Fred Upton

Upton was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, the son of Elizabeth B. (née Vial) and Stephen Edward Upton (1924–2022 ).

Frederick Stephen Upton (born April 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1987 to 2023, representing the state's 6th congressional district since 1993.

He is a member of the Republican Party.

After redistricting, Upton decided to run in the newly redrawn Michigan's 6th congressional district, winning reelection to a fourth term with 62% of the vote.

After redistricting, Upton faced a primary challenge from State Senator Dale Shugars.

Upton defeated Shugars 66%–32%.

He won the general election with 69% of the vote.

Upton defeated Democratic nominee Scott Elliott, an art gallery owner, 65%–32%.

Upton defeated Democratic nominee Kim Clark, 61%–38%.

Upton defeated Democratic nominee Don Cooney, a Kalamazoo City Commissioner, 59%–39%.

Upton defeated former State Representative Jack Hoogendyk in the Republican primary, 57%–43%.

In the general election, he defeated Cooney, 62%–34%.

He attended Shattuck-Saint Mary's, graduating in 1971.

He earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Michigan in 1975.

He was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, Peninsular Chapter, and became a sports editor at The Michigan Daily and thought he might someday cover the Chicago Cubs.

He served on the congressional staff of U.S. Representative David Stockman from 1976 to 1980.

He was in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1985, while Stockman served as OMB Director.

Upton ran in Michigan's 4th congressional district against incumbent Mark Siljander, Stockman's successor.

Upton won the Republican primary 55%–45% and the general election with 62% of the vote.

Upton won reelection to a second term with 71% of the vote.

Upton defeated Ed Fredricks in the Republican primary, 63%–37%.

In the general election, he was reelected to a third term with 58% of the vote.

His district, numbered as the 4th district from 1987 to 1993, is based in Kalamazoo and stretches along the Michigan-Indiana border in the southwestern part of the state.

A former chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Upton has played a major role in shaping post-Obamacare health care legislation.

He is the only person in American history to vote to impeach two presidents; he voted for the impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998 and the second impeachment of Donald Trump in 2021, as one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.

After Sander Levin retired at the end of the 115th Congress, Upton became the dean of Michigan's congressional delegation.

Redrawn into the 4th district, Upton did not seek reelection in 2022, and retired from Congress upon his 18th term's expiration in 2023.

In 2011, Hoogendyk met with the Club for Growth, a conservative 501(c)4 organization, about running against Upton again.

Upton had been criticized for not being conservative enough by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, FreedomWorks, Right to Life of Michigan, and the Southwest Michigan Tea Party Patriots.

On January 17, 2012, Hoogendyk announced that he would challenge Upton in the primary, the winner of which would face the Democratic nominee, former marine and businessman Mike O'Brien.

Initial polls showed Upton with a sizable lead over O'Brien, but an October poll showed Upton and O'Brien in a dead heat heading into the final stretch of the campaign.

Upton won with 55.9% of the vote, defeating Democrat Paul Clements, Libertarian Erwin Haas, and Green Party candidate John Lawrence.

Upton was reelected, defeating Democratic nominee Paul Clements, a political science professor at Western Michigan University, 58.5%–36.4%.

Upton was reelected with 50.2% of the vote against Democratic nominee Matt Longjohn (45.75%) and U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate Stephen Young (4.1%).

Upton was reelected with 55.9% of the vote against Democratic nominee Jon Hoadley (40.2%), Libertarian Party nominee Jeff Depoy (2.75%), and Green Party candidate John Lawrence (1.2%).

Upton has been a member of moderate Republican factions The Tuesday Group and the Republican Main Street Partnership.

On February 4, 2021, he joined 10 other Republican House members voting with all voting Democrats to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her House Education and Labor Committee and House Budget Committee assignments in response to controversial political statements she had made.

Upton voted against passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and has since voted in favor of its complete repeal.

In November 2013, in response to Americans losing their health insurance coverage because of the ACA, Upton proposed a bill that would allow them to retain it.

The essence of his bill was to allow insurance companies to maintain their individual insurance market policies according to state insurance rules that were in effect as of 2013.