I spent my career as an engineer at Ford Motor Company. One of the most rewarding things I worked on was making our entire vehicle fleet more fuel efficient. I am proud of my time engineering vehicles, like the Ford Escape, that resulted in the first hybrid SUV ever built by a North American automaker. At the end of my career, I loved being part of the team that created the Mustang Mach-E, a full electric vehicle we launched at the end of 2020. And in between, we put a hybrid powertrain in the best-selling vehicle in the world, the F-150, and customers loved it.

After Ford, I took that experience to Washington. I served in the Biden administration at the Department of Commerce and later in the White House, working on the Electric Vehicle transition, the Battery Workforce Initiative, and reshoring manufacturing. Those historic investments we made in electrification and domestic manufacturing were paying off for Michiganders and Americans across the nation.

Then Trump came into office. The credits we fought for started getting clawed back. The jobs pipeline started slowing down. And I kept thinking: someone needs to go finish this fight. That’s why I’m running. Building cleaner energy and products has been my life’s work. And I’m not going to watch it get dismantled by politicians who’ve never built anything and who take checks from the companies trying to stop it.

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We’re Falling Behind, and It’s Hurting Consumers

Michigan was on a real winning streak. Our state was home to more than 127,000 clean energy jobs, more than six times the number of lawyers, web developers, and real estate agents combined. We were one of the top states in the nation for IRA-funded projects, with more than $25 billion in new investment coming in. That was real. It was working. Then Trump killed that progress.

Meanwhile, your utility bill keeps going up. In the last five years alone, Michigan regulators approved $1 billion in electricity rate increases for our major utility companies. The typical Michigan household now pays $850 more per year for electricity than they did in 2006. Nationally, electricity prices in 2025 rose at almost double the rate of inflation.

Here’s what’s driving this: Trump has forced utilities to keep running costly coal plants, and has wasted taxpayer money by paying companies to halt almost-completed clean energy projects. All of this means higher rates for Michiganders and the rest of our nation. The politicians who could stop it won’t, because those same utility companies and the fossil fuel lobby are funding their campaigns. I’m not taking that money.

Too many Democrats are giving up on clean energy right now because it’s a hard fight to take on. That’s not the mindset I took into my work as an engineer. I’m running because I know that we can build cleaner energy. We can’t give up on this.

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What we can do about it.

The answer isn’t to give up on clean energy. It’s to build more of it, faster, and make sure the savings reach your wallet. Here’s how I’ll fight for that in Congress.

The first thing I’ll do is push to restore the clean energy tax credits that Republicans killed. Those credits were doing exactly what they were supposed to do: bringing manufacturing jobs back to Michigan and keeping investment dollars in-state.

I will restore funding for the wind and solar projects the Trump administration has cancelled so that we can build more affordable and abundant energy without adding more fossil fuel plants. Wind and solar, combined with new, efficient battery energy storage systems built here in Michigan, can help power America’s growing energy needs without degrading our air or water. This approach is common sense and will help ensure energy independence.

We also need to upgrade our electric grid. Your electricity bill is too high right now in part because the higher capacity wires to carry cheaper energy to your home often don’t exist yet, and the grid control systems need to be updated to allow more efficient energy distribution. I’ll accelerate funding to make a generational investment in upgrading our power grid.

And we need to recognize that our clean energy transition is only as strong as the workers building it. To make sure workers are part of the deal, I’ll fight to expand the Battery Workforce Initiative that we developed in the Biden White House and Department of Energy with input from our unions, community colleges, local government, and industry. Michigan has the manufacturing base, the skilled trades, and the automotive expertise to lead the clean energy build-out, but workers need training investments to make the transition, and those investments are being cut right now. I’ll push to bring them back and make Michigan the country’s hub for clean energy manufacturing jobs.

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This is the fight.

I left a career I loved because I think Michigan deserves someone in Congress who has actually built things, who understands the technology, and who isn’t for sale to the people trying to stop it. If that’s the kind of representation you want, I’d ask for your support.

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When I got into this race, I made a decision: I would do the hard thing and reject all Corporate PAC money. That means I reject all donations that come directly from corporations. I want to explain why that matters so much right now.

Here’s how the game works. A candidate needs money, and corporations have it. Corporations give money to candidates because it gives them relationships, access, and an unspoken understanding that when legislation affecting those industries comes to the floor, they’ll at least pick up the phone. Many politicians want to fool us and prevent us from calling it out for what it truly is: corruption.

The costs to Michiganders show up later: when utility rates are too high for people to afford, when health insurance costs go through the roof, and when politicians vote to prevent pay raises for working people.

It’s unacceptable. You can’t fight to lower energy costs for Michigan families if you’re taking checks from the utilities. You can’t make a credible case for rebuilding American manufacturing if your donors include the companies that offshored those jobs. At some point the money shapes the math, even when you think it isn’t.

