Jim Runestad (born March 1, 1959) is an Conservative American politician. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he has been a 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 Michigan Constitution, adopt ...

, representing the 15th district, since 2019. He was previously a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 2015 to 2018. In 2020, Runestad was one of 11 Republican state senators in Michigan who supported Donald Trump's effort to overturn the result of the presidential election and remain in power.

Early life, education, and business career

Runestad was born March 1, 1959. He has a bachelor's degree in education from Central Michigan University. Since 2004, he has been the owner of Runestad Financial Associates, an insurance business.

Political career

Runestad was a

Oakland County Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...

Commissioner for three terms, as well as chairman of the Public Services Committee and Planning and Building Committee, before being elected in 2014 to the Michigan House of Representatives from 44th District, covering

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

, and Springfield, White Lake townships, and part of Waterford Township. He was reelected to the state House in 2016. Runestad was elected to the Michigan State Senate in November 2018. In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden defeated

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

; Biden won by three percentage points in Michigan. Trump subsequently launched an effort to overturn the election result and remain in power. In January 2021, Runestad was one of 11 Republican Michigan state senators who promoted Trump's false claims of fraud in the 2020 election; in a letter sent to Congress on January 6, 2021, ahead of the formal counting of the electoral votes, Runestad and the other members of the group baselessly suggested that there were "credible allegations of election-related concerns surrounding fraud and irregularities." Although being one of the most conservative state senators, Runestad has shown libertarian views, In 2021 and 2022, in the aftermath of the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's ...

and

killing of Patrick Lyoya On April 4, 2022, Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was fatally shot in the back of the head by Officer Christopher Schurr of the Grand Rapids Police Department during a scuffle between the two in G ...

, Runestad sponsored a bill (SB 478) to ban the police use of chokeholds unless the person subdued "posed an immediate threat to the life of the law enforcement officer or another individual." However, Runestad voiced opposition to some other police reform proposals, which he suggested unduly constrained police. In March 2022, Runestad supported a Republican-sponsored

non-binding resolution A non-binding resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body that can or cannot progress into a law. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. This type of resolution is often used t ...

that symbolically called for increasing fossil fuel (oil and gas) extraction and the continuing operations of

Enbridge Line 5 Enbridge Line 5 is a 30-inch 645-mile oil pipeline in the Enbridge Lakehead System, which conveys petroleum from western Canada to eastern Canada via the Great Lakes states since 1953. Line 5 is particularly notable for passing under the enviro ...

under Michigan's Straits of Mackinac. Runestad criticized renewable energy supported by Democrats and climate-change activists. The resolution passed 22–14 along party lines.

References

External links

Jim Runestad
official Michigan Senate Republicans website {{DEFAULTSORT:Runestad, Jim 1959 births Living people 21st-century American politicians County commissioners in Michigan Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Republican Party Michigan state senators Far-right politicians in the United States American nationalists