State Rep. Dian Slavens to run for State Senate in this fall’s election

State Representative Dian Slavens, D-Canton Township, recently announced she will be filing her candidacy for the 7th District seat of the Michigan State Senate in 2014.
She will be running against Republican incumbent 7th District Senator Patrick Colbeck.
Slavens is serving her third term as State Representative for the 21st House District, which includes the city of Belleville and Canton and Van Buren townships, and cannot run for re-election to that seat because of term limits.
Before joining the House in 2009, Slavens worked as a respiratory therapist for more than 20 years in Southeast Michigan hospitals – first at William Beaumont Hospital and later at Henry Ford Hospital.
Rep. Slavens was joined at her announcement by Canton Township Trustee Steven Sneideman, Plymouth Canton School Board Vice President Judy Mardigian, and Van Buren School Board Vice President Martha Toth.
Slavens is a long-time active community member, volunteering at Plymouth-Canton Community Schools, as a Sunday School teacher at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Canton Township and as a Girl Scout leader for the Huron Valley Council. Dian and her husband Mark Slavens, a Wayne County Circuit Court judge, have three children, Damey, Patrick and Molly, and one grandson, Evan.
“Michigan’s public schools have taken a drastic hit in recent years under the leadership of the Republican administration in Lansing,” said Van Buren School Board Vice President Martha Toth. “I support Dian Slavens in her run for the Michigan Senate because I know that she will continue the fight for investment in public education in our state.”
The 7th District Senate area includes the City of Belleville and Van Buren and Sumpter townships.