Former Warren Mayor Jim Fouts running for Michigan House seat

Jim Fouts was the popular nonpartisan mayor of Warren for 16 years before term limits kept him from running again in Michigan's third-largest city.

On Friday, Fouts filed to run as a Democrat for state representative. He will challenge first-term incumbent Mike McFall of Hazel Park in August's Democratic primary in the 14th House District.

Fouts, who is 81, said he still has plenty of energy and a desire for public service.

"I jog every day, usually twice a day," he said, after driving to Lansing to submit paperwork to Michigan's Secretary of State's Office. He said he wants to bring several key concerns to Lansing.

"I'm concerned about global warming. I strongly support Ukraine. I also want to see local governments get the support and funding they deserve from the state.

"And I want to make sure that the needs of seniors are represented. There's nobody in a better position than I to do that for our state government," Fouts said.

"Most of all, my number one priority, as it always has been, would be constituent services. When I was mayor, I returned every citizen's call, every night," he said.

Fouts will campaign in the newly configured 14th District. It includes a part of Warren where he lives as well as all of Center Line, then crosses into Oakland County to take in Hazel Park and part of Madison Heights. Fouts said he has roots in Oakland County as well as in Macomb.

“My father was city manager of Hazel Park from 1961 to 1973. He loved that city. He helped get the City Hall built and his name is on there. And he got that library built,” Fouts said.

Fouts tried to run for a fifth term as mayor of Warren but was blocked when the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled last year that Warren’s controversial term limits applied to him.

Contact Bill Laytner at blaitner@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jim Fouts, former Warren mayor, files to run for Michigan House