Susy (Heintz) Avery (born October 30, 1947) 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 ...

. She was Chairman of the

Michigan Republican Party The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan, sometimes referred to as MIGOP. Ronald Weiser was elected chairman in 2021. Ronna Romney McDaniel was the chairwoman of the party, having been el ...

from 1995 to 1996 and the Party's 1996 nominee to represent Michigan's 10th congressional district in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Biography

A native of Kalamazoo

Susy Heintz graduated from the University of Michigan–Dearborn, where she earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in political science and served on the Alumni Board of Governors. In 1995, she was recognized as the Distinguished Alumna of the Year by the University's Dearborn Alumni Society. In 1995, Avery became the chairman of Michigan Republican PartyParty until 1996. In the course of her political career, Heintz has served as vice chair of the Wayne County Commission; was elected supervisor, clerk and trustee of the charter township of Northville; and held the office of the executive director of the Conference of Western Wayne. She has been a member of the Michigan Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Water Board and the board of directors of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan and was appointed to the Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority, where she served on the board of directors and executive committee of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. In November 1996, after serving as the Republican Party's State Chairman, Susy Heintz mounted a strong challenge to the 10th district's veteran Democratic Representative,

David Bonior David Edward Bonior (born June 6, 1945) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, Bonior served as Democratic whip in the House from 1991 to 2002, during which time Dem ...

, the House Minority Whip, who had represented the district since his election in 1976. On Election Day, Heintz received 106,444 votes to Bonior's 132,829. Following her defeat, she was appointed by Republican Governor John Engler in August 1997 as the director of his

Southeastern Michigan Southeast Michigan, also called southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are c ...

office. She held the job until January 1999, when she was appointed to become the new director of the state's tourism agency Travel Michigan. Governor Engler appointed Susy Avery to be Director of Public Affairs for the Office of the Governor. Another of her appointments was to the Michigan Capitol Committee, a position in which she advised and made recommendations on the implementation of all permanent physical changes to be made in or on the Capitol building, or its grounds. The term expired January 24, 2003. Gov.

Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Snyder previ ...

appointed her executive director of the Michigan Women's Commission, a post from which she retired in 2016. In 2017, Susy Avery became the new co-director of the Michigan Political Leadership Program, Michigan State University's training program for up-and-coming leaders.

Personal life

On January 9, 1999, Avery married Lance Avery.

References

Governor Appoints Four to Michigan Capitol Committee

IPPSR Taps Susy Avery as New MPLP Co-Director
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, Susy University of Michigan–Dearborn alumni Michigan Republican Party chairs Michigan Republicans Politicians from Kalamazoo, Michigan Living people 1947 births Women in Michigan politics Candidates in the 1996 United States elections 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women