Tom Matthew and his wife, Karen, love to travel. Courtesy | Tom Matthew 

When Tom Matthew moved from India to America in 1968, he had $8 and a Bible. Now, he’s running for state representative.  

Matthew announced his campaign Nov. 6 after serving on the Branch County Board of Commissioners for four years. 

Matthew is running as a Republican and is the first to announce his candidacy for state representative of District 35, after current state Rep. Andrew Fink, R-Hillsdale, said he is running for Michigan Supreme Court. The district includes Branch and Hillsdale counties and the city of Hudson in Lenawee County.

“My goal is to serve the public,” Matthew said. 

Matthew was appointed in 2019 to fill a vacancy on the commissioners board, where he helps manage public safety. He also serves on the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency Board of Health, which is composed of two commissioners from each county. 

“I always stood for our citizens’ needs,” Matthew said. 

Matthew said he grew up in an evangelical Christian family in India and came to the United States to pursue an education, earning his master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame. 

After graduation, Matthew worked for two years as the director of a Head Start program in Chicago. 

He said families need help and schools need to teach children the “three Rs”:  reading, writing, and arithmetic. 

“Avoid conflict and injecting social issues of the day,” Matthew said. “That’s not going to help our children.”

He said his priorities if he is elected would include public safety and helping small businesses. 

“I want to make sure — in the good old days we used to say ‘red tape’ — cut that red tape for our business people because they are our backbone of our resources in our great state of Michigan.”

He also said that as a representative he hopes to help representatives from both parties come together to serve their constituents. 

“He is somebody who is a peacemaker and an advocate for people,” said Matthew’s son Abraham Matthew, who works as an attorney in Chicago. “He’s not the flashiest person in the world. He’s actually a very humble man and tends to downplay how amazing he is, but when it comes down to it, his entire life people have looked to him for advice.” 

Tim Stoll, the chairman of the board of commissioners, said Matthew is a faith-focused person who always wants what is best for the public. 

“I’ve noticed that he’s certainly willing to invest his time as well to make sure that things are covered appropriately and that he understands issues,” Stoll said. 

Stoll said Matthew is a fiscal conservative. 

“I am not in favor of increasing taxes unless it is necessary, and I am a fiscal hawk — I am very conservative on that,” Matthew said. “But I have a great heart for those people who are not fortunate yet to be like us.” 

Matthew said he lives on Coldwater Lake with his wife, Karen, and has four children and three grandchildren. 

He said he had considered running for a higher office and prayed about it. 

“I feel this is God’s plan for me at this time,” Matthew said. 

The Republican primary election will be held on Aug. 6, 2024. The general election will be on Nov. 5, 2024.