JACKSON, MI—Jackson School Board President Jane Maino has filed to run as the Democratic candidate to represent the 46th District in Michigan, seeking to defeat incumbent Kathy Schmaltz.
Maino is a licensed social worker, nonprofit executive, and community volunteer, she has spent decades working alongside families, educators, healthcare providers, and service organizations to strengthen systems and expand opportunity.Transformational Leader in Behavioral Health & Child Welfare.
Schmaltz is a former News Anchor and Writer of the 6 and 11 PM news weeknights at WILX-TV 10 (NBC) in Lansing. She is serving her second term in the Michigan House.
According to Maino’s campaign webpage, her priorities in her campaign will be: cost of Living issues for Michigan families; public school investment; fighting for good paying jobs; increasing access to mental health services.
“For too long, the needs and priorities of the 46th District have not received the attention they deserve in Lansing,” Maino said in a press release announcing the campaign. “When leadership is absent or progress stalls, communities feel the impact firsthand. I’m running to offer steady, solutions-focused leadership and to deliver meaningful results for the 46th District—putting people and progress ahead of politics.”
Statewide political experts believe that Democrats have a good chance of flipping the House, including the 46th district, but may have a more difficult time retraining control of the State Senate.
Schmaltz in the 2024 election defeated Jackson Mayor Dan Monaghan by a few percentage points, 52.1% of the vote vs, 47.9%.
Besides cost of living issues, the major issues confronting Michiganders in this year’s election are affordable housing shortages, rising healthcare premiums, road and infrastructure issues, voting access and rights and immigration policy, especially as it relates to Michigan’s agriculture industry.
Winning Jackson, the biggest city win the district is key to victory. Schmaltz has won some local projects for Jackson that are politically advantageous.
- $1.5 million for the Cascades Restoration Project: This grant will help move forward a $3.5 million effort to fully restore the Cascades, an iconic man-made waterfall that has drawn visitors from across the state and even around the world since it was built in 1932.
- $1 million for a new family shelter at Jackson Interfaith Shelter: The grant Schmaltz helped secure will support construction of a separate, designated family shelter on property already owned by the Jackson Interfaith Shelter.
- 750,000 for mountain bike trail improvements at Ella Sharp Park: The City of Jackson will partner with a professional trail-building company to redesign and reconstruct the park’s mountain bike trail system, which currently consists of about 11 miles of aging and disjointed paths.
Schmaltz is a solid Trumper
Despite Schmaltz voting and advocating in lock-step with Trump Republicans on issues such as restricting voting rights, supporting ICE’s abduction of immigrants with legal status in the U.S., denial of due process to legal immigrants as well as undocumented immigrants, opposing common-sense gun regulation and clean-energy investments, she clearly chose the funding issues listed above to try and appeal to Jackson voters who would be expected to vote more Democratic than Republican.
While Maino is expected to emphasize pocketbook issues and education, there is also an expectation that a secondary campaign theme will be voting for the incumbent is a vote to advance Trumpism in Michigan.
Schmaltz supports Trump Tariff Chaos
Trump’s tariff policy and his rollback of clean-air regulations and electric-vehicle incentives, for example, has created chaos among Michigan’s auto industry, creating tens of billions in profit losses, thus crushing job opportunities in Michigan and increasing unemployment, as well as destroying career opportunities for new college graduates.
Independent analysis, as well as a recent report from The Federal Reserve, shows that consumers have absorbed 90% of the effect on increased tariffs. Trump and his administration have consistently lied about tariffs, saying that tariffs are paid by foreign governments and companies. Actually, tariffs are paid by US companies and passed on to consumers in the way of higher prices.
Michigan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.0% in December 2025, ranking 45th nationally.
One in five recent college graduates is unemployed in Michigan as of mid 2025, with that number worsening because companies are holding down hiring because of tariff issues, as well as the advance of artificial intelligence systems displacing what would have been entry-level jobs in years past.
Schmaltz supports abducting Legal Immigrants
Trump’s war on immigrants, including those with student visas, has created chaos at Michigan universities that have relied somewhat on foreign students who pay full tuition and room and board.
Schmaltz is a solid Trumper, voting in a #maga block of Republicans in Lansing.
Trump’s support in Michigan is dropping. Key details regarding Trump’s disapproval Rate: 53% (among the highest across key swing states) Following his inauguration in 2025, his approval in Michigan has been consistently low, with 56% of residents holding a fair or lower view of his performance in the first 100 days.
Economic Outlook: 58% of residents surveyed thought he was doing a poor or fair job managing the economy, while 38% considered it good or excellent. Immigration: Opinion 48% approving and 48% disapproving.