Lisa Posthumus Lyons
| Lisa Posthumus Lyons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 86th district | |
|
Assumed office January 1, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Dave Hildenbrand |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 12, 1980 Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Brad |
| Parents | Dick Posthumus |
| Residence | Alto, Michigan |
| Alma mater | Michigan State University |
Lisa Posthumus Lyons (born June 12, 1980) is an American politician from Alto, Michigan, and has been a Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives from District 86 (portions of Ionia and Kent Counties) since 2011. She is chairperson of the House Education Committee. She is being term-limited in 2016, and is currently running to be Kent County Clerk.
She is the daughter of Dick Posthumus, who served as Lieutenant Governor of Michigan from 1999 to 2003 and was the Republican nominee for governor in 2002.
Background
Posthumus Lyons describes herself as the fourth generation to own their family’s family farm in Alto. She graduated from Lowell High School and from Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in Agricultural and Natural Resources Communications. Before being elected to the House, Posthumus Lyons was Director of Public Policy & Community Outreach for the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors. Posthumus Lyons and her husband Brad, who is a deputy sheriff in Kent County, have four children: Easton, Charlie, Gage, and Fisher.
House service
In the 2010 general election, she beat Frank Hammond with 25,943 votes, to 10,996 for Hammond and 909 for Libertarian Robin VanLoon. She was re-elected in 2012 (defeating Brian Bosak), and currently chairs the House standing committees on education and on ethics and elections.
Controversies
- In 2012, after supporting a right-to-work law, Lisa Posthumus Lyons went on to propose an amendment exempting corrections officers. Her husband, Brad Lyons, was a corrections officer at that time.[1] Her response to the alleged conflict of interest was that Democrats have suggested the same sort of legislation in the past, and that her constituency includes hundreds of corrections officers.[2]
- In June 2013, during a school dissolution bill debate, Lisa Posthumus Lyons made the remark "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered" in response to the request that surrounding districts interview the teachers from the dissolving school.[3][4] Many considered her remarks disproportionate to the request, and a former teacher of hers sent a letter condemning her use of the phrase.[5] Her response to criticism was that her remarks were meant for lobbyists (the teachers' union) and not the teachers themselves.[3]
References
- ↑ "State Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons tried to exempt husband from right-to-work law". MLive.com.
- ↑ "State Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons: Corrections officers should be treated same as police, firefighters in right-to-work law (Guest column)". MLive.com.
- 1 2 "Rep. Lyons issues statement on 'pigs' remark during school dissolution bill debate". MLive.com.
- ↑ "Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons speaking on HB-4813". YouTube.
- ↑ http://www.mea.org/legislators-former-teacher-doesnt-appreciate-her-calling-him-hog