Kara Hope
2023 - Present
2025
1
Kara Hope (Democratic Party) is a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 74. She assumed office on January 1, 2023. Her current term ends on January 1, 2025.
Hope (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 74. She is on the ballot in the Democratic primary on August 6, 2024.[source]
Hope completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kara Hope was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She earned a high school diploma from Ionia High School. Hope earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University in 1997 and a juris doctor from Western Michigan University in 2003. Her career experience includes working as a prehearing attorney with the Michigan Court of Appeals, a lawyer in private practice, and a newspaper journalist. Hope has served on the Ingham County Commission and has been affiliated with the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.[1][2]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
The primary will occur on August 6, 2024. The general election will occur on November 5, 2024. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 74
Incumbent Kara Hope is running in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 74 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Kara Hope  | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 74
Tom Izzo is running in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 74 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Tom Izzo | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2022
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 74
Incumbent Kara Hope defeated Jennifer Sokol in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 74 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kara Hope (D) | 69.2 | 24,831 |
| Jennifer Sokol (R) | 30.8 | 11,077 | |
| Total votes: 35,908 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 74
Incumbent Kara Hope defeated Carlee Knott and Albert Kelley Jr. in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 74 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kara Hope | 72.7 | 8,058 |
 | Carlee Knott | 17.4 | 1,926 | |
| Albert Kelley Jr. | 10.0 | 1,104 | |
| Total votes: 11,088 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 74
Jennifer Sokol advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 74 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jennifer Sokol | 100.0 | 4,281 |
| Total votes: 4,281 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
2020
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 67
Incumbent Kara Hope defeated Nate Ross in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 67 on November 3, 2020.
| Total votes: 52,454 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 67
Incumbent Kara Hope advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 67 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kara Hope | 100.0 | 12,477 |
| Total votes: 12,477 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 67
Nate Ross defeated Clyde Thomas in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 67 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nate Ross | 65.3 | 5,390 |
| Clyde Thomas | 34.7 | 2,858 | |
| Total votes: 8,248 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Hope's endorsements in the 2020 election, include:
- LEAP Forward[3]
To view Hope's list of endorsements, please click here.
2018
See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2018
General election
General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 67
Kara Hope defeated Leon Clark and Zachary Moreau in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 67 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kara Hope (D) | 53.7 | 22,565 |
 | Leon Clark (R) | 43.9 | 18,454 | |
| Zachary Moreau (L) | 2.4 | 994 | |
| Total votes: 42,013 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 67
Kara Hope defeated Max Donovan, Alec Findlay, Derek Stephens, and Brent Domann in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 67 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kara Hope | 71.5 | 7,615 |
 | Max Donovan | 8.8 | 941 | |
 | Alec Findlay | 8.2 | 870 | |
| Derek Stephens | 6.6 | 707 | |
| Brent Domann | 4.9 | 521 | |
| Total votes: 10,654 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 67
Leon Clark defeated Clyde Thomas in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 67 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Leon Clark | 65.3 | 4,967 |
| Clyde Thomas | 34.7 | 2,640 | |
| Total votes: 7,607 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Libertarian primary election
Libertarian primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 67
Zachary Moreau advanced from the Libertarian primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 67 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Zachary Moreau | 100.0 | 100 |
| Total votes: 100 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kara Hope completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hope's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I am a public servant at heart and an attorney by training. It has been my honor to serve South Lansing and Holt for the past 12 years, first as county commissioner and now as state representative. Before being elected, I served my community as a volunteer lawyer and as the founding president of the Holt Community Arts Council, an all-volunteer nonprofit whose mission was to make art more accessible to more people. As a legislator, I have prioritized lifting up working families like the one I grew up in.
- I am working hard for working families. That means improving our public schools by providing free breakfast and lunch for all students K-12. It means making taxes fairer, especially for those who work hard but have trouble getting ahead and retirees who worked hard all their lives for their retirement benefits.
- I am fighting for our Constitution and a healthy democracy where voting is accessible to as many qualified voters as is possible. I have supported efforts to get money out of politics and to improve transparency. And I recently introduced legislation that would give citizens a fighting chance against corporations’ punitive, frivolous lawsuits intended to silence critics.
- I am defending reproductive freedom by repealing the abortion ban and expanding access to healthcare, including contraceptives, abortion care, and pre- and post-natal care for mothers and babies. Mothers need support after their children are born, including equal pay, paid leave, and predictable work schedules..
I am passionate about freedom and fairness. This includes everything from reproductive freedom to criminal justice reform to fighting income inequality. I proudly supported expanding Michigan’s civil rights protections to include sexual orientation and gender expression. I am grateful to have been part of improving our courts to better serve troubled young people and those fighting addiction, mental illness, and other barriers.
My first responsibility is to protect the Constitutions of the state and country. My second responsibility is to listen to constituents with an ear toward helping them. Help can be in the form of proposed legislation or — more often — in the form of helping a resident navigate state government to get the services they need. A deep commitment to public service is required to perform the job of elected leader.
