Patrick Colbeck

Patrick J. Colbeck is a Republican member of the Michigan Senate, representing the northwestern portion of Wayne County.^[1] During his first term in the Michigan Senate, he served on the Senate Leadership Team as the Assistant Caucus Chair. He also served as the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and State Police budgets.

Early life

Colbeck is a graduate of Detroit Catholic Central High School. He later graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with a Bachelors of Science in Engineering for Aerospace in 1987 and a Masters of Science in Engineering for Aerospace in 1988.^[2] He went on to study Life Sciences for a summer at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France.

Colbeck was employed by Boeing as a Senior Design Engineer responsible for components of the Environmental Control and Life Support System and Quest Airlock module for International Space Station. He later provided contract systems engineering services to the Department of Defense for work on advanced simulation system for training military forces.^[3] Colbeck then served as a Management Consultant and President of Perspective Shifts, LLC. He launched Tek Made Easy in 2007 to provide SharePoint-based web services for clients. In 2006, he published the book Information Technology Roadmap for Professional Service Firms.^[4]

He is married to Angie, who lives with him in Canton, Michigan.^[5]

State Senator

During his service in the Michigan Senate, Colbeck led the effort to make Michigan the 24th Right-to-Work state in the United States. Recognized as the "most vocal opponent of anything to do with Obamacare",^[6] he led the effort to oppose state-based health exchanges in Michigan and Medicaid Expansion. He was successful regarding the state-based exchange effort but, despite a procedural move that temporarily blocked passage, he was ultimately unsuccessful in stopping Medicaid Expansion which is now referred to as the Healthy Michigan program. He was also responsible for the passage of legislation to expand school choice and he has been a vocal opponent of the Common Core Standards Initiative. He is a co-Founder and Board Member for the Michigan Armed Forces Hospitality Center known as the Freedom Center. ^[7]

2018 gubernatorial campaign

On May 31, 2017 Colbeck filed to run for Michigan Governor^[8] to replace current Republican Governor Rick Snyder, whose second and final term will expire in January 2019.^[9] On July 22 Colbeck officially launched his campaign, emphasizing "efforts to build better roads, provide cheaper health plans with better quality care and hold the state government accountable for its use of money."^[10]

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