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Peters seeks to work for the middle class
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Democrat Gary Peters, newly elected to Congress from Michigan's 9th District, aims to work for the middle class when he takes office in January.
Peters, 49, who defeated eight-term Republican incumbent Joe Knollenberg in the Nov. 4 election, favors a middle class tax cut, allowing all Americans access to the same type of health care coverage as members of Congress, cutting taxes on small businesses, ending tax subsidies for big oil companies, investing in alternative energy sources, and protecting the auto industry to enable it to develop a new generation of vehicles. A former lieutenant commander and Seabee combat warfare specialist in the Navy Reserve, Peters favors extending veterans benefits to troops in the National Guard and Reserve.
A resident of Bloomfield Township, Peters comes to Congress with experience in both politics and the private sector. As a state senator from 1995 to 2002, Peters chaired the Democratic caucus, and sponsored legislation that banned directional slant oil drilling in the Great Lakes and made it illegal for convicted felons to possess body armor. After narrowly losing a race for Michigan attorney general in 2002, Peters served as state lottery commissioner from 2003 to 2007, during which time lottery operations were streamlined and new games were introduced. After resigning as lottery commissioner to run for Congress, Peters has been a professor of political science at Central Michigan University.
For 20 years, Peters worked in the financial sector, rising to be a vice president at Merrill Lynch and UBS/Paine Webber. He has been a senior policy and financial analyst at the Michigan Department of Treasury; taught finance at Wayne State University, and strategic management and business policy at Oakland University; and served on the Rochester Hills City Council.
Peters received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Alma College, a Master of Business Administration degree in finance from the University of Detroit Mercy, a Juris Doctor degree from Wayne State University Law School, and a Master of Arts degree in philosophy from Michigan State University. He is married and has three children.
