Adam Zemke
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| Member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 55th district | |
| In office January 1, 2013 – January 1, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Rick Olson |
| Succeeded by | Rebekah Warren |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1983-06-04) June 4, 1983 (age 41) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Michigan State University (BS, MS) |
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Adam Frederick Zemke (born June 4, 1983) is a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He represented Michigan's 55th districtinWashtenaw County from 2013 to 2018.[1][2]
Zemke was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[citation needed] His parents, Debra Lehto and Frederick Zemke, divorced when he was a toddler.[citation needed] He spent much of his childhood in Michigan, attending Haisley Elementary, Forsythe Middle and Pioneer High schools in the Ann Arbor Public Schools[1] district. He also attended Princeton High school in New Jersey while his then-stepfather, Dr. Trevor Wooley, worked at the Institute for Advanced StudyinPrinceton, NJ.[citation needed] Adam has one brother, Cameron Wooley, and a sister, Michelle Zemke—both younger.[citation needed]
After high school, Zemke enrolled in and attended Michigan State University, studying Mechanical engineering and obtaining undergraduate and master's degrees in this field.[3][unreliable source?] In spring 2005, Zemke served as the commencement speaker for his graduating class of the College of Engineering.[citation needed]
Zemke's family has deep roots in Washtenaw County. His father's family first emigrated to Ann Arbor and settled on Spring street in the early 1890s. They are of German ancestry. While in Ann Arbor, Zemke's great grandfather owned and operated The Orient, a well-known "townie" pool hall and barber shop on the corner of North Main and Ann streets. [citation needed][relevant?]
In 1935, his grandfather Frederick "Fritz" Zemke left the University of Michigan to start a business out of his parents' Spring Street garage, operating vending machines and jukeboxes in local establishments.[citation needed] This business, called Zemke Operated Machines, is run by Zemke's father and has remained in continuous operation to this day.[citation needed]
While in college, Zemke was a member of the Formula SAE team,[4] something that he frequently discusses as being impactful to his educational experience.[citation needed] He participated in this program and was involved in the design, build, test and racing of the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 vehicles.[citation needed] He served as project manager for the 2006 and 2008 vehicles,[citation needed] the latter of which placed 4th at the Formula SAE West competition in Fontana, CA.[5]
At the 2006 Fontana competition, Zemke made a connection with Jay Leno that led to Mr. Leno inviting the MSU Formula SAE Team to his Big Dog Garage in Burbank, CA for an exposé on the Formula SAE competition.[6][failed verification] Zemke remains a strong supporter of Formula SAE, serving as Presentation Event Captain and a member of the organizing committee for the competition held annually in Michigan.[7] He also served[when?] on the board of trustees for the SAE Foundation,[8] helping to encourage STEAM educational experiences for pre-K through high school students in classrooms all over the country.
Following the completion of his master's degree, Zemke joined Demmer Corporation as a project lead engineer in their machining division.[citation needed] He worked on projects predominantly in the defense and commercial aerospace industries.[citation needed] A year after joining the company, Zemke was promoted to Program Manager, where he was one of two engineers tasked with helping to grow Demmer Corporation's presence in the private plane and commercial aerospace markets.[citation needed]
During a company trip to Wichita, Kansas, Zemke and his colleague visited a factory where production had slowed significantly during the recession.[citation needed] Upon asking what contributing factors were to the production decline, workers discussed that following the media converge of the automotive hearings in the United States Senate where CEOs who flew on private planes were chastised by senators, many corporations cancelled their private plane orders.[citation needed][9][irrelevant citation]
After a failed run for the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners in 2010, Zemke ran for the 55th district in the Michigan House of Representatives in 2012 — a seat that was held by Republican Rick Olsen — who declined to run due to changes in the district boundaries following the 2011 reapportionment.[citation needed] Zemke faced Pittsfield Charter Township Trustee Andrea Brown-Harrison in the Democratic primary election, where he won with 62% of the vote.[10][11] He then faced Republican former Milan Mayor Owen Diaz in the general election where Zemke won the election with 64% of the vote.[12] He was re-elected in 2014 and 2016, serving until he was term limited.[13][14] Zemke won the election with over 69% of the vote.[15]
In 2015, Michigan Democratic Leader Tim Greimel selected Zemke and Pam Faris to serve as chairpersons for the 2016 House Democratic campaign team[16] and Representative Andy Schor (D-Lansing) as chairperson of the 2016 House Democratic finance team.[16] Representative Faris later resigned from her position.[citation needed] In his role as campaign chairperson, Zemke drove his 1998 SVT Contour approximately 30,000 miles[17] around the state helping Democratic candidates campaign for the Michigan House of Representatives.
At the start of the 99th (2017–18) Michigan legislature, Zemke ran for election to become Chair of the House Democratic Caucus[18] for the two-year term that comprises the 99th session of the Michigan House of Representatives. He won this election on January 12, 2017 and began the position immediately.[19]
In 2021, Zemke was appointed as chair of Ann Arbor's Council of the Commons, an advisory body to the city council tasked with implementing a 2018 change to the city charter to develop the roof of an underground parking structure as a park rather than the previously planned housing development.[20][21] Other initial members included Alan Haber and Jeff Hayner.
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