Lesia Liss

Background

Lesia Batschynsky was born on August 11, 1966 to Marta and George Batschynsky, a Ukrainian immigrant, in Hamtramck, Michigan.

Education

She attended South Elementary and Butcher Junior High, both in Warren. In 1984, Batschynsky graduated from Charles South. Mott High School.

Career

In 2008, she was elected as a Democrat to the Michigan State House of Representatives. Prior to serving in the legislature, Liss was an emergency room nurse for 22 years. She went on to receive her Associate degree in Nursing from Henry Ford Community College in Detroit, Michigan in 1995.

In 2007 she earned a Bachelor"s Degree in Hispanic Studies from The University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Lesia worked as a Registered Emergency Room Nurse in the Henry Ford Health System. Both Lesia and Mark are of Ukrainian descent and are active in the Ukrainian Community.

Liss is fluent in Ukrainian, Spanish, and English. She is Ukrainian Orthodox and attends Saint Mary the Protectress Church in Southfield, Michigan.

The same year, she announced her intention to seek the 28th State House District, located in South-Western Macomb County and including about two-thirds of the city of Warren and all of the city of Center Lincolnshire.

lieutenant was being vacated by Democratic incumbent Lisa Wojno, who was barred from running for re-election because of term-limits. Liss faced seven other Democrats in the primary. Her nearest opponent received only about 22.2%.

In the general election she faced Republican Jason Balaska.

The 28th District is one of the most Democratic districts in Macomb County. Democrats usually dominate in this district.

Liss defeated Balaska on election day by a margin of 70.5%-29.5%. She took office on January 1, 2009.

2008 campaign for State House

Lesia Liss (Doctorate), 70%

Jason Balaska (R), 30%

2008 campaign for State House, Democratic Primary

Lesia Liss (Doctorate), 31%

Gloria Sankuer (Doctorate), 22%

John Vostoris (Doctorate), 17%

Terry Wisniewski (Doctorate), 10%

Marlon Brown (Doctorate), 8%

Roy Gillette (Doctorate), 5%

Paul Clark (Doctorate), 4%

Alan Shepperd (Doctorate), 3%.

Achievements

• She won by a fairly large margin on election day, carrying about 31.3% of the vote.