Mike Bishop

Mike Bishop
Former U.S. Representative from Michigan's 8th Congressional District From: January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019
Predecessor	Michael J. Rogers
Successor	Elissa Slotkin
Former Majority Leader of the Michigan Senate From: January 10, 2007 – January 12, 2011
Predecessor	Ken Sikkema
Successor	Randy Richardville
Former State Senator from Michigan's 12th District From: January 8, 2003 – January 12, 2011
Predecessor	Alan Sanborn
Successor	Jim Marleau
Former State Representative from Michigan's 45th District From: January 13, 1999 – January 8, 2003
Predecessor	Penny Crissman
Successor	John Garfield
Information
Party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Cristina Bishop
Religion	Congregationalist

Michael Dean “Mike” Bishop (born March 18, 1967, age 57) is a Republican attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 8th district from 2015 to 2019. He previously served in the Michigan Senate, and in the Michigan House of Representatives before that.

Michigan Senate

While serving in the Michigan Senate as the Majority Leader, Bishop co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to ban late-term abortion. During this time, Bishop had also co-sponsored a bill to prohibit the requiring of ergonomics rules in workplaces.

United States House of Representatives

2014 election

Bishop ran for and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014, defeating Democrat opponent Eric Schwertzing by over 10% of the vote.

Obama era

Rep. Bishop voted to approve the Keystone XL in February 2015, a measure that was ultimately vetoed by Barack Obama.

Bishop has voted in favor of VA accountability.

After the Obama administration successfully pushed through the Iran nuclear deal, Bishop joined all House Republicans in voting for the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act, a bill that would prohibit lifting sanctions on Iran unless the country is held accountable over terrorism.

Bishop voted to defund Planned Parenthood in September 2015.

A fiscal conservative, Bishop voted against the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, a bill that extended spending and debt limits.

2016 election

In the month preceding the 2016 U.S. House election in Michigan's 8th congressional district concurrent with the presidential election that year, Bishop, who was running for re-election, held a mixed view of then-Republican nominee Donald Trump, denouncing him over the Access Hollywood tape and refusing to campaign with him although practical enough to acknowledge political issues as more important than mere words, adding on that: “it's not who you're voting for, it's what you're voting for.”

Trump era

Bishop co-sponsored the Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act in February 2017, a bill that would repeal the bureaucratic, Obamacare-established Independent Payment Advisory Board.

Bishop voted in June 2017 to end federal grants to all jurisdictions with sanctuary city policies.

It was announced in July 2018 that Bishop would be heading to the White House to meet with President Trump over tax reform.

In October 2017, Bishop joined the majority of House Republicans in voting for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a measure that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape and incest.

Bishop voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017.

Rep. Bishop co-sponsored the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in December 2017.

In February 2018, Bishop voted in favor of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, a bill that established appropriations for a variety of government matters.

Bishop voted in favor of the FIRST Step Act, a bipartisan effort to enact criminal justice reform.

On May 11, 2018, Rep. Bishop introduced the KITTEN Act of 2018, which would end the USDA's cruel treatment and killing of kittens after using them for experiments; the bill received bipartisan support and praise from an anti-government waste animal rights group, though the legislation ultimately died due to not receiving a vote.

In June 2018, Bishop voted in favor of the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2018, which established both border security provisions and immigration “reform”.

Bishop co-sponsored legislation in September 2018 that would ensure permanent tax cuts for individuals and small businesses.

2018 election

Over the upcoming 2018 election in Michigan's 8th congressional district, Bishop was betrayed by the GOP establishment when the RINO-backing Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC cut $2.1 million in advertising initially intended for Bishop's behalf a month before the general election. Facing the formidable 2018 blue wave, he ultimately lost to Democrat challenger Elissa Slotkin by a margin of less than 4%.

Political positions

Bishop is a strong conservative who is pro-life, opposes Obamacare, supports the death penalty, gun rights, and strongly opposed to illegal immigration.

Some have bizarrely claimed that Bishop was somehow a "RINO"; this narrative is extremely misleading, as reliably right-wing outlets like The Gateway Pundit have noted him to be a Trump-supporting, thorough conservative.