Running for Governor – NewDEAL https://newdealleaders.org Tue, 11 Mar 2025 13:27:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 Garlin Gilchrist https://newdealleaders.org/leader/garlin-gilchrist/ Mon, 20 Apr 2020 14:43:25 +0000 https://newdealleaders.org/?post_type=leader&p=7722 .avia-section.av-k5jpnbyp-1e830beeb821e85dde944388509bd709{ background-repeat:no-repeat; background-image:url(https://newdealleaders.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/header-tnd-1500x630.jpg); background-position:50% 0%; background-attachment:scroll; } .avia-section.av-k5jpnbyp-1e830beeb821e85dde944388509bd709 .av-section-color-overlay{ opacity:0.5; background-color:#000000; }

Garlin Gilchrist

Lieutenant Governor | MI







Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist has dedicated his career to fixing problems for hardworking families. From spearheading campaigns for equality and justice to harnessing technology to solve everyday problems for Detroiters, his focus has consistently remained on serving the public by getting things done.

Bringing Michigan’s state government fully into the 21st century is a top priority for Lt. Governor Gilchrist. He brings a lifetime of experience to the task, receiving his first computer at age five and setting up a computer lab in the community recreation center using computers that he built himself at age 16. Lt. Governor Gilchrist studied computer engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, graduating with honors, and later had a successful career as a software engineer at Microsoft, helping to build SharePoint into the fastest growing product in the company’s history. 

During his time in Seattle, Gilchrist served as Social Media Manager for the 2008 Obama campaign in Washington, where he helped launch a national text message program to recruit volunteers. He later served as the first Director of New Media at the Center for Community Change in Washington, D.C., and spent three years as National Campaign Director at MoveOn.org, where he spearheaded equity and justice campaigns, including fighting to expand Medicaid in states with Republican governors, like Michigan.

This eventually led to his serving as the first ever Director of Innovation & Emerging Technology for the city of Detroit, where he used public data and technology to address every day concerns the community was facing – including an app to report issues such as broken fire hydrants, potholes and broken street lights. This mindset of harnessing technology to solve problems will play a critical role in finding solutions to improve the lives of people across the state.

]]> Steve Fulop https://newdealleaders.org/leader/steve-fulop/ Sat, 18 Jan 2020 11:07:25 +0000 https://thenewdeal.flywheelsites.com/leaders/steve-fulop/ .avia-section.av-k5jpnbyp-1e830beeb821e85dde944388509bd709{ background-repeat:no-repeat; background-image:url(https://newdealleaders.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/header-tnd-1500x630.jpg); background-position:50% 0%; background-attachment:scroll; } .avia-section.av-k5jpnbyp-1e830beeb821e85dde944388509bd709 .av-section-color-overlay{ opacity:0.5; background-color:#000000; }

Steve Fulop

Mayor | Jersey City, NJ







Steven Michael Fulop is the 49th and current Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey – named the most diverse city in the nation and the soon-to-be largest city in New Jersey.

Since Mayor Fulop took office in 2013, Jersey City residents have seen five consecutive years of stable taxes and four consecutive credit rating upgrades.  Meanwhile, more than 300 new police officers have been hired, nearly 1,500 units of affordable housing built or approved, recreation expanded with nearly 30 new programs, nearly $10 million invested in parks and open space, and nearly 800 small businesses opened, creating approximately 10,000 new jobs.

During his time in office, Mayor Fulop has shown what smart, progressive leadership can accomplish – and opened a new chapter for Jersey City.

Under his leadership, Jersey City became the first city in the state – and the 6th city in the country – to ensure paid sick leave. Mayor Fulop has pioneered new ideas for helping prisoners re-enter society; he’s passed legislation to protect small businesses and encouraged more to open shop; made Jersey City one of the greenest cities in the nation. He’s undertaken sweeping public safety reform, with the JCPD now seen as a model for diversity around the nation. And Mayor Fulop has led the city to record economic development that’s benefited families of all income levels. All without raising taxes.

Mayor Fulop is a first-generation American, a lifelong New Jerseyan, a Marine, and a triathlete. He grew up in a Jewish family in Edison, New Jersey, the son of Romanian immigrants. His mother was the daughter of Holocaust survivors and worked in an immigration services office helping others gain citizenship. His father owned a delicatessen nearby in Newark, where Mayor Fulop worked behind the counter as a teenager.

Mayor Fulop graduated from Binghamton University in 1999 and spent time abroad studying at Oxford University in the UK. After college, he joined Goldman Sachs, the investment banking firm, working in Chicago and later in Manhattan and Jersey City. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Mayor Fulop was working in lower Manhattan when he saw the first plane strike the Twin Towers. A few weeks later, he decided to put his career at Goldman Sachs on hold and join the United States Marine Corps.

Mayor Fulop’s Reserve Unit deployed to Iraq in January 2003. There, he served as part of the 6th Engineer Support Battalion. He traveled into Baghdad during the early weeks of the war. In 2006, Mayor Fulop completed his service to the Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of Corporal.

In 2005, Mayor Fulop was first elected to public office as the councilman representing downtown Jersey City.  He served as a councilman for eight years before becoming Mayor.

Mayor Fulop and his wife, Jaclyn, welcomed their first child, Jaxon, in early 2019.  The Mayor is an avid runner and triathlete. He ran the NYC Marathon in 2012, raising money for the Hudson County Child Abuse Prevention Center. He also competed in the Ironman Championship in NYC that year to raise money for veterans.

]]> Jocelyn Benson https://newdealleaders.org/leader/jocelyn-benson/ Sat, 18 Jan 2020 11:06:52 +0000 https://thenewdeal.flywheelsites.com/leaders/jocelyn-benson/ .avia-section.av-k5jpnbyp-1e830beeb821e85dde944388509bd709{ background-repeat:no-repeat; background-image:url(https://newdealleaders.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/header-tnd-1500x630.jpg); background-position:50% 0%; background-attachment:scroll; } .avia-section.av-k5jpnbyp-1e830beeb821e85dde944388509bd709 .av-section-color-overlay{ opacity:0.5; background-color:#000000; }

Jocelyn Benson

Secretary of State | Michigan







Jocelyn Benson is Michigan’s 43rd Secretary of State. In this role she is focused on ensuring elections are secure and accessible, and dramatically improving customer experiences for all who interact with our offices.

Benson is the author of State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process, the first major book on the role of the secretary of state in enforcing election and campaign finance laws. She is also the Chair of Michigan’s Task Force on Women in Sports, created by Governor Whitmer in 2019 to advance opportunities for women in Michigan as athletes and sports leaders.

A graduate of Harvard Law School and expert on civil rights law, education law and election law, Benson served as dean of Wayne State University Law School in Detroit. When she was appointed dean at age 36, she became the youngest woman in U.S. history to lead a top-100, accredited law school. She continues to serve as vice chair of the advisory board for the Levin Center at Wayne Law, which she founded with former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin. Previously, Benson was an associate professor and associate director of Wayne Law’s Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights.

Prior to her election, she served as CEO of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), a national nonprofit organization using the unifying power of sports to improve race relations.

Benson is co-founder and former president of Military Spouses of Michigan, a network dedicated to providing support and services to military spouses and their children.

In 2015, she became one of the youngest women in history to be inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.

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