Rocky Raczkowski Explained

Rocky Raczkowski
State House:Michigan
District:37th
Term Start:January 1, 1997
Term End:December 31, 2002
Predecessor:Jan C. Dolan
Successor:Aldo Vagnozzi
Birth Name:Andrew Raczkowski
Birth Date:29 December 1968
Birth Place:Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Party:Republican
Spouse:Amalia Kaddo
Education:Eastern Michigan University (BA)
Central Michigan University (MA)
Michigan State University (JD)
United States Army Command and General Staff College (MS)

Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski (born December 29, 1968[1]) is an American politician from Michigan who was the 2010 Republican nominee for .

Early life, education and career

A resident of Troy, he is a retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army Reserves. He served as the Chief Executive of Star Tickets Plus from 2007-2010[2] Raczkowski endorsed Rick Perry for the 2012 republican primary, and co chaired several events for his election, after Perry withdrawal, Raczkowski endorsed Rick Santorum. In the 2016 primaries, Raczkowski endorsed Ted Cruz.

Michigan House of Representatives

Raczkowski was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1997 to 2003, representing the 37th District (Farmington and Farmington Hills).[1] In 2002 he was term-limited, as Michigan House members cannot serve more than three two-year terms. Described as a militant law and order Republican Raczkowski was known for his extreme stances against Marijuana, Public Transit, and Detroit which has attracted controversy from both sides.

Political campaigns

2002 U.S. Senate campaign

See main article: 2002 United States Senate election in Michigan. Raczkowski won the Republican nomination for the United States Senate, but lost to the popular longtime Democratic incumbent Carl Levin by 60.6% to 37.9%.

2008 U.S. Senate campaign

See main article: 2008 United States Senate election in Michigan. Raczkowski was planning on running in the Republican primary to challenge Levin again,[3] but when he was called up for active duty, he was forced to drop out of the race.[4]

2010 U.S. Congressional campaign

Raczkowski challenged Democratic incumbent Gary Peters (who would later be elected Levin's successor in the Senate in 2014 upon his retirement) for, losing in the general election with 47% of the vote to Peters' 49% of the vote. Raczkowski won the Republican primary on August 3, 2010.[5] Raczkowski was dogged by advertisements revealing a civil action against him, in the United States District Court of South Dakota, for fraud, theft, and breach of contract by a concert promoter (case dismissed). Raczkowski's own lawsuit, alleging defamation in the advertisements, was thrown out in January 2011.[6] http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2011/01/26/news/doc4d40a169595ed419127634.txt Raczkowski's fraud trial was scheduled to begin on October 15, 2013 (dismissed).

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/raab-radway.html The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: R to Radzevich
  2. . Lawsuit haunts U.S. rep hopeful
  3. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080121/NEWS06/801210368/1008 2 in GOP poised to challenge Levin
  4. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080215/POLITICS01/802150437/1361/rss41 Raczkowski drops out of Senate race; Hoogendyk to challenge Levin
  5. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/sos/2010_Important_Dates_Filing_Deadline_259703_7.pdf 2010 August Primary and November General Election
  6. Web site: Judge throws out attack ad lawsuit against Rep. Gary Peters filed by former challenger. 28 January 2011.