Pam Byrnes (born June 25, 1947) is a former Democratic State Representative in the Michigan State House of Representatives, representing the 52nd District, which covers parts of

Washtenaw County Washtenaw County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the population was 372,258. The county seat is Ann Arbor. The county was authorized by legislation in 1822 and organized as a county in 1826. Washtenaw ...

. On July 18, 2013, Pam Byrnes announced that she will run as a Democratic candidate to challenge Republican

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics *Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people *House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities *Legislator, someon ...

Tim Walberg in

Michigan's 7th congressional district Michigan's 7th congressional district is a United States congressional district in Southern Michigan and portions of Central Michigan. From 2004 to 2013 it consisted of all of Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, and Lenawee counties, and incl ...

Career

Byrnes is a lawyer and small business owner, and lives on a small farm outside of

Chelsea, Michigan Chelsea is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,467 at the 2020 census. History The area was first settled as early as 1820 within the Michigan Territory by settler Cyrus Beckwith. It would be organized ...

with her husband, Kent Brown. She is the former director of

Friend of the Court. She served as the Executive Director of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, a program that provides University of Michigan students and faculty a platform to engage in engineering education and research in an international setting, often collaborating with Michigan businesses, such as

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

and TRW Automotive.

State legislative career

Byrnes was elected to the State House in 2004, beating Republican Joe Yekulis by over 5000 votes. She competed with Yekulis for the section of western

that he had represented on the County Commission for the past decade. In 2006, Byrnes was the lone

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

running for State Representative in the district. She faced Republican Shannon Brown in the general election, and she was reelected by over 11000 votes. Byrnes ran for re-election to the State House for the final time in November 2008, due to Michigan term limits. Byrnes' Republican opponent was Eric Lielbriedis, of

Saline Saline may refer to: * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially US) for a salt works or saltern Places * Saline, Calvados, a commune in ...

. She was reelected with over 62% of the vote, and a margin of over 16000 votes. While in the House, Byrnes served as House Speaker Pro Tempore. On December 13, 2009, Pam Byrnes announced her candidacy for State Senate in Michigan's 18th district at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse in Ypsilanti's Depot Town. Five days before the election, an article in a Michigan newspaper revealed that the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP), a Political Action Committee funded in part by Republicans Dick & Betsy DeVos, made two independent expenditures promoting Pam Byrnes and one independent expenditure criticizing her opponent. GLEP lobbies for choice, accountability and quality in education and assists candidates that support education reform. Byrnes lost the Democratic primary to

Rebekah Warren Rebekah Lynn Warren (born November 25, 1971) is a former American Democratic legislator from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who represented the 55th District of the Michigan House of Representatives from January 1, 2019 until January 1, 2021. She was el ...

, 55-41%. Warren would go on to win the general election.

2014 Congressional election

On July 18, 2013, Pam Byrnes announced her candidacy for Congress in

. In announcing her candidacy, Byrnes stated, "Washington is broken and Rep. Tim Walberg is part of the problem. Michigan's middle-class is paying the price for his partisan politics that put special interests and corporation before working families." Byrnes was endorsed by

EMILY's List EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money ...

. She would go to lose by 53% to 41%.

Electoral history

References

External links

Pam Byrnes for Congress campaign site

Michigan House Democrats
Michigan House Democratic Site
Michigan Democratic Party
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrnes, Pam 1947 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Women state legislators in Michigan University of Michigan staff 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians People from Washtenaw County, Michigan