Andy Schor

He also represented the 68th district in the Michigan House of Representatives, which includes most of the City of Lansing and all of Lansing Township.

Schor is the first Jewish mayor of Lansing.

Schor grew up in Long Island New York with his mother and father.

His father found employment as a diamond distributor while his mother found work in a nursing home.

Schor moved to Michigan to attend the University of Michigan, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History.

During his time at the University of Michigan, Schor took a semester off to be involved with the Clinton Gore campaign his senior year as a paid staffer.

Schor served as a board member of the Tri-County Office of Aging and the South Lansing Community Development Association.

Andy Schor (born March 20, 1975) is an American politician currently serving as the 52nd mayor of Lansing, Michigan.

A member of the Democratic Party, Schor was previously a member of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners.

Schor was elected to the Ingham County Board of Commissioners in 2002 and re-elected four times, serving through 2012.

Schor was also critical of a 2003 Michigan Supreme Court ruling that gave school superintendents control over school construction, stripping the right from local communities to make decisions, saying “These are community, local decisions, and the only people who don't have to abide by them are the schools”.

He also added that this ruling had been “frustrating for local governments everywhere”.

Schor was among the members of the Board to create the Ingham County Land Bank in 2005.

In 2006, as a member of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners, Schor said that people who move out of cities to townships won’t know what they are giving up until they move.

“Once they make that move, they notice what they're missing,” Schor said, referring to amenities provided by city governments like sidewalks, parks, and public safety (i.e police and fire departments).

He also blamed state governments for deteriorating city services due to declining revenue sharing cuts.

In 2007, Schor supported a cost increase for Ingham County Sheriffs to patrol townships stating he believed that out-county communities should pay an additional fee for road patrol services that are provided.

Schor was supportive of a 2008 bill that would provide urban development areas with a 20% tax credit saying “From our perspective, anything that creates an incentive for more revitalization and redevelopment in urban areas ... is important”.

Schor has also worked as assistant director of state affairs for the Michigan Municipal League, as aide for then-State Senator Gary Peters and in the administration of former Governor Jennifer Granholm.

He echoed these remarks again in 2010 by saying that since road patrol is a service only received by out-county areas, Lansing residents shouldn’t pay for it.

On August 7, 2012, Schor won the Democratic Primary for State Representative 68th District with 3,142 votes, which was 43.19% of the vote total.

On November 6, 2012, Schor won the general election against Republican candidate, Timothy Moede, who was a retired Lansing Fire Department battalion chief.

Schor received 29,023 votes (76.18% of the vote total), to Moede’s 8,861 votes (23.26% of the vote total).

Schor regards that his proudest moment in the State House was the 2013 passage of the Healthy Michigan initiative, which was the state's version of Medicaid expansion under Obamacare.

He talks about it as “the most important vote I made in my career," an initiative that led to more than 600,000 people signing on to the plan. Schor and state Rep. Kate Segal negotiated on behalf of the Democrats with the governor and Republicans in the House and Senate to see it passed.

On November 4, 2014, Schor was re-elected State Representative of the 68th District, defeating Republican challenger Rob Secaur.

Schor received 19,602 votes (76.91% of the vote total), to Secaur’s 5,884 votes (23.09% of the vote total).

In 2016, Schor chose to run for his third term as State Representative for the 68th District.

This would be his last available two-year term in the State House per Article IV § 54 of the State Constitution, that limits the amount a state representative can be elected to no more than three times.

On August 2, 2016, Schor won the Democratic Primary with 6,388 votes, which was 81% of the vote total.

In the general election on November 8, 2016, Schor was re-elected for his final term, receiving 28,373 votes (72.88% of the vote total).

He defeated Republican nominee Randy Pilon, who had received 8,365 votes (21.49% of the vote total), and Libertarian nominee Robert Powell, who had received 2,132 votes (5.48% of the vote total).

In 2016, there were rumors that Rep. Schor was considering running against current Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero in the upcoming election in 2017.

During his bid for Mayor of Lansing in 2017, Schor reflected on this time by stating he learned a lot of what he knows about running a city from his time at the Michigan Municipal League.

Schor remarks that this is where he demonstrated his understanding of cities economic development needs and he successfully advocated for several laws creating municipal economic development tools.

In the Michigan House of Representatives, Schor served as Minority Vice-Chair of the House Committee on Commerce and Trade, and as a member of the House Education, House Health Policy, House Michigan Competitiveness, House Elections and Ethics, and House Regulatory Reform committees.

In February 2017, Schor announced his primary run for mayor of Lansing.

Due to state legislative term limits, he had to leave the state House at the end of the 2018 session.

Schor responded to the rumors stating that "If I run for mayor, it's because I want to be mayor, not because I need a job," he said.

Schor added that he'd only want to be mayor if he concludes "it's best for the city."