Lorence R. Wenke (born October 9, 1945) is an American politician from the state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. He is a former member of 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 2010 ...

Career

Wenke served in the

. In 2004, Wenke was one of only two Republicans in the state legislature to vote against adding an amendment to the

Michigan Constitution The Constitution of the State of Michigan is the governing document of the U.S. state of Michigan. It describes the structure and function of the state's government. There have been four constitutions approved by the people of Michigan. The fi ...

outlawing

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

Tonya Schuitmaker Tonya Schuitmaker (born March 10, 1968) is an American politician. She is a member of the Republican party who represented the 26th district of the Michigan Senate from 2011 to 2018. She was the President Pro Tempore of the Senate for the dur ...

defeated Wenke in the 2010 Republican Party

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

for the 20th district of 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 ...

. With Schuitmaker running for reelection in a different district in the 2014 election, Wenke announced that he would run for the 20th district seat in September 2013. In 2014, he switched to the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

over difference with the Republican Party on gay marriage and issues surrounding taxation. Running in the general election against

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

nominee Sean McCann and Republican Party nominee

Margaret O'Brien Angela Maxine O'Brien (born January 15, 1937) is an American film, radio, television, and stage actress, and is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Beginning a prolific career as a child actress in feature f ...

, Wenke received less than 10% of the vote. His 7,000 votes were the most for a Libertarian candidate in

Kalamazoo County Kalamazoo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. , the population was 261,670. The county seat is Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo County is included in the Kalamazoo– Portage, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Kalamazoo Count ...

history.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenke, Lorence Living people People from Richland, Michigan Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives American libertarians Michigan Libertarians 1945 births Politicians from Kalamazoo, Michigan 21st-century American politicians