Michigan Primary 2024 Voter Guide: 9th Congressional District

Democratic Candidates

Name: Clinton St. Mosley

Age: 44

Current Occupation: Owner, insurance agency

Education: BA, Organizational Leadership, University of Memphis | Master’s Degree, HR Development, Villanova

Tell us about yourself in 200 words or less.

I am the father of twin seven-year-old boys, a husband and small business owner. I have worked in large corporations and small start-ups, and now own my own business. I grew up in North Carolina; my father was a union laborer and truck driver who often had to move from state-to-state to feed our family. My mother was a cosmetologist who later opened a restaurant where she met my dad.

I met and married my wife in Knoxville, TN and moved to Michigan to be near her family once we discovered we were blessed with twin boys. Our children attend public schools, and together, we have established strong roots in our community and volunteer on a number of local projects and organizations.

My interest in politics began in high school where I had many friends from diverse backgrounds and different political views. In college, we would vigorously debate and disagree about politics over a beer and remain good friends. Having tired of the partisan rhetoric that’s bogging our country down, I want to restore respect, sanity and common sense to our public discourse, and get back to a place where politicians built bridges instead of burning them down.

Why are you running for Michigan’s 9th Congressional District?

I am running because the citizens of the 9th Congressional District deserve a sensible leader who will listen to and address the needs of the working-class residents and hard-working families, instead of pandering to the extreme MAGA politics that favors the wealthy and takes away basic rights from many of our citizens.

I will give voters representation in Washington that 9th District residents can be proud of — no matter their political views ­— and do the work of providing good government that works hard for the working families to provide them a hand up, not a handout, and not spending time making angry TikTok videos to post on partisan social media sites.

What are the top 3 priority issues that the 9th congressional district faces and what actions would you, as its representative, take regarding each of them?

Wellness

Wellness means working to improve the physical, mental and environmental wellness of the residents of my district. I will support Medicaid for all and expand support for reduced prescription drug costs, expanding support for public/private partnerships for supplemental insurance, protect healthcare for seniors, reign-in fraud and ensure these programs are properly funded in perpetuity.

Opportunity

Opportunity means ensuring we have economic and educational opportunity for all through fair tax and economic policies that support small businesses, agricultural businesses and labor through fair union laws that encourage cooperation, living wages for heads of households, and support for businesses and workers alike.

Kids

Kids deserve a safe place to learn and an educational system that nurtures and respects children of all religious, economic and social backgrounds. Economic opportunity and growth begins with access to quality education, early education and affordable secondary education. I also support expanding support to young families through Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act and other pro-family solutions to help ease the burden of care and help increase worker participation.

What is your stance on gun reform in the U.S.?  

We need common-sense gun safety laws that protect families, children, schools and our police, while also protecting 2nd Amendment rights for personal protection, sports and responsible firearms owners. The district includes Oxford High School and our community knows all too well the impacts gun violence has on communities.

We need help of gun owners to stand up and support the safe and responsible sale, use and ownership of guns, and to stand together to support the freedom from gun violence.  I support an assault weapons ban and a Supreme Court-proof ban on bump stocks.

We need more rigid federal background checks, red flag laws and safe storage laws to keep firearms out of the hands of those deemed a risk to themselves or others, those who have a history of violence or criminal activity, and to enact stronger penalties for those who do not properly safeguard their storage, sale and use.

We need to hold gun manufacturers and distributors accountable for illegal activity such as marketing weapons to children, straw purchases and gun trafficking.

What is your stance on abortion rights? 

I believe in reproductive freedom for all women in America — we need federal laws to codify Roe or enact similar reproductive rights for women and families in all 50 states. My wife and I had difficulty starting our family. Fortunately, we had access to a fertility doctor that helped us conceive our children. Tragically, our first pregnancy ended at six weeks with a miscarriage. We had a D&C procedure as prescribed, and a few months later we were blessed with twin boys with the help of IUI. In Congress, I will fight to ensure unfettered access to IVF and contraception for all women in America.

What is your solution to fight the current inflation crisis in the U.S.?

Thanks to the Biden/Harris administration, inflation spurred by the Covid pandemic appears to be waning while America regained its place as the leading economy in the world, still we have a lot of work to do to ease the pain and right the ship. I support a balanced federal budget; we need to be fiscally responsible so that our monetary policy doesn’t hurt working families.

We need to focus on wages, when inflation spikes it is harmful, but when wages stay stagnant for 50 years, and families are hit with 9% inflation, it is catastrophic. A living wage and wages overall need to improve to keep up pace with productivity.

We need to hold greedy corporations accountable for price gouging and enact windfall profits taxes when companies reap record gains at the expense of American consumers. I support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ work to build our economy from the bottom up, and middle out — ensuring all Americans have economic opportunities.

What actions/decisions by your challenger have you disagreed with and how would you do things differently? 

My opponent is a Trump-endorsed MAGA extremist who is an election denier, which is destroying trust in our election system and our democracy. My opponent voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and yet, claims credit for the spending in our district. My opponent’s agenda and record is aligned with Project 2025, which would cause permanent harm to our federal government and take away rights from millions of American men and women — especially reproductive and LBGTQ+ rights.

My opponent does not support a women’s right to choose. My opponent voted against support of Ukraine — a struggling Democracy on Russia’s border. My opponent supports a tax structure that gives huge tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, while shifting the burden to working class and lower income families.