Quick Facts
Biography
Gabriel Leland (born September 28, 1982) is a Democratic politician from the state of Michigan. In 2004, Leland was elected to the Michigan State House of Representatives, representing the 10th District, which is located in Wayne County and includes the farwest and partial northwest corner of the city of Detroit. He is the son of former State Senator Burton Leland, who served in the Michigan State Legislature for 26 years. Due to term limits Burton Leland left the legislature in 2006 and now is continuing his public service as a 4th term Wayne County Commissioner. Leland currently serves on the Detroit City Council.
Biography
Gabriel Leland was born on September 28, 1982 to Burton and Rosanne Leland, a Jewish family from Northwest Detroit. At the time of his birth, his father was serving as Democratic State Representative, a position that he would hold until 1998, when he was elected to the Michigan State Senate where he served until he retired from the legislature due to term limits in 2006. Gabe and his older brother Zachary spent much of their childhood working on the campaigns of their father, serving as voter registration drive workers and walking door to door with their father.
Leland attended both East Lansing and Detroit Public Schools and graduated from East Lansing High School in 2001. He attended Kehillat Israel Congregation in Lansing, MI while growing up.
Leland graduated from Central Michigan University with a B.S. / community development concentration. He attends the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit.
Political career
In 2004, following in the footsteps of his father, Gabe Leland announced his candidacy as a Democrat for the 10th State House District in Detroit to succeed Triette E. Reeves, who was retiring due to term limits. However, Leland faced much opposition in the Democratic Primary. The 10th District is approximately 70% African American and several prominent African Americans ran against Leland in the primary, including future State Representative from the 9th District, Shanelle Jackson. The primary was competitive and often racially charged. Leland narrowly won the Primary with only 21% of the vote. He went on to easily win the General Election, as the 10th District is heavily Democratic.
In 2006, several people again challenged Leland in the Democratic Primary, including Stephanie Young, who was supported by former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Leland won the primary with 53% of the vote. He won the 2008 Democratic primary with 68% of the vote and no Republican ran against him in the 2008 General Election. Term limits prevent Leland from running for re-election in 2010.
Leland is a presumed City Council candidate in the newly created 7th District in Detroit, encompassing a large swath of his old house seat. The Primary election is scheduled for August 6, 2013.
On November 5, 2013 Leland won the newly created Detroit City Council seat in District 7. It was the narrowest victory in any of the council races, winning by only 50 votes.
Electoral history
- 2008 campaign for State House
- Gabe Leland (D), 95%
- Marc Sosnowski (UST), 5%
- 2008 campaign for State House, Democratic Primary
- Gabe Leland (D), 68%
- LaTanya Garrett (D), 27%
- Brian Sylvester (D), 6%
- 2006 campaign for State House
- Gabe Leland (D), 94%
- Thomas Shaut (R), 6%
- 2006 campaign for State House, Democratic Primary
- Gabe Leland (D), 53%
- Stephanie Young (D), 28%
- Barbra Long (D), 8%
- Ron Johnson (D), 4%
- Thomas Jackson (D), 3%
- 2004 campaign for State House
- Gabe Leland (D), 91%
- Reuben Myers (R), 9%
- 2004 campaign for State House, Democratic Primary
- Gabe Leland (D), 21%
- Jim Edmondson, Jr. (D), 18%
- Barbra Long (D), 17%
- Shanelle Jackson (D), 17%
- Carolyn Chambers (D), 10%
- Ron Johnson (D), 6%
- Michael Grundy (D), 5%