Michael Aylesworth
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Michael Jerome Aylesworth (born March 24, 1943) is an American politician who is a current member of the
Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House memb ...
. A member of the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
, Aylesworth was elected to the Indiana House on November 4, 2014 and was subsequently sworn in on November 19 of that year. Elected to represent the 11th district, Aylesworth's district represents southern
Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
and Porter County.


Early life, education and career

Michael Jerome Aylesworth was born in Hebron, Indiana to parents Mary Jane (
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Olson) and John Cylde Aylesworth. He is a fifth generation resident of Porter County, after his great-great grandfather settled in Boone Township from Wayne County in the mid-1840s and purchased farmland which is still partially owned by the Aylesworth today. Aylesworth grew up on his family farm with his seven brothers and sisters, attending Hebron Elementary School and graduating from Hebron High School in 1961. After graduating high school, he attended Saint Joseph's College in
Rensselaer, Indiana Rensselaer is a city located along the Iroquois River in Marion Township, Jasper County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,859 at the 2010 census, up from 5,294 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Jasper County. Saint ...
and graduated from
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...
with his
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in secondary education in 1966. Aylesworth later went on to receive his
Master of Arts in liberal studies The Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (ALM, MALA, MLS, or MALS) is a graduate degree that aims to provide both depth and breadth of study in the liberal arts. It is by nature an interdisciplinary program, generally pulling together coursework f ...
from Valparaiso University in 1989. Upon graduating from Indiana University, Aylesworth worked at
Boone Grove High School Boone Grove High School is a public high school in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Porter Township School Corporation. Boone Grove High School includes grades 9–12. In 1913, the first 4-year commissioned high school wa ...
in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he taught social studies for one year. He was then drafted into the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
in 1968, being trained in communications and specializing in
morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...
and teletype. He was stationed in
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and attained the rank of a
Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
before being relieved from active duty in 1969 and being honorably discharged in 1973. After his Army service, Aylesworth began agricultural pursuits in Porter County and operated Aylesworth Farms, Inc, leasing three small farms in the area that were involved in corn and soybean production. He subsequently purchased 165 acres of his family's farm in 1973 with the help of
Farmers Home Administration The Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) was a U.S. government agency established in August 1946 to replace the Farm Security Administration. It superseded the Resettlement Administration during the Great Depression and operated until 2006. FmHA mi ...
beginner farmer loan guarantees. By 1998, under his operation, Aylesworth's Farms amassed over 2400 acres of agricultural land. It remained under his ownership until 2003.


Business and political career

Aylesworth entered politics in 1976, upon being elected to the Porter County board of commissioners. He served eight years in this position from January 1977 to December 1984, where he spent part of this time serving his first two of three nonconsecutive terms as the chairman of the Porter County Republican Party from 1982 to 1991. He later served one term on the Porter County Council from January 1988 to December 1992. He began his final term as Porter County Republican Party chairman in 1997, holding the position until 2002. During his time as county GOP chair, Aylesworth became the president of the Indiana Corn Growers Association from 1997 to 2002 and also served two years as the president of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council from the start of its creation in 2001. He was also appointed to the national policy team of the
National Corn Growers Association The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is an association that represents and advocates for the interests of corn growers in the United States. It is distinct from the American Corn Growers Association, a competing organization set up in 198 ...
in 1998, serving in this position until his term as president of the ICGA expired. In April 2002, Aylesworth co-founded Iroquois Bio Energy Company, an ethanol company based in Rensselaer, where he served on the company's board of directors and was its first president. He was appointed to serve as the northern director of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, serving in the position under the administrations of Indiana Governors Mitch Daniels and
Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...
from June 1, 2005 until his election to the statehouse in 2014. Aylesworth also served on the Porter County drainage board for twelve years, where he served as its chairman.


Indiana House of Representatives

After incumbent Republican state representative Rick Niemeyer opted to run for the
Indiana State Senate The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year terms ...
, Aylesworth filed to run for his seat and declared his candidacy for the
Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House memb ...
on February 2, 2014. In the Republican primary, Aylesworth defeated Lowell, Indiana town council member Michael Mears 1,027 to 313 votes, or 76.6% to 23.3%. He went on to face
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 ...
Jim Metro, a former member of the Cedar Lake, Indiana zoning board, in the general election. On November 4, 2014, Aylesworth won in the general election, with 8,526 votes to Metro's 6,511 votes, or 56.7% to 43.3%. He was sworn into office on November 19, 2014.


Personal life

Aylesworth lives in Hebron, Indiana with his wife Delores Rae (née Haberlin), a practicing attorney, whom he has been married to since 1971. They have three adult sons and eight grandchildren. Aylesworth is a practicing
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
and attends services at St. Mary's Catholic Church in
Kouts, Indiana Kouts is a town in Pleasant Township, Porter County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 2,028 at the 2020 census. Since 2010, Kouts has had a population growth of 7.90 percent. History Bernhardt Kautz moved here from Pennsylvania ...
.


References


External links


Official Statehouse WebsiteProfile
at Project Vote Smart
Profile
from the
Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aylesworth, Michael 1941 births Living people County commissioners in Indiana Indiana University Bloomington alumni Valparaiso University alumni Indiana Republicans People from Porter County, Indiana 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians