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Mark W. Yonkman Announces His Candidacy for State Senate in Michigan’s 36th
NEWS PROVIDED BY MARK YONKMAN FOR STATE SENATE
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Contact: Cindi Cook, info@yonkmanforsenate.org
BOON, MI, May 14, 2026—Mark Yonkman of Boon, Michigan announced his candidacy today for Michigan’s 36th State Senate District. Yonkman is a sixth-generation farmer, former Fortune 500 Executive, and community leader.
“I am not a career politician; I am a problem solver,” Yonkman said. “Rural Michigan deserves an experienced voice in Lansing and someone who will ensure that the practical wisdom of rural Michigan voters makes its way to the Legislature.”
Yonkman enters the race in a unique position: He was actively recruited to run by local agricultural leaders, local Republicans, and the local Democratic Party.
Mark’s family arrived from the Netherlands in the late 1800s and homesteaded farms in Michigan. He was raised on the family farm in Boon where he attended school in a one-room schoolhouse. He spent his junior year in high school in Brazil and junior year while at Kalamazoo College in France. After graduating from law school, Mark practiced corporate and securities law at Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia.
Comerica Bank then recruited him to be part of their corporate development team to conduct bank acquisitions, where he ultimately served as General Counsel, Corporate Finance.
While in Detroit, Mark became a City of Detroit Foster Home and adopted two daughters as a single dad.
When Comerica moved its headquarters to Dallas, Mark moved to M&T Bank in New York, where he served as General Counsel and Secretary, and Head of Compliance. During the global financial crisis, he navigated the highest levels of the U.S. financial system as a Senior Executive at the largest retail bank in New York.
After his parents passed away, Yonkman retired from banking and came back to his family farm where he has personally experienced how difficult it is to re-start an agricultural enterprise. He has engaged with his community, serving on his county’s Farm Bureau Board, chairing its Policy Development Committee, and sitting on the local Township Board of Review.
“My platform isn’t partisan; it is practical and focused on actual voter issues and rural Michigan. This state has suffered by not listening to the practical, insightful, common-sense voices of rural Michiganders.”
Yonkman’s campaign will focus on Michigan’s needs as voiced by voters, including agriculture, energy, efficiency, education, defense and resilience. Yonkman will be releasing more details of his policies, including a strategy for rebuilding Michigan’s electrical grid resiliency and meeting with voters across the 36th District.
For more information on Mark Yonkman’s campaign, please visit YonkmanforSenate.org.
Contact: media@yonkmanforsenate.org
Phone: 231-878-5161
SOURCE: MARK YONKMAN FOR STATE SENATE
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