Patrick Duvendeck

Patrick Duvendeck graduated from Houghton Lake High School. He earned an associate degree from Mott Community College in 1981 and a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, Flint in 1985. His career experience includes working as an electrical engineer.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a small business owner,

conservative leader, and

retired General Motors

professional with more than 40

years of real world experience.

Over his career at GM, Pat rose

from a UAW electrician to

Manager of Machining Controls

Systems Engineering- leading

teams, solving complex

problems, and helping to keep

American manufacturing

strong.

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?

Families are being squeezed by stagnant wages and rising costs for

essentials such as healthcare, food, and energy. We need to attract more

good‑paying jobs to Genesee County and strengthen partnerships with

our local universities to ensure students graduate “job‑ready.” Energy

costs must be brought under control by pursuing meaningful energy

reforms that make utility bills more affordable and reliable. At the state

level, we must address waste, fraud, and overspending, cut income taxes,

and ensure taxpayer dollars are used responsibly.Michigan’s academic performance has declined—our reading ranking has fallen from 38th to 44th, and math scores are slipping as well. Simply increasing funding has not improved outcomes. We should study and

adopt proven strategies like the “Mississippi Miracle,” which dramatically improved literacy by focusing on phonics, teacher support, and accountability. Our schools must return to core academic fundamentals

and move away from ideological distractions.

I believe biological males should not compete in women’s sports or share women’s locker rooms

and bathrooms, to ensure fairness, safety, and privacy for female athletes.We must support our law enforcement officers and reject policies that are soft on crime. Safe communities depend on giving police the tools, training, and backing they need to enforce the law and protect residents.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I support legal immigration. Those who enter the country illegally should be returned to pursue the legal process and should not receive benefits or advantages over American citizens. Refugee admissions must involve thorough vetting, and all levels of law enforcement should cooperate to uphold federal immigration laws.

Patrick Duvendeck did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Patrick Duvendeck did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Duvendeck's campaign website highlighted the following themes:[9]

Education

​A strong education system in the county is key to preparing our kids and grandkids for opportunities to make their future one that can be better and let them find their full potential. It is how they will become prepared for college or jobs. For the third year in a row, Michigan’s budget included increased state funding for K-12 education, as well as funding for early childhood education and higher education. We need to get input from those in the classroom to help solve our education issues. Reviving of the economy and bringing jobs to Genesee County is what will really help to provide a robust funding and increased students to the educational systems here.

Jobs and the Economy

The most pressing issue facing Genesee County is the economy and jobs. While there are some positive growth in jobs the health care fields in the area and positive things like Michigan State bringing some of its Med school facilities here we need to find ways to accelerate other types of job growth in the area. We need to leverage the strengths of our higher education facilities and human resources and low cost business property to attract new businesses to Genesee County. We need to facilitate educational institutions like Kettering, U of M – Flint, Baker College, Mott CC and others to establish collaborative partnerships with business to assure the proper training to prepare people for jobs in those businesses and internship opportunities for students to get real on the job training, [sic] We need to bring together the fragmented efforts in the area for job retraining to be sure we are getting people ready for existing jobs.

Public Safety & Safe Neighborhoods

We need to follow through fixing the water problem in Flint and stop making it a political issue. We need to continue to fight crime in the area as well. Certainly the poor economy and lack of jobs has exacerbated this issue but we also have other systemic issues that contribute to it as well. We need more resources to combat crime in the area as well developing innovative methods of doing so. Reviving the economy in the area will help to bring money for these kinds of resources. In the long term we need to find ways to strengthen families and help people take back their neighborhoods. We need to reform entitlement systems to give people a hand up to get back on their feet and provide incentives and facilitate them to find and take advantage of opportunities to help them get good jobs and be able to make a better life and future for themselves and their families.[10]