Nancy Cassis

{{Short description|American politician}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Nancy Cassis

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

| alt =

| state_senate = Michigan

| district = 15th

| term_start = January 1, 2003

| term_end = December 31, 2010

| predecessor = Bill Bullard, Jr.

| successor = Mike Kowall

| state_house1 = Michigan

| district1 = 38th

| term_start1 = January 1, 1997

| term_end1 = December 31, 2002

| predecessor1 = Bill Bullard, Jr.

| successor1 = Craig DeRoche

| pronunciation =

| birth_name = Nancy Cunningham

| birth_date={{birth date|1944|1|26}}

| birth_place=New York, U.S.

| death_date={{death date and age|2024|6|11|1944|1|26}}

| death_place = Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| citizenship =

| nationality =

| party = Republican

| religion =

| spouse=Victor Cassis

| children=7

}}

Nancy Cunningham Cassis (January 26, 1944 – June 11, 2024) was an American politician and psychologist.

Cassis was born in 1944 in New York.{{Cite web |title=State Senator NANCY CASSIS R–15th Senate District |url=https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2005-2006/michiganmanual/2005-MM-P0127-P0127.pdf |access-date=July 9, 2025 |website=www.legislature.mi.gov}}{{Cite web |title=senate concurrent resolution no. 19 |url=https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2023-2024/concurrentresolutionadopted/senate/htm/2024-SACRS-0019.htm |access-date=2025-07-09 |website=www.legislature.mi.gov}}{{cite web |url=http://www.mirsnews.com/leg_bio.php?lid=123 |title=MIRS News: Cassis, Nancy |website=www.mirsnews.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050109113740/http://www.mirsnews.com/leg_bio.php?lid=123 |archive-date=2005-01-09}} As a Michigan Senator who initially ran against Dick DeVos, she dropped out of the contest before Michigan's 2006 gubernatorial Republican primary.{{cite web |url=http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/06PRI/02000000.html |title=2006 Unofficial Michigan Primary Election Results - Governor 4 Year Term (1) Position |website=miboecfr.nictusa.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824165925/http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/election/results/06PRI/02000000.html |archive-date=2006-08-24}} In the Michigan Senate she served as the Majority Caucus Chairperson and introduced the Michigan Business Tax, which was eventually repealed by conservative governor Rick Snyder.{{Cite web |title=Michigan Senate Republicans |url=http://senate.michigan.gov:80/gop/index.asp |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20090527123504/http://senate.michigan.gov:80/gop/index.asp |archive-date=2009-05-27 |access-date=2025-07-09 |website=www.senate.michigan.gov |language=en}}

Cassis is a Novi resident who represented the 15th district.{{Cite web |title=not found |url=http://www.senate.michigan.gov/gop/senators/Cassis.asp?District=15 |access-date=July 9, 2025 |website=www.senate.michigan.gov}}

She has a B.A. from Ohio University, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her M.S. and Ed.S. degrees from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Senator was a teacher from 1966 to 1968 for the Ohio Public Schools. She also was a psychologist for the Novi Community Schools from 1980 to 1996.{{cite web |url=http://www.thezdin.com/clients/cassis/index.html |title=Nancy Cassis For Governor |website=www.thezdin.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927230904/http://www.thezdin.com/clients/cassis/index.html |archive-date=2007-09-27}}

Nancy Cassis waged an unsuccessful{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Corey|title=Republican Bentivolio takes McCotter's old seat|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Republican-Bentivolio-takes-McCotter-s-old-seat-4011027.php|work=seattlepi.com|accessdate=8 November 2012}} write-in campaign to be the Republican nominee for the United States House of Representatives in District 11. Incumbent Thad McCotter was ineligible due to forged signatures.[http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120607/POLITICS01/206070467/GOP-backs-Cassis-McCotter-seat-Bennett-quits-race?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE]{{dead link|date=August 2022}} Cassis had pledged to spend at least 200,000 dollars in order to defeat balloted candidate Kerry Bentivolio in the Republican primary. Some Cassis supporters had doubts that Bentivolio would win the general election, while some Bentivolio supporters viewed the Cassis write-in campaign as an effort by establishment Republicans to block the election of a conservative.{{cite web|url=http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/06/veteran_state_lawmaker_nancy_c.html|title = Veteran state lawmaker Nancy Cassis pledges $200K to run write-in campaign for McCotter seat|date = 8 June 2012}} Bentivolio was elected to Congress.

Death

She died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on June 11, 2024, aged 80.[https://www.dignitymemorial.com/en-ca/obituaries/livonia-mi/nancy-cassis-11857373 Nancy Cunningham Cassis] obituary{{cite news |url=https://www.candgnews.com/news/former-state-sen-nancy-cassis-left-lasting-impression-on-novi-community-5903 |accessdate=April 24, 2025 |title=Former state Sen. Nancy Cassis left lasting impression on Novi community |first=Charity |last=Meier |date=June 28, 2024 |newspaper=C&G News}}

References

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