Craig DeRoche

Who is Craig DeRoche?

Craig M. DeRoche is a Republican Party politician who served as speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives for the U.S. state of Michigan. Before being elected to the House of Representatives, DeRoche was a member of the Novi City Council.

DeRoche was first elected to the lower house of the Michigan Legislature to represent the 38th District in the general election on November 5, 2002. He was a member from January 1, 2003, to January 1, 2009.

In 2005, after being elected to a second term in the November 2, 2004, general election, DeRoche was elected speaker of the House. He served as speaker until the Democrats won a political majority in the general election on November 7, 2006.

From 2007 until leaving the House of Representatives due to term limitations in 2009, he was the Republican leader.

During the 2008 presidential election campaign, DeRoche was co-chairman of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's campaign in Michigan.

In 2010, DeRoche announced that he would not run for the 18th Senate District seat held by Nancy Cassis, who was prohibited by term limitations from seeking re-election to a third term. After leaving office, he endorsed then-Congressman C. Peter Hoekstra in his 2010 campaign for governor of Michigan.