Tom Casperson

Infobox_State_Representative
name =Tom Casperson


date of birth=birth date and age|1959|07|20
place of birth =Escanaba, Michigan
state_house=Michigan
state = Michigan
district = 108th
term_start = January 3, 2003
preceded = Open State Office Seat
succeeded = Incumbent
party =Republican
religion = Christian
spouse = Diane Casperson

Tom Casperson (born July 20, 1959) is a politician from the State of Michigan. He is a Republican member of the Michigan State House of Representatives, representing the 108th district, which is located in the Upper Peninsula and includes Delta County, Menominee County, and Dickinson County.

Early life

Casperson was born in Escanaba, Michigan in 1959. He graduated from Escanaba High School in 1977. He has worked in his family's log trucking business, Casperson and Son Trucking, for the past 25 years. He has owned the business for the past 10 years. He is married to Diane Casperson. They have four children.

Political career

Casperson was elected in 2002. He is the vice chair of the House Transportation Committee and is a member of the Agriculture and Resource Management; Land Use and Environment; and Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security committees.

On May 14, 2008, Tom Casperson filed over 1700 petitions with the Secretary of State, formally launching his bid for Congress for the First Congressional District of Michiganas a Republican against incumbent Democrat Bart Stupak. That support translates into designating Casperson as the candidate that gathered the most support among all the candidates that have filed for the First Congressional District. Since his announcement on March 17, Casperson has traveled the entire District, covering all 31 Counties, and securing petitions from each county within the District.

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Casperson reported total campaign finance receipts of $102,059 as of July, 2008 - of which three quarters of that amount was donated by individuals, one eighth from Political Action Committees (PAC) and one eighth the candidate himself loaned to his campaign. As of July the two other Republican contenders for the 1st Congressional District seat had not filed financial reports with the FEC. (Under the Federal Election Campaign Act only candidates who have raised (or spent) over $5,000 are required to file financial reports.) Rep. Bart Stupak, (D) Menominee, reported to the FEC $730,541 in total receipts; of which the majority was contributed by PAC's. Roughly three-eighths of the congressman's contributions came from individuals.

According to the FEC, Americans for Constitutional Enforcement (ACE) of Iron Mountain, the Michigan Farm Bureau PAC, the National Electrical Contractors PAC, the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association Federal PAC, the MILEAD Fund, and several Republican candidates and groups constitute Casperson's PAC support. Stupak has 16 pages of PAC's listed in his FEC report. PAC's supporting Stupak include numerous communications giants like AT&T, Alltel, Time Warner, Motorola, Sony, Universal, Verizon and Viacom. (Stupak chairs the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the U.S. House Commerce Committee - which conducts investigations and oversight of the telecommunications industry.)

Electoral history

*2006 campaign for State House
**Tom Casperson (R), 55%
**Judy Nerat (D), 44%
*2004 campaign for State House
**Tom Casperson (R), 68%
**Dennis Baldinelli (D), 31%
*2002 campaign for State House
**Tom Casperson (R), 51%
**Laurie Stupak (D), 48%

External links

* [http://www.tomcasperson.com/ Official Campaign Website]