Political career
Espinoza and his wife Mary (Torrez) settled in Croswell, Michigan in 1995. He became interested in local politics and successfully ran for a seat on the Croswell City Council. Subsequently, Espinoza was elected to the Sanilac County Board of Commissioners, where he served one term.
He also worked on the staff of Michigan State Senator Jim Barcia when Mr. Barcia was a United States Democratic Congressman from Michigan. Espinoza held the position of Military Affairs and Community Outreach Liaison for Congressman Barcia .
In 2004, running on a populist platform powered by tenacious grass roots campaigning, John Espinoza was elected to his first term as a member of the Michigan House representing the 83rd District, becoming the first ever Democrat and Hispanic to win the seat.
He was easily re-elected in 2006 and now serves as the chair of the Agricultural Appropriations Committee.
Sanilac County is a county located in the Thumb region of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 40,611. The county seat is Sandusky. The county was created on September 10, 1822, and was fully organized on December 31, 1849. Sanilac County is considered to be part of the Thumb of Michigan, a subregion of the Flint/Tri-Cities. Sanilac County enjoys seasonal tourism in towns such as Lexington, Port Sanilac, and Carsonville. Sanilac County is economically attached to St. Clair County and Huron County and is largely composed of nearly flat areas of rich soil.
Saginaw County, officially the County of Saginaw, is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 190,124. The county seat is Saginaw. The county was created by September 10, 1822, and was fully organized on February 9, 1835. The etymology of the county's name is uncertain. It may be derived from Sace-nong or Sak-e-nong, as the Sauk tribe is believed by some to have once lived there. A more likely possibility is that it comes from Ojibwe words meaning "place of the outlet" –sag and ong. See List of Michigan county name etymologies.
Huron County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 31,407. The county seat is Bad Axe. Huron County is at the northern tip of the Thumb, which is a sub region of Mid Michigan. It is a peninsula, bordered by Saginaw Bay to the west and Lake Huron to the north and east, and has over 90 miles (140 km) of shoreline, from White Rock on Lake Huron to Sebewaing on the Saginaw Bay. Huron County's most prominent industry is agriculture, as with most of the other Thumb counties. Huron County enjoys seasonal tourism from large cities such as Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw. Much of the tourism is in the Port Austin and Caseville area.
Bay County is located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 103,856. The county seat is Bay City.
Saginaw is a city in and the seat of Saginaw County, Michigan, United States. The city proper had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater Tri-Cities region of Central Michigan. The Saginaw metropolitan area had a population of 190,124 in 2020. The city is also the largest municipality in the Greater Tri-Cities, with a combined population of 377,474 in the combined statistical area in 2020.
Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 28,983 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the west by Port Huron Township, but the two are administered autonomously.
Port Sanilac is a village in Sanilac Township, Sanilac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 567 at the 2020 census.
M-25 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan. The route follows an arc-like shape closely along the Lake Huron shore of the Thumb in the eastern Lower Peninsula between Port Huron and Bay City. It serves the lakeshore resorts along Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay and generally lies within sight of the lake and the bay. All is surface road and generally scenic, except for the freeway segment near the junction with Interstate 75 (I-75) and connection into the US Highway 10 (US 10) freeway.
The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Tri-Cities and north of Metro Detroit. The region is also branded as the Blue Water Area.
James Allan Barcia is an American Democratic politician from Michigan. He has served successively in the Michigan House of Representatives, the Michigan Senate, the United States House of Representatives and then again the Michigan Senate, from which he was term-limited in January 2011. He has served as County Executive of Bay County, Michigan, since January, 2017.
James Grant O'Hara was a soldier and politician from the U.S. state of Michigan, serving as U.S. Representative from 1959 to 1977.
The Cass River is a 61.5-mile-long (99.0 km) river in the Thumb region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It drains large portions of Sanilac and Tuscola counties and smaller portions of Genesee, Huron, Lapeer, and Saginaw counties.
Area code 810 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for the east-central part in the U.S. state of Michigan. The numbering plan area (NPA) comprises the cities of Flint, Lapeer, Port Huron, and the southern portion of the Thumb.
Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan corresponds roughly to the thumb and palm, stretching from Michigan's eastern shoreline along Lake Huron into the fertile rolling plains of the Michigan Basin. The region contains cities of moderate size, including Flint, Saginaw, and the state capital of Lansing. Generally Central, or "Mid", Michigan is defined by governmental organizations as an area North of Jackson, and South of Clare.
Jerome Bob Traxler, also known as J. Bob Traxler or Bob Traxler, was an American lawyer and politician from Michigan. He served ten terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1974 to 1993.
Michigan's 8th congressional district is a United States congressional district in Central Michigan. The district was first created in 1873, after redistricting following the 1870 census. From 2003 to 2013, it consisted of all of Clinton, Ingham, and Livingston counties, and included the southern portion of Shiawassee and the northern portion of Oakland counties. From 2013 to 2023, the district no longer covered Clinton or Shiawassee counties and instead covered more of Oakland County, including Rochester. In 2023, the district was redrawn to be centered on the city of Flint, and includes all of Saginaw and Bay counties, almost all of Genesee County, and portions of Midland and Tuscola counties.
Radio First is a privately held radio broadcasting company in Michigan owned by Victoria L. Liggett and James A. Jensen. Liggett Communications is headquartered in Port Huron where it owns five radio stations licensed to St. Clair and Sanilac Counties. These five stations operate under the brand name of Radio First where they serve listeners in the Thumb area of Michigan and Southwestern Ontario.
Huron and Eastern Railway is a short line railroad operating 394 miles (634 km) of track in The Thumb and Flint/Tri-Cities area of the lower peninsula of Michigan. It is currently owned by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc., who purchased it from RailAmerica in 2012. Its headquarters is in the former Michigan Central Railroad depot in Vassar, Michigan.
Water and Woods Field Service Council was a field service council of the Michigan Crossroads Council that served youth in the central and northeastern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The Council was headquartered in Flint, Michigan, with service centers located in Auburn, Lansing, and Port Huron. The Water and Woods Field Service Council was the result of a merger in 2012 of Lake Huron Area Council, Blue Water Council, Tall Pine Council and Chief Okemos Council.
Joel Gougeon was a Republican member of the Michigan Senate from 1993-2002 representing the 34th district. He previously served as a member of the Bay County Board of Commissioners.
