Mark Yonkman

Mark Yonkman earned a high school diploma from Cadillac Senior High, a bachelor's degree from Kalamazoo College in 1982, and a law degree from Wayne State Law School in 1985.

His career experience includes working as a business executive.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a 6th-generation farmer, former Fortune 500 Executive, and community leader.

After being actively recruited to run by local agricultural leaders, local Republicans, and the local Democratic Party, I decided to take on the challenge.

I was raised on a family farm in Boon MI, where I live today. In those early days, we still had an outhouse and a hand pump in the kitchen. I also attended a one room schoolhouse.

My junior year in high school was spent in Brazil and my junior year while at Kalamazoo College in France.

During my career I practiced corporate and securities law and eventually became General Counsel - Corporate Finance at Comerica Bank.

While in Detroit I became a City of Detroit Foster Home and adopted two daughters as a single dad.

When Comerica moved its headquarters to Dallas, I moved to M&T Bank in New York, where he served as General Counsel & Secretary and head of Compliance.

I also co-founded Law School Yes I Can to create a pipeline of under-represented students to get into law school.

After retiring from banking I came back to our family farm after my parents passed away and I have personally experienced how difficult it is to re-start the family farm. I joined my county's Farm Bureau, where I now sit on the Board and chair its Policy Development Committee. I also am on my Township's Board of Review.

I have sat on numerous charitable and civic boards and have an extensive breadth of experience.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I am running to ensure that the practical wisdom of rural Michigan voters makes its way to the Legislature.

I have by far the most diverse and extensive background in business, banking, law, compliance, ethics & governance, farming and charitable activities.

Being a former foster home for the City of Detroit and the father of two black daughters gives me specific real world insight into the challenges facing our communities.

My platform isn't partisan; it is practical and focused on voter issues and rural Michigan. Michigan has suffered by not listening to the practical, insightful, common-sense voices of rural Michiganders.

I focus on Michigan’s needs as voiced by voters, including agriculture, energy & defense.Agriculture is key to the future of Michigan. We need to ensure that our agricultural production is resilient and hardened against the disruptions we might face in the future.

To that end, we must:

Ensure all US military bases are fed with US sourced food grown by American family farmers.

Ensure all farm equipment is EMP resistant.

Ensure farmers have right to maintain and repair the equipment they rightfully own during a war or conflict.

Ensure all farm equipment can operate without the presence of the Cloud or data services.

Ensure the US returns to growing the food we eat, and not just the food we sell. Food Security is national security.Energy is the biggest crisis facing Michigan. Our grid operator issued a Tier 3 alert in May of this year warning that the rolling blackouts it expected in 2028 are likely to occur much before that date.

Michigan tore down 1/3 of its base load generating capacity because in 2015 Michigan had a massive amount of excess generation capacity, making it the darling of our grid operator. Today, Michigan is teetering on the cliff of not having enough base load capacity.

We need to rebuild that capacity and figure out how to ensure that ratepayers do not bear that burden. Our utilities are excited about the prospect - they will receive cost + 10% to rebuild. We can't let that happen.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Agriculture, Defense, and Energy are my issues. And they are all inter-related.

We need to ensure that our grid is robust and hardened against disaster or war. The same goes for agriculture.

"Will we be able to generate enough electricity to beat China in the AI and data war?"

"Have we hardened our supply chains to ensure that we have what we need in North America?" Covid was a warning and wake up call. We have ignored the warning.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity, trustworthiness, work experience, life experience, and common sense.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Farmers and local officials. I do not solicit money from PACs of any kind. If I receive a contribution out of the blue, I will take it - I already established and completed a successful career.

At 65, I am not trying to build a political future. I already am in my future. It is a nice place to be because I don't have to worry about pleasing special interests in order to build a political career. I only have to answer to voters.