A former MCCC student is running for the Michigan House of Representatives.
Anne Rossio of Carleton is on the ballot for the newly drawn 17th District, running against Bill Lavoy of Monroe.
Rossio stresses her commitment to working across the aisle so strongly that it may make both House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama sick, but she hopes it will punch her ticket to Lansing.
She is running as a Republican.
“I was raised a Republican, and have been a Republican my whole life,” adding, “I believe in low taxes, smaller government, and strong family values.”
However, party will come second, she said, to her aspiration to work with Republicans or Democrats to get things done.
“I think people are tired of partisan politics,” she said.
Her campaign T-shirt doubles down on bi-partisanship. The T-shirt features two shaking hands – on one forearm is the Democrat donkey, on the other is the Republican elephant, and at the top is her campaign slogan, “We can all agree.”
She recalls comments from her door-to-door campaign, when people told her, “You’re different; you’re actually real.”
“This is me,” she said, showing off her Adidas sandals.
“They have the cushion, but I’m professional, too; see, I have the polo on.”
Rossio is a product of MCCC and though she had trouble remembering the year she graduated, she does not forget the impact the school had on her. “2004?” she asked. “I loved the community college, the facilities and staff were great. I was not ready to leave and it really helped to get me ready,” she said.
Rossio credits MCCC and the community college setting in general with helping her get ready for higher education, noting that smaller classes allow students to “harass the professors, in an educational way of course.”
At MCCC, Rossio worked as a tutor and was vice president of the Math and Science Society.
After MCCC, Rossio completed her bachelor’s degree at Northern Michigan University and is currently in her third year of law school at Wayne State University.
Rossio said she would like to have an impact on education. Most important, she would like to impede the pace of tuition increases. She warns that if something is not done, higher education will become a privilege for only the wealthy.
“People who have the desire to pursue higher education, should be able to do it,” she said.
“Universities are building these spas and serving lobster; we don’t need spas and lobster, we need small classes and good professors.”
Rossio is also a fan of Gov. Rick Snyder. She said she thought he handledthe questions he was asked well during a summer visit to MCCC.
She gives Snyder high grades for the job he has done during his first two years in office. “I think an A means perfect, but nobody’s perfect, so probably an A-,” she said.
