GLADSTONE – Chris LaMarche of Gladstone is running for the State Senate in the 38th District which covers most of the Upper Peninsula. The position is currently held by Tom Casperson of Escanaba.

LaMarche is 21 and will be graduating in May from Michigan State University with a degree in micro-biology. He is currently on spring break and has been traveling the U.P. collecting signatures to get his name on the ballot.

He says he is running for the senate out of a sense of service.

“A lot of people get into politics becasue they have a specific thing they want to do. They want to help their business or the place that they work. Which is fine. But, for me, I want to do this just for the love of service,” LaMarche said. “I want to know what things we need to do to help the U.P. and then I want to be able to find ways to make those happen.”

Larmarche interned at Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s office in Washington D.C. last summer and worked on the Farm Bill that President Obama signed at MSU.

He is concerned about education funding, labor issues including raising the minimum wage and environmental issues.