Margaret O'Brien (born November 20, 1973) is a former member 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 ...

and 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 2020 ...

. A member of the Republican Party, she represented a district based in

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

Early life

O'Brien was born in Kalamazoo County to Richard and Katheleen (Crawford) Wilson. Her childhood was spent on dairy farms with her three brothers, first in Pavilion Township and then in Texas Township. She attended Fulton and Indian Lake Elementary Schools in Vicksburg and graduated in 1991 from Mattawan High School, where she excelled in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

and cross country. The women's track record for the 3200-meter relay, set in 1991, is still held by O'Brien and her teammates. In 1996, she earned a bachelor's degree in international relations from James Madison College at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. From 1995 to 2003, O'Brien was a social worker with Catholic Family Services. She then worked as a real estate agent at

RE/MAX RE/MAX, short for Real Estate Maximums, is an American international real estate company that operates through a franchising, franchise system. As of 2015, RE/MAX had more than 100,000 agents in 6,800 offices. RE/MAX operates in over 100 countri ...

Advantage and served on the City Council of

Portage, Michigan Portage is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States. The population was 48,891 at the 2020 census. It is the smaller of the two main cities included in the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of ...

from 2003 to 2010. She lives in Portage with her husband and four children.

Political career

O'Brien was first elected to the Michigan House in 2010 and became active on private property rights, education reform, adoption, and direct access to physical therapy. She was twice unanimously elected as associate speaker pro tem and often presided over sessions of the House. In 2014, she was elected to represent the 20th district in the

, defeating Democratic nominee Sean McCann and

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

nominee

Lorence Wenke Lorence R. Wenke (born October 9, 1945) is an American politician from the state of Michigan. He is a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives. Career Wenke served in the Michigan House of Representatives. In 2004, Wenke was one of ...

. In the Senate, she was unanimously elected as assistant president pro tem and again frequently presided over sessions. She worked on bills to ensure the rights of people with

service animal Service animals are Working animal, working animals that have been trained to perform tasks that assist disabled people. Service animals may also be referred to as assistance animals or helper animals depending on the country and the animal's fu ...

s, to provide state IDs to the homeless, to protect victims of domestic violence, to enact safe passing distances for vulnerable roadway users, and to train caregivers of seniors and people with disabilities. O'Brien is known for her work to change Michigan's sexual assault laws in the aftermath of the

Larry Nassar Lawrence Gerard Nassar (born August 16, 1963) is an American former family medicine osteopathic physician and convicted sex offender. From 1996 to 2014, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team, where he use ...

scandal, alongside advocates including Rachael Denhollander,

Aly Raisman Alexandra Rose Raisman (born May 25, 1994) is an American retired artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 " Fierce Five" and 2016 " Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective ...

, Amanda Thomashow, Sterling Reithman, and Larissa Boyce. In 2018, she lost a rematch with McCann. In January 2019, she was elected as secretary of the Michigan Senate, only the second woman to have held that post.

References

External links

State House bio of O'BrienVote Smart profile of O'Brien
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Margaret 1973 births Living people Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Michigan State University alumni People from Portage, Michigan Republican Party Michigan state senators Women state legislators in Michigan 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature