A Michigan state representative and GW alumna is hoping to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Gretchen Driskell, who has been a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 52nd District since 2012, said she is running for Congress after becoming increasingly frustrated with the policies supported by incumbent, Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich. In addition to her own campaign, she said she is trying to get more “good policy makers” from the Democratic Party elected by endorsing candidates in state races.
“I love policy work, I love helping people and I love solving problems,” Driskell said.
The main points of Driskell’s campaign include creating jobs and supporting small businesses, maintaining social security and Medicare and improving government transparency, according to her campaign’s website.
Born and raised in Port Washington, N.Y., Driskell received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Lynchburg College in Virginia before moving to D.C., where she worked as a certified public accountant while attending the School of Business at night. She earned her master’s of business administration from GW in 1987.
Driskell said she was not very politically active during her time as a student. But that changed when Driskell and her husband moved to Saline, Mich. in 1988 and Driskell transitioned to working part-time, which allowed her to become involved and begin volunteering in her community, she said.
“I fell in love with Michigan. I started working part-time as a bookkeeper at a small business and had a lot of extra time, so I ended up volunteering,” she said.
Driskell’s volunteer work caught the eye of Saline’s then-mayor, who asked her to get more involved in local politics and run for office. Driskell was elected a member of Saline’s City Council in 1993, where she served for six years.
In 1999, Driskell was elected as Saline’s first female mayor, a position she held until becoming a state representative for Michigan in 2012, making her the city’s longest-serving mayor in its history.
During her time in Michigan’s senate, Driskell has worked on helping people in rural parts of Michigan get access to the internet and has advocated for women’s and children’s rights, she said. But she said she was unable to pass bills because Democrats did not hold a majority in Michigan’s house.
Driskell had not planned on running for Congress until she spoke to members of the U.S. Congress from both parties who encouraged her to run, she said.
“The more I learned, the more frustrated I was with the incumbent,” Driskell said. “I talked to Republican and Democratic congressmen who said they would support me and who endorsed me,” Driskell said.
For college students interested in politics, Driskell said she recommends interning with politicians or working on campaigns. She pointed out that many of her staff members are students and young adults.
“It’s a very important time for our country, and we really need people to get engaged, so I would urge people to do it,” she said. “It’s very rewarding and you can learn a lot about yourself, and it helps you to be stronger, too,” she said.
Craig Korpela, an associate professor of history and political science at Olivet College, located in the congressional district where Driskell is running, said in an email that he has not observed any of Driskell’s campaign efforts but that he thinks it is unlikely she will win the race.
“Tim appears to be virtually unbeatable, mostly because of the 2010 redistricting,” Korpela said.
