Meet Curtis Hertel
Curtis Hertel has always been a relentless advocate for Mid-Michigan who believes that the only way to accomplish our shared goals is to take the time to listen and work with others to find solutions that help everyone.
As Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Director of Legislative Affairs, Hertel has been the state’s leader in passing bipartisan legislation that cut taxes for seniors and working families, expanded workers’ rights, and won additional new investments in advanced manufacturing that will bring good-paying jobs to Mid-Michigan and across the state. He was also instrumental in passing legislation that repealed the archaic 1931 law that banned abortion in Michigan, even in cases of rape and incest.
My heart sank when my son called me the night of the shooting, asking me what to barricade the door with. Like any parent, my immediate concern was my family, but in the days and weeks after that horrible night we all knew that we had to act. An abstract problem became a personal tragedy. Thoughts and prayers were not enough. I’m a proud Spartan myself and proud of how we came together to finally pass meaningful laws to help protect our kids.”
Curtis’s son is a student at MSU and was on campus the night of the unthinkable mass shooting that killed three students, injured five more, and terrified all Michiganders. In the wake of that tragedy, Curtis led the team that passed commonsense gun safety legislation, including red flag and safe storage laws and extreme risk protection orders.
As a State Legislator, Curtis led the fight to preserve Michigan’s status as the world leader in auto manufacturing and bring thousands of next-generation electric vehicle jobs to Mid-Michigan by working with Democrats and Republicans to help pass the legislation that won GM’s $6.5 billion investment in the Delta and Orion Township battery cell and electric vehicle plants.
Hertel has been a passionate supporter of Michigan’s first responders, including passing landmark bipartisan legislation to provide ongoing medical assistance to firefighters who get cancer as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals while on the job.
I was disgusted when I saw big banks kicking families out of their homes during the foreclosure crisis – even using forged documents to pad their own profits, so I sued them. It was time someone held big banks accountable to protect Michiganders.”
Curtis also served on the Ingham County Commission, where he worked to expand access to affordable health care, lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, and preserve Michigan farmland. Later as Register of Deeds, Curtis helped to uncover one of the largest cases of foreclosure fraud in Michigan history, taking some of the biggest banks in the country to court to preserve the homes of people who had been cheated.
Curtis Hertel knows that cutting taxes for retirees and working people, restoring vital manufacturing jobs, and protecting our rights and safety are all critical to Mid-Michigan, and none of them would have been accomplished without working with Democrats and Republicans to get it done.
Curtis and his wife Elizabeth have four children and live in East Lansing.
