D)
  15.    George Darany (D)
  16.    Robert Kosowski (D)
  17.    Bill LaVoy (D)
  18.    Sarah Roberts (D)
  19.    John Walsh (R)
  20.    Kurt Heise (R)
  21.    Dian Slavens (D)
  22.    Harold Haugh (D)
  1.    Pat Somerville (R)
  2.    Anthony G. Forlini (R)
  3.    Henry Yanez (D)
  4.    Jim Townsend (D)
  5.    Ellen Cogen Lipton (D)
  6.    Jon Switalski (D)
  7.    Tim Greimel (D)
  8.    Jeff Farrington (R)
  9.    Marilyn Lane (D)
  10.    A. LaFontaine (R)
  11.    Ken Goike (R)
  12.    Woodrow Stanley (D)
  13.    Rudy Hobbs (D)
  14.    Peter Lund (R)
  15.    Vicki Barnett (D)
  16.    Hugh Crawford (R)
  17.    Klint Kesto (R)
  18.    Michael McReady (R)
  19.    Martin Howrylak (R)
  20.    Bill Rogers (D)
  21.    Gail Haines (R)
  22.    Eileen Kowall (R)
  1.    Tom McMillin (R)
  2.    B. Jacobsen (R)
  3.    Cindy Denby (R)
  4.    Pam Faris (D)
  5.    Vacant
  6.    Charles Smiley (D)
  7.    Joseph Graves (R)
  8.    Gretchen Driskell (D)
  9.    Jeff Irwin (D)
  10.    David Rutledge (D)
  11.    Adam Zemke (D)
  12.    Dale Zorn (R)
  13.    Nancy Jenkins (R)
  14.    Kenneth Kurtz (R)
  15.    Matt Lori (R)
  16.    Sean McCann (D)
  17.    Margaret O'Brien (R)
  18.    Kate Segal (D)
  19.    Jase Bolger (R)
  20.    Earl Poleski (R)
  21.    Mike Shirkey (R)
  22.    Aric Nesbitt (R)
  1.    Tom Cochran (D)
  2.    Andy Schor (D)
  3.    Sam Singh (D)
  4.    Rick Outman (R)
  5.    Theresa Abed (D)
  6.    Ken Yonker (R)
  7.    Peter MacGregor (R)
  8.    Rob VerHeulen (R)
  9.    Brandon Dillon (D)
  10.    Winnie Brinks (D)
  11.    Thomas Hooker (R)
  12.    Dave Pagel (R)
  13.    Al Pscholka (R)
  14.    Bob Genetski (R)
  15.    Dan Lauwers (R)
  16.    Kevin Daley (R)
  17.    Paul Muxlow (R)
  18.    Terry Brown (D)
  19.    Ben Glardon (R)
  20.    Lisa Lyons (R)
  21.    Mike Callton (R)
  22.    Roger Victory (R)
  1.    Amanda Price (R)
  2.    Joseph Haveman (R)
  3.    Collene Lamonte (D)
  4.    M. Hovey-Wright (D)
  5.    Tom Leonard (R)
  6.    Tim Kelly (R)
  7.    Stacy Erwin Oakes (D)
  8.    Charles Brunner (D)
  9.    Joel Johnson (R)
  10.    Jim Stamas (R)
  11.    Kevin Cotter (R)
  12.    Jon Bumstead (R)
  13.    Ray Franz (R)
  14.    Philip Potvin (R)
  15.    Bruce Rendon (R)
  16.    Wayne Schmidt (R)
  17.    Greg MacMaster (R)
  18.    Peter Pettalia (R)
  19.    Frank Foster (R)
  20.    Ed McBroom (R)
  21.    John Kivela (D)
  22.    Scott Dianda (D)
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