Grand Rapids, MI- Kent County Commissioner Robert S. Womack announced on Thursday April 28, that he is running to represent West Michigan for the 82nd District State House of Representatives.
Womack, who has been a Kent County Commissioner representing the Southeast side of Grand Rapids for the past six years, announced his run during a soft launch campaign rally held at Yesterdog, a popular hot dog restaurant in Grand Rapids.
In regard to his experience as a Commissioner, Womack noted that his history as a commissioner gave him the experience to serve the citizens of Kent County. He helped allocate a recent $400 million budget, funds to support housing, wage equity and health needs.
“I’m running because we need somebody at the state level that understands that position,” Womack Said. “There’s nobody better in my district to immediately take that position than me.”
Womack wants to make sure that the Breanna Taylor Law makes it to the Floor of the House so ‘no knock’ warrants are eliminated, and that LGBTQ rights are finally a part of the Elliot Larson Bill, for protection against discrimination. Another priority for Womack is that Grand Rapids and Kent County are getting the state revenue sharing returned back to the entities in its entirety.
Womack also said, “I’m running also to help protect the voters rights. We have challenges to the voters rights, we have challenges to elections. But instead of just looking at the ballot box, they (opposing Republican challengers) are beginning to look at what they can do to disenfranchise voters.”
Growing up in Grand Rapids, He left the city at age 17 for New York where he stayed for 17 years, including a year spent living in Denmark. Traveling, and living in different places, especially New York, gave a different insight to life to Womack. On a visit back to Grand Rapids, He saw some immediate needs and moved back to his hometown.
“I knew that people needed to understand the power of the people, and what they were capable of, and what their true potential was. So I began to talk more on the radio, to help develop some of that true potential that we have here in Grand Rapids, especially when it comes to communities of color, because the community as a whole cannot suffice. And go to the next level, unless everybody goes to the next level,” Womack said. “Yeah, I mean, everybody, because we’re all human beings. In the world, we have to interact with each other.”
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