Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski (born 1968) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 from Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, the 2010 Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 nominee for .

Early life, education and career

A resident of Farmington Hills

Farmington Hills, Michigan

Farmington Hills is a community in southeastern Michigan. It is the largest city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 79,740 at the 2010 census...

, he is a major with the U.S. Army Reserves. He served as the Chief Executive of Star Tickets Plus from 2007-2010

Michigan House of Representatives

Raczkowski was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1997 to 2003, representing the 37th District. In 2002 he was term-limited

Term limit

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...

, as Michigan House members cannot serve more than three two-year terms.

2002 U.S. Senate campaign

Raczkowski won the Republican nomination for the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, but lost to the popular longtime Democratic incumbent

Incumbent

The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...

 Carl Levin

Carl Levin

Carl Milton Levin is a Jewish-American United States Senator from Michigan, serving since 1979. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He is a member of the Democratic Party....

 by 60.6% to 37.9%.

2008 U.S. Senate campaign

Raczkowski was planning on running in the Republican primary to challenge Levin again, but when he was called up for active duty, he was forced to drop out of the race.

2010 U.S. Congressional campaign

Raczkowski challenged Democratic incumbent Gary Peters

Gary Peters (Michigan politician)

Gary Peters is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of Oakland County, a suburban county northwest of Detroit. He previously represented the 14th District in the Michigan Senate, and was a political science professor at...

 for , but lost the election along with Green Party nominee Douglas Campbell, Libertarian Party nominee Adam Goodman, Independent Bob Gray, and Independent Matthew Kuofie.

Raczkowski won the Republican primary on August 3, 2010. He lost in the general election with 47% of the vote to Peters' 49% of the vote.

External links

• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Voting record at Michigan Votes