2016 
Candidate Interview County Commissioner Gary R. McGillivray 20th District
(video)
(Crystal A. Proxmire, July 8, 2016)
Madison Heights, MI – Democrat Gary R. McGillivray is seeking re-election as County Commissioner for the 20th District, which is Madison Heights, Pleasant Ridge and parts of Royal Oak and Troy. He is the only Democrat running. On the Republican side, David J. Harrell and J. Karl Jackson will face off in the primary and the winner will be on the ballot against McGillivray on the Nov. 8 ballot.
McGillivray spent over 30 years in the newspaper business, most recently as a sales manager. From 1983-2008 he served on Madison Heights City Council and has been a County Commissioner since 2009.
When asked why people should care about elections, McGillivray said “If you look at local elections in particular, sometimes there’s only 10% or 15% voter turnout. And your local area is what affects you most. That’s your police, your fire, your garbage pickup, your water sources. All of that comes from the local municipalities, but 85% of the people don’t vote in local elections. And it’s important.”
He also said “I’m running because I care about the community. My community in particular. Whether I was elected or not I’d still be involved in the community. My son helps run the parade on Memorial Day and my daughter is a teacher here in Madison Heights and is very active in Youth Assistance and other organizations. We just want to be part of the community and we enjoy doing it.
In his interview with oc115, McGillivray talked about the importance of watching the budget for the County, and about his passion for parks and recreation.
Check out our Elections Section for other candidate interviews, or use the search bar at the top to find stories for your community.
All candidates are invited to do an interview and we are doing our best to connect. If you are a candidate that needs information, please email us at editor@oc115.com.
This post will be updated with the links to the interviews of other candidates as they become available.
The oc115 is a nonpartisan news source and interviews are done to help voters get to meet their candidates. We do not endorse any candidates, and statements made in candidate interviews are not fact-checked, though if we know of any errors we will include them in our story.
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Learn more about this candidate’s campaign at: https://www.facebook.com/votemcgillivray/?fref=ts.
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