About Us

The North East Kent Dems organized to keep the momentum from our Democratic gains in the 2020 election.

How do we do all we promise? We Track upcoming Elections, RECRUIT CANDIDATES, and Keep YOU informed of Action/Progress to Engage YOUR Participation!

With the Biden-Harris election, we started the work of reinstating our Democratic values in our sorely troubled nation. We have survived many a tragedy in the past and to paraphrase a bit, “Now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of our country.”

Our Team

The North East Kent Dems are organized by a Steering Committee of volunteers.

Deb Havens

Joan Long

Pei-Lan Tsou

Mandy Mynhier

Bill Higgins

Meagan Hintz

Deb Havens is a wife, mom, and grandmother who cares deeply about the future we are leaving our kids. A former educator, she holds degrees from Western Michigan University, the University of Florida in Gainesville, and a doctorate from Eastern Michigan Un diversity.

She’s taught in public high schools and as adjcunt professor at Grand Valley State University. She served as Chair for Jennifer Granholm’s Education Committee during her primary run for governor and recently served as planning coordinator for the first US Women Governors Conference sponsored by the Hauenstein Center and the National Governors Association.

She’s also had a second career in television production that started at WZZM TV and took her all over the US and the world. She founded and led two non-profits (West Michigan Film Video Alliance and Korean Connection) to promote commerce, connections, and creativity in West Michigan. A former political candidate for Kent County Commissioner, she currently runs her own free-lance production business, TravelingMoonProductions.com

Joan retired from Spectrum Health in January of 2020 after 43 year as an RN. She has 4 children and 7 grandchildren. Her original plan for retirement was to “Trace the Mitten” and visit every winery along the lakeshore. But covid hit soon after retirement so those plans were changed and all of her spare time was spent working with the Kent Dems to get as many Dems elected as possible.

She is the precinct delegate for Plainfield Township Pct.8. She is also a member of the League of Women Voters and West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC) bookclub.

She is excited to be a part of this great group!!

Pei-Lan Tsou is a professor of cell and molecular department at GVSU. As an educator, she cares about college civic engagement and as a scientist, she cares about the future of our planet.

As an immigrant from Taiwan, she knows all too well how important it is to be engaged in politics. Her research projects range from studying storage proteins in orchid embryos to surveillance SARS CoV-2 in waste water.

She has been the precinct delegate in Plainfield Township PCT1 for the last two election cycles. She serves on the endorsement committee and the political organizing committee at the Kent County Democratic Party. She is also a member of the GVSU campus democratic engagement coalition.

Mandy is a wife and parent of two students in Rockford Public Schools. She is an active volunteer in the district devoting much of her time and energy to serving on the Inter School Advisory Council, Sex Education Advisory Board, and too many PTO committees to count. She is driven to create a safe and welcoming space for all children in public school, particularly around issues of mental health and suicide prevention.

Prior to becoming a parent, she earned a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Western Michigan University where she also majored in Women’s Studies and Social Psychology and a Master of Social Work from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina while her husband was stationed there with the United States Marine Corps.

Mandy is committed to environmental justice work and has recently worked on interfaith efforts to install a Sacred Grounds garden with the National Wildlife Federation. She is also passionate about developing girl leadership skills through Girl Scouts. She is a lifetime member and serves as the Service Unit Director to girls and leaders in Rockford, Cedar Springs, Sparta, Kent City, Tri-County and Lakeview schools districts.

Bill was born and raised in west Michigan and has resided there nearly his entire adult life. He earned a BS in mechanical engineering from Western Michigan University providing the foundation for a career in manufacturing automation that included direct sales and sales management, owning and managing both a contract sales firm and a consulting engineering firm, and serving in leadership roles in related professional organizations. He and his wife, Sue, their adult son and daughter, and five grandchildren are all residents of northeast Kent County.

Bill chairs the membership committee for the Kent County Democratic Party, and is a Precinct Delegate in Cannon Township. Bill believes that it is vital for each of us to be an informed and regular voter, and even better to be an active member of a political party, because government “of, by and for the people” directly reflects the political will of those that choose to participate.

Meagan Hintz is a resident of Rockford where she lives with her husband and two young boys.

She received her Masters in Public Administration from Grand Valley State University and works for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan as a Governance Analyst, active in her local chapter of the National Manager’s Association. She is currently attending Grand Rapids Community College for an Associate’s Degree in Computer Programming.

With over 15 years of experience in the healthcare field, she is very passionate about public health and policy. She has become more involved with algorithmic model building projects in healthcare. She is very excited about the future of AI/ML use in healthcare in a way that promotes equity and increases health outcomes for vulnerable and underserved populations.

As a three time candidate for Michigan’s House of Representatives, Meagan's campaigns have focused on issues with education, civil rights, and environmental protections. She is also a Precinct Delegate for Rockford’s Precinct #2. She is excited to help the North East Kent Dems work to grow grass roots movements to push back on right wing extremism that has become a major threat to our local schools, libraries, and local governments. She is determined to protect our communities against censorship and our children against hateful discrimination and violence.