Winnie Brinks
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Winnie Brinks (born February 17, 1968) is an American politician who has served as a member of the Michigan Senate since 2019. A member of the
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 ...
, Brinks assumed office as
Majority Leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.
of the Senate on January 1, 2023; she is the first woman to ever hold the office, and the first Democrat to do so since William Faust left office in 1984. Brinks previously served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018, worked as an executive at a non-profit before seeking office. In the House, she served on the Workforce and Talent Development, Education, Health Policy, and Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committees. She also serves as chair of the Progressive Women's Caucus, a non-profit organization that addresses concerns about women's health, pay equity, economic security and gender violence.


Education and early career

Brinks earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Calvin College. For several years she was Executive Director of One Way House Inc., a residential facility for non-violent female offenders. She also was a caseworker at The Source, an employee support organization.


Political career

Brinks was recruited to run for office after Roy Schmidt, who had previously been elected to the Michigan House as a Democrat, switched to the Republican Party at the deadline to file for re-election, leaving no legitimate Democratic candidate on the primary ballot. Brinks ran in the primary as a write-in candidate, exceeding the 1,000 votes required to win the Democratic nomination. She then defeated Schmidt in the November general election. In 2014, she was re-elected, defeating Republican challenger Donijo DeJonge, and in 2016 she defeated Republican challenger Casey J. O'Neill. Due to
term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
s, Brinks was unable to run for re-election in 2018, and instead ran successfully for the 29th district of the Michigan Senate. Brinks defeated fellow state representative
Chris Afendoulis Chris Afendoulis (born April 28, 1962) is a former Republican Member of the Michigan House of Representatives, he was first elected in 2014 and represented the 73rd District from 2015 to 2019, he was succeeded by his cousin Lynn Afendoulis. Ea ...
, a Republican, and Libertarian and Working Class Party candidates. She succeeded
Dave Hildenbrand Dave Hildenbrand (born November 15, 1973) is a former politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He was a Republican member of the Michigan Senate, representing the 29th district and serving as Assistant Majority Leader. Prior to that, he was a ...
, also a Republican, who was required by term limits to vacate the seat. After the 2022 Michigan Senate election, where the Democratic Party won control of the State Senate, Brinks was chosen as the majority leader of the Michigan Senate Democrats. Brinks is the first female majority leader of the State Senate.


References


External links


Legislative websiteCampaign website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brinks, Winnie Living people Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Democratic Party Michigan state senators Women state legislators in Michigan Politicians from Grand Rapids, Michigan Calvin University alumni 1968 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians