Rick Baxter
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| Rick Isaiah Baxter | |
 Rick Baxter official portrait
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| Born | July 18, 1979  Jackson County U.S. |
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| Occupation | Businessman, Politician, and Chairman of the Jackson County Republican Party |
| Spouse | Erica Ann |
| Children | Isaac Isaiah, Rachel Ann, & Seth Alexander |
Rick Baxter is a businessman and politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He currently is the Business Development Director for his family's company Baxter Machine & Tool Co., Inc. in Jackson, Michigan. He also serves as the chairman of the Jackson County Republican Party.
Baxter's previous positions have been District Director for Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) (2007), Republican State Representative in the Michigan House of Representatives (2005 - 2006), County Commissioner for Jackson County, Michigan (2003 - 2004), and holding several positions, most recently as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), for Baxter Machine & Tool Co., Inc. (1997 - 2004).
Baxter also volunteers as a guest speaker at his local church and has served as their Treasurer since 2005.
Rick Baxter is a graduate of Lenawee Christian schools in Adrian, Michigan (1997) and received his Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) from Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Michigan (2003).
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[edit] Elections & Public Service
Baxter's first campaign was in 2002 when he ran for the Jackson County (Michigan) Commission. He defeated the two-term incumbent Republican county commissioner in the primary and went on to win the seat, unopposed, in November. Baxter's first major action, in 2003, as a County Commissioner that drew much attention was when he proposed the "Sanctity of Marriage” Resolution, in the County of Jackson. This resolution, obviously, was a polarizing element in the State of Michigan at the time. In the end the resolution passed by one vote.
In 2004, Baxter ran for an open seat for State Representative. He defeated two other Republicans in the primary. The general election also included a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as "Between one-man and one-woman." Many believe that issue brought enough social conservatives to the polls to help in close elections such as Baxter's. Baxter went on to win a very tight race, winning by 358 votes out of a total of 37,714.
For his next re-election, in 2006, he was challenged in the primary by a formally defeated fellow Republican. Baxter easily defeated him with over 65% of the vote but went on to lose his re-election bid in the general. Both parties combined spent almost 1.5 million dollars for their candidates in 2006. That race, to date, was the most expensive State Representative race in Jackson County's history.
Much has been rumored about Baxter's political plans for 2008. To date, he has not made any formal steps toward running for office.
[edit] Party Chair
Since 2007 Baxter has served as chair of the Jackson County Republican Party. During that time he has completely reorganized the local party by rewriting their by-laws and consolidating their committees to be more broad and effective. In his first major act as county chair he secured Karl Rove as the keynote speaker for the party's major fundraiser of the year, the Lincoln Day Dinner. Under Baxter's leadership the event raised over $20,000, well over double what any preceding Lincoln Day event had raised.
Chairman Baxter continues to lead the organization and plans to continue the organization's focus on fundraising. In 2008 he has started to organize the Party to work more closely with candidates, at all levels, to share costs, strategies, and resources. In 2008 Baxter also secured the Acting Administrator of the US Small Business Administration, Jovita Carranza, as the county party's keynote speaker for their annual Lincoln Day fundraiser.
[edit] Businessman
Baxter's business career started after he graduated in 1997 from Lenawee Christian schools in Adrian, Michigan. He began working in the summer of 1997 as a CAD Tech/Accounting Assistant and worked his way up to Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2003. He left the company at the end of 2004 to become State Representative.
In October of 2007 he left his position as District Director for Congressman Tim Walberg to rejoin the family business as their Business Development Director. In this position he handles Baxter Machine's business development, sales, and customer relations.
[edit] Electoral history
- 2006 State House (64) General Election
- Rick Baxter (R), 47.4%
- Martin Griffin (D), 52.6%
- 2006 State House (64) Primary Election
- Rick Baxter (R), 65.3%
- Bob Ross (R), 34.7%
- 2004 State House (64) General Election
- Rick Baxter (R), 49.8%
- Martin Griffin (D), 48.8%
- Bob Ross Write-In, 1.3%
- 2004 State House (64) Primary Election
- Rick Baxter (R), 44.3%
- Bob Ross (R), 28.8%
- Jon Williams (R), 26.8%
- 2002 Jackson County Commission (05) Primary Election
- Rick Baxter (R), 40.2%
- Alan Miltich (R), 32.4%
- Judy Reynolds (R), 23.0%
- Trish O'Shea (R), 4.4%
