Last updated on September 11th, 2018 at 07:13 am
Rick Snyder is the incumbent Governor of Michigan who took office on January 1, 2011, as the successor of Jennifer Granholm. Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley also took office on January 1 alongside Snyder. Formerly, Rick was Chairman of the board of Gateway, Inc., CEO of Ardesta LLC and a venture capitalist.
Early Life and Education
Richard Dale Snyder was born on August 19, 1958, to father Dale F. Snyder and mother Helen Louella. He grew up with his sister in Battle Creek, in Michigan. They both went to Lakeview High School for early education. While at Lakeview, Snyder was heavily involved in taking college credit classes.
Always an intelligent and diligent person, Rick Snyder joined the University of Michigan and commenced his college career under his own interdisciplinary faculty. In 1977, Snyder completed his Bachelor of General Studies; later, in 1979, he finished MBA; and finally, in 1982, Snyder earned a JD degree.
Personal Life
Rick Snyder is a married man with three children. He and his First Lady of Michigan, wife Sue Snyder, live in Ann Arbor. They have been married for 29 years.
Career in Business
Leaving the University of Michigan in 1982, Snyder joined Coopers & Lybrand. Starting as a normal employee, Snyder gradually rose to become a partner and a partner-in-charge by the time he left the office in 1991. He also worked as an accounting professor at the University of Michigan for two years, starting in 1982.
After leaving Coopers & Lybrand, Snyder went to work as executive vice president for Gateway. He was quickly promoted to President in 1996 and subsequently served as chairman of the board of directors. Snyder was also an acting CEO of Gateway in 2006. As the company was sold to Acer, Snyder left the lucrative job and founded his own venture capital company called Avalon Investments. Later, he moved on to establish and run several other organizations such as Ardesta LLC and HealthMedia.
Career in Political
Although Rick Snyder never held a public office before, he made a bold decision to directly run to 2010 Michigan Gubernatorial Republican Primary Election. Fortunately, he won the Republican nomination with 36.4% votes, defeating Pete Hoekstra (26.8%), Mike Cox (23%). Mike Bouchard (12.2%) and Tom George (1.6%). In the final Michigan Gubernatorial Election, Snyder saw a massive triumph with 58.11% votes in favor. The second-placed Democrat Virg Bernero had 39.9% votes.
In the 2014 Michigan Gubernatorial Election, Rick faced Democrat Mark Schauer, Libertarian Mary Buzuma, Taxpayers Mark McFarlin and Green Paul Homeniuk. Snyder again won the election with 50.92% votes, though with a closer margin against Mark Schauer.
As Governor, Snyder proposed his first state budget in 2011 and mainly focussed on cutting spending, raising tax revenue by prohibiting tax exemptions and easing complex corporate tax system. Likewise, he signed a bill to hand over the power to take actions on financial issues to emergency managers. Snyder also proposed for an exemption of same-sex couples from receiving state health benefits, although the bill was downturned by a federal judge. As Governor, Rick made state visits to Afghanistan, Germany, and several other European countries. He also went to Israel and had diplomatic talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Since the start of 2011, Rick was continuously picked upon for failing to solve the Flint water crisis. Although Snyder managed to appoint several emergency managers in Flint, he couldn’t reduce the number of people being affected by the presence of lead in Flint drinking water. On top of that, the government had been accused of trying to hide such a tragedy from the public. As of 2016, Snyder had a drowning approval rating of 40%.
Updates and controversy
In January 2018, Rick Synder announced the resignation of State Budget Director Al Pscholka. At the same time, he also announced the appointment of John Walsh as the replacement of Al Pscholka.
In April 2018, CNN reported that Synder ends a free bottled water program in Flint accepting the water quality has been restored. However, most of the residents have not believed in his words and felt unsafe to drink or use yet. Then, he announced that testing has shown the levels of lead in the city’s water are below the federal limit and the water quality is “Well within the standards”. But, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the one who has first noticed rising of blood leads levels in Flint’s children provoked Rick to acknowledge the crisis as she was disappointed by the government decision. She then tweeted “This is wrong. Until all lead pipes are replaced, the state should make available bottled water and filters to Flint residents”.
Subsequently, due to his blunder in dealing with Flint, the people of the State of Michigan stated that they are fed up with him. They said that Synder has proven himself to be more concerned about business rather than the people living in his state. They also accepted that he should resign and be out of office now. But he denied the Congress to resign and stated “I kick myself every day” over the toxic water crisis in Flint. Then, one of the Democratic congressmen told Rick “You sit there dripping with guilt. People who put dollars over the fundamental safety of the public do not deserve public office and you need to resign, governor.” After that, the repeated demands of his resignation raised inquiry. However, until now there is no information on whether the inquiry has proceeded or not.
Donald Trump and Rick Snyder
Being affiliated with the Republican party, the two leaders obviously resemble each other on various economic and political stands. The two agree on budget cuts to solve the debt crisis, but Snyder remains a bit flexible on tax policies.
Rick seemed saddened for not hearing back from President Donald Trump after several congratulatory calls from Michigan Governor’s office. Also, he must have felt a bit awkward when Trump brought up Snyder disagreeing to endorse him. While posing for a photo, Trump said, “Come on governor, even though you didn’t endorse me.”