Excluding babysitting, which I started early, my first job was working in a fast food restaurant. This was a sometimes miserable but important experience. Customer service gives an insight into people that is invaluable whether you want to serve in public office or just be a better human. I worked in fast food for the summer I was 16, but I went on to work a number of food service and customer service jobs. I learned something at every single job.
The first bill I introduced as a state legislator was a bill to ban child marriage. It took two more attempts before this bill became law. Legislating requires tenacity, patience, and compassion. And it takes a willingness to listen — a skill that is underrated but essential.
Planned Parenthood, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, UAW, AFL-CIO, the Carpenters union, LiUNA (laborers union) MI Nurses Association, the Firefighters union, and more.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2022
Kara Hope did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Kara Hope completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hope's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I currently serve Michigan's 67th House District as its state representative. I am an attorney and a public servant who grew up in a working family in Ionia, Michigan. I was the first in my family to get a college degree. I have experience at the grassroots -- starting an all-volunteer arts nonprofit -- and experience in the private, public, and academic sectors. I served as an Ingham County Commissioner for three terms. I am dedicated to making Michigan work for everyone. My husband, Evan, and I have been married for 14 years. We have raised our niece and nephew.
- I will work for a strong public education system because it is vital to our state's future.
- I will fight for local communities, so they can provide the essential services residents rely on.
- I will work to make Michigan a more just place for all residents.
Featured local questionWith Michigan's short term limits, strong ethics and transparency laws are essential. I support financial disclosures for all elected officials, and I have co-sponsored bills that would mandate disclosures. I have also voluntarily disclosed my finances. Currently in Michigan, legislators are not required to disclose their sources of income or potential conflicts of interest. It is voluntary. With little information about where a legislator and her family derive their income, the public does not have the information needed to determine whether a legislator's vote is self-serving. I have also co-sponsored bills that would make legislators subject to freedom of information requirements.
Featured local questionMichigan is legally required to produce a balanced budget every year. Like many other states, we are hoping for more assistance from the federal government. Cuts would be extremely painful in Michigan. In fact, there is not much "fat" left to cut. Even before the pandemic, Michigan's revenues have not kept pace with costs. We have one of the smallest (proportionately) state government work forces despite being 10th in population. Past legislatures have given huge tax breaks to corporations while initiating a new tax on seniors' pensions and shortchanging local communities. Our population is older than that of most other states, so implementing new taxes on individuals does not seem like a sustainable plan. We should re-evaluate how we tax in this state to make it fairer to more individual taxpayers; corporations should pay their fair share.
Public education; revenue sharing/funding for local communities; criminal justice reform; access to democracy (elections, government transparency, etc.); the right to make one's own healthcare decisions; and protecting the environment.
I am a good listener and a good communicator. Those qualities are essential to being a successful public servant. I am also practical -- not every issue has to be a partisan battle. I think humility is underrated as a quality in a public servant: I am the first to admit when I was wrong or when I need to learn more. And I am an inquisitive person, so I am willing to do the work to learn what I need to know. I think some people get into elected office for the wrong reasons -- basically selfish reasons. I am here to serve. I am here to improve my community and my state. I am not really interested in any of the trappings that come with the job. If it doesn't help my constituents, I am not interested.
I remember the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. I was six years old. My mother and I were at my grandparents' house when we saw the breaking news on TV. It made a lasting impression because of the violence and chaos depicted in the footage of the incident and because the adults around me appeared to be concerned.
I am an avid reader, so I don't have one favorite book. I usually alternate between fiction and nonfiction. Like many people, I consumed too much TV during the stay-home order. After streaming "Little Fires Everywhere," I had to read the novel of the same name by Celeste Ng. As much as I liked the series, I liked the novel better. Right now I am reading "Becoming," Michelle Obama's memoir. As a history and politics nerd, I enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at the Obama campaigns and presidency. But as someone who grew up in a working-class family in the Midwest, I find myself relating to parts of Mrs. Obama's personal story.
It is absolutely beneficial to have experience as a public servant before seeking election to the legislature. Government budgets are not like any other type of budget -- they are not like personal or household budgets, and they are not like business budgets. Experience in creating a government budget and seeing it carried out are invaluable background to bring to the state legislature. It is also important to get a sense of what people want and need. You can get that only by talking to thousands of people from all walks of life. So many politicians are out of touch; they might succeed politically, but they usually fail the people who need them the most.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Hope was assigned to the following committees:
- Criminal Justice Committee (Decommissioned), Chair
- Elections Committee
- House Oversight Committee, Majority Vice Chair
- Judiciary Committee
2021-2022
Hope was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Hope was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Tourism Committee
- Elections and Ethics Committee
- Local Government and Municipal Finance Committee
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Michigan scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2023, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 11 to November 14.
|
2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2022, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 12 to December 28.
|
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2021, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 13 to December 31.
|
2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2020, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 8 to December 31.
|
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2019, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 9 through December 31.
|
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Michigan House of Representatives District 74 |
Officeholder Michigan House of Representatives District 74 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 28, 2020
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 8, 2024
- ↑ LEAP Forward, "6. ENDORSEMENTS," accessed June 30, 2020
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Michigan House of Representatives District 74 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Michigan House of Representatives District 67 2019-2023 |
Succeeded by - |
