While campaigning for the Michigan House of Representatives in 2014, Democrat Bryan Mielke was disturbed by the amount of poverty he noticed in Mount Pleasant. Witnessing families struggling inspired him to run for state representative again in 2016.

The Central Michigan University alumnus made the announcement of his campaign at his downtown Mount Pleasant company, DCG Inc., on Nov. 10. About 60 people attended the event.

He previously ran for the 99th House seat in 2014 against Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter (R-Mount Pleasant).

“It’s hard to see these people struggling and it doesn’t have to be this way. We need representation of our people and it seems like the representation we are getting in Lansing is where the big donors are,” Mielke said. “We should represent everyone, not the privileged few. I believe in giving back to my community.”

To end what he calls the “brain drain” problem of Michigan, where students leave the state to work after earning their education, Mielke wants to work to keep an educated workforce in state by offering credit to help pay off their student loans.

He said he wants to fix the “devastation” caused to Michigan’s public schools from the policies coming out of Lansing. With classroom funding cuts and a failed experiment with for-profit cyber schools, Michigan’s public school system has fallen to 42 in quality and 37 in safety.

“Our children need world class education if they are to prepare for the careers of the future. It’s time to put our kids first and for our elected officials to stop villainizing our educators,” he said.

A plan was recently passed that may result in only $52 million in road restoration next year, an amount not close to what is needed to fix Michigan’s roads, Mileke said in his speech.

The audience, many of who were holding signs, applauded when he said that the roads will continue to damage vehicles and frustrate Michigan’s job growth.

“While the new birthday tax on vehicle registration and the increased gas tax will take effect on us right after the next election. Isn’t it funny how that works out?” he said.

The Michigan House District is comprised of Isabella County and 10 other rural 99th townships in Midland County.

Mielke finished his undergraduate at CMU with a B.S. in computer science and mathematics before later receiving his Master of Science, also at CMU.

“There was a lot of energy in the crowd and a lot of passion. His excitement came through in his speech,” his wife Debra Mielke said. “He’s truly has a passion to make a positive difference. He sees a lot of areas in this district where people are struggling and knows he can change that in Lansing,”

After being a board member of the Union Township Economic Development Authority for two years, Mielke was elected to the Union Township Board of Trustees in 2012. He also serves on the Union Township Sign Ordinance and Intergovernmental Committees.

“He’s put in several hundreds of hours and his heart and soul. He’s in this for the right reason. He’s not here to make it a political push for himself, but to help the people and make sure they’re treated fairly in our state,” said campaign staffer and Mount Pleasant resident Rob Matevich.