Mark Schauer

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Mark Schauer

Member of the Michigan State Senate from the 19th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 2003

Born	October 2, 1961 (1961-10-02) (age 46) Howell, Michigan
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Christine Schauer
Profession	public administration
Religion	Protestant

Mark Schauer ' (born October 2, 1961) is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He is a Democratic member of the Michigan Senate, representing the 19th District since 2003 and currently serving as the Minority Leader. His district covers all of Calhoun County and most of Jackson County. Previously he was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1997 through 2002.

1 Early life
2 Political career
3 2008 election
4 Personal
5 Electoral history
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early life

Schauer was born in Howell, Michigan, the son of Robert and Myra Schauer. He was Valedictorian of his high school class and graduated summa cum laude from Albion College in 1984, where he was a member of the the Phi Beta Kappa. Schauer worked as an urban planner for the Calhoun County Planning Department, 1984-1987, while he completed a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. A few years after graduating in 1987, he accepted a position in program development for the Community Action Agency in Battle Creek. Shortly afterwards, the director left for another position and Schauer was selected to run the CAA, which then consisted of 200 employees, had a 21-member board of directors and offered a broad range of programs for the poor, including home weatherization, a foster grandparent program, food assistance and the local Head Start program for children.

Schauer was also a founding board member of Battle Creek Habitat for Humanity in 1988 and was honored for fifteen years of service to Habitat for Humanity by being named the "2003 Public Official of the Year" by Habitat for Humanity of Michigan.^[1] Schauer has also been actively involved in the supporting the Food Bank of South Central Michigan and the Urban League of Battle Creek. He also serves on the board of directors of the Kids 'n' Stuff children's museum in Albion. He was a coordinator of the Calhoun County Human Services Coordinating Council, 1992-1997.

[edit] Political career

In 1993, Schauer ran for a seat on the Battle Creek City Commission and lost by 200 votes. However, he was later appointed to fill an unexpired term and was then elected to a full term in 1995. In 1997, he earned a Masters Degree in Political Science from Michigan State University, where he is currently a Ph.D candidate in Political Science & Urban Studies. He is married to Christine and has three stepchildren.

In 1996, Schauer was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives from the state's 62nd District and was re-elected in 1998 and 2000. He served as the Assistant Democratic Leader for the House from 1999-2000. In 2002, Schauer was elected as State Senator from the 19th District, and served as the Democratic Floor Leader from 2003-2006. After being re-elected to the Senate in 2006, Schauer was selected by his Democratic colleagues to be the Senate Minority Leader.

[edit] 2008 election

In August 2007, Senator Schauer filed paperwork to form a finance committee to challenge freshman Representative Tim Walberg,^[2] who was identified as a top target by the DCCC.^{[citation needed]} Schauer is considered a top contender for the Democratic nomination and his announcement resulted in David Nacht, who had raised $160K in the first quarter, to drop out of the race.^[3] In September 2007, former State Senator Jim Berryman dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination.^[4]

[edit] Personal

Schauer lives in Battle Creek with his wife, Christine Schauer and his three step-children. In June, 2007, Schauer, along with state senators Liz Brater and Gilda Jacobs, and state representative Robert Jones, endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton for U.S. President.