A football and basketball player, track and cross country competitor, and Valedictorian at Jonesville High School, Jeff Jacques ’02 said he was an all-american teenager.
He never thought that one day he would be running for state house of representatives in the 58th district he calls home.
He has run several businesses, including a store that sells outdoor recreational equipment and a retirement community.
The tenacity of an outdoorsman and athlete will come in handy for Jacques, who will have a tough time competing in a crowded republican primary.
“I’d rather make some noise in two years than take up space for six years,” Jacques said.
Jacques found his political voice attending Hillsdale College, where he met his wife Ingrid Jacques, deputy editorial page editor for The Detroit News. While at Hillsdale, he developed an understanding of free markets and limited government.
“I do wholeheartedly believe in pursuing a free market agenda with less taxation and regulation,” he said. “I do want to grow business, jobs, and tax base in this district.”
The new political interest took him all the way to Washington, D.C., where Jacques worked after graduation.
As a Hillsdale economics major, he held to his convictions. Soon, though, the atmosphere of D.C. took its toll. No production or creation, he said, only layers of bureaucracy.
Besides his political interests, Jacques’ harbored an entrepreneurial spirit that soon led him away from D.C. and into a series of businesses. He said his time operating businesses allowed him to personally encounter the difficulties and wastes imposed by certain government regulations.
“That’s when you start wanting to do something a little bigger than the business you’re in,” he said. “You want to try to affect the lessons you learned to improve society.”
It’s a very crowded Republican primary, however, with multiple Hillsdale alumni candidates. Grigor Hasted, director of alumni relations and business industry, knows Jacques, but has already expressed his support for a different alum, Eric Leutheuser.
“I think Jeff would be a great candidate, but I think there are a lot of people like me who have already given their support to somebody,” he said.
Bringing business to the district is a priority for Jacques.
“We’re well positioned between Detroit and Chicago and have a good standard of living. Consequently suppliers should want to locate here,” he said. “They’ve got a good stable situation, they’ve got a good affordable workforce. We need to do everything in our powers to get industry here.”
One of the most important issues of the campaign is road funding.
“At this point I am not yet convinced that we need to raise taxes to invest better in our roads, though we do need to invest in our roads,” he said. “There’s still fat to cut.”
Jacques said he supports the second amendment, traditional marriage, and is pro-life. He now campaigns while keeping an eye on his business ventures.
Spending much of his life in Jonesville, then some away, and coming back has made him appreciate the place he hopes to represent.
“You know all your neighbors, they’re keeping an eye out for you and you’re keeping an eye out for them,” he said. “As you go away and come back you start to realize what you had and how lucky you really were.”