That’s why I’m not just rejecting corporate PAC money — I’m running on a platform to change the rules entirely. I’ll push to ban members of Congress (and the President) from trading stocks while in office. I’ll fight to overturn Citizens United, which opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate spending in our elections. I’ll support a ban on members of Congress becoming lobbyists for the industries they regulated. And I’ll push for term limits, because too many people in Washington have stopped working for their constituents and started working to stay in power.

These aren’t new ideas. They’re just ideas that don’t get passed because the people who would have to vote for them benefit from the current system. That’s the problem. And it’s exactly why it matters who we send to Washington.

Running without corporate PAC money means running lean. Every dollar in this campaign comes from someone who wants nothing back except a representative who fights for them. That’s the only way I know how to do this job right.

It also means I need your help to get there.

This campaign is powered by people like you: Michiganders who believe we can rebuild our manufacturing base, create good jobs, and build a better future for every family in MI-11. Grassroots donors are how we close the gap.

Contribute on ActBlue

Whether it’s $5 or $500, your support will make a huge difference for this campaign.

Let’s build something worth fighting for. — Don

As an engineer at Ford, we had to figure out how to get 50 trucks an hour off the end of the line, every single day. It was hard, and we could only do it because we had a team of hardworking people who believed in a common goal. When things fell apart, we didn’t have the luxury of stopping, writing a report about it, and going home. We kept working until we could find a solution.

There are only 9 engineers in Congress right now, and we wonder why our country struggles to build things and solve problems. Our current elected officials overwhelmingly come from backgrounds where they don’t know how to build things, and that has real consequences for our country. President Trump has decided that large-scale tariffs will bring back manufacturing jobs, when they’ve actually accelerated manufacturing job loss. And this Administration squeezes working people even further every day. But existing career politicians don’t have a better alternative to offer because they don’t understand what it takes to launch and produce at large scale with quality.

Democrats must be the party of rebuilding America. That’s why I’m running. Rebuilding requires builders — people who have worked with teams on the factory floor, who have read a spec sheet, who understand what it actually takes to design a product and manufacture something from the ground up.

We’re at a moment when that distinction matters more than ever. Our infrastructure is aging, our manufacturing base is being pummeled by chaotic tariffs, and working people are stuck in jobs that don’t keep up with the cost of living. I’m running for Congress to build things here in Michigan, and to lead the charge to rebuild America - so that we can make life better for everyone.

* * *

Most politicians are great at writing bills, creating rules and regulations, and forming committees. The problem is they don’t actually know what they’re writing about. The whole game is about process instead of results. Someone else figures out, or fails to figure out, how to actually make it work.

Most career politicians probably couldn’t tell you the difference between a common flathead screwdriver and a #2 Phillips. And if you don’t know that difference, you’re certainly not going to be able to understand what it takes to build more manufacturing, better infrastructure, or the high-quality jobs so many Americans who work with their hands count on.

I didn’t spend my life as a politician. I grew up on a farm building things that we needed. I continued that work at Ford, where I led teams designing the next Mustang, F-150, and other vehicles, while working side by side with our manufacturing teams and our supply base. We set high standards on fuel economy, and we met them.

I brought my experience at Ford to the federal government after I retired. I was honored to have the chance to work on real industrial policy - like the CHIPS and Science Act, that brought semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S. and trained workers at all levels in jobs of the future. And, I was proud to introduce the Build Submarines team from the Navy to Michigan so they could experience real manufacturing and invest in training workers here in Michigan.

Michigan is at a crossroads right now. Too many people are leaving our state because they can’t find a job that treats them with dignity, or because they can’t afford the basics of life. If we fight to build things here in Michigan, we can create good jobs that help Michiganders get ahead, and we can lower costs for everyone by building more of the things we need here at home.

* * *

I’m running for Congress because Michigan’s 11th District deserves a representative who walks into Washington knowing how to get things done, and who will fight to build a better future for our families.

There are a lot of talented people in politics. But this moment calls for people who have spent their lives in the real economy, building real things, solving real problems. I’m running to show clearly that Democrats can help rebuild America, and I’m running because I know I can actually deliver for Michiganders.

I’ll be writing here regularly — about the district, about policy, and about what it actually looks like to build an economy where we can build a better future for our families. I hope you’ll follow along, share what you read, and reach out.

Let’s build a better future here in Michigan. — Don

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Support Don's Campaign

This campaign is powered by people like you who believe we can rebuild our manufacturing base, create good jobs, and build a better future for every family in MI-11.

Don isn’t taking a dime from corporate PACs. That means every dollar from grassroots donors like you is how we close the gap and win this race.

Contribute on ActBlue

Whether it’s $5 or $500, your support puts a builder in Congress — someone who can actually deliver for our families.

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Support Don's Campaign

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