By Paul Rozycki
Those of us in Flint and Genesee County owe much to the many families that made our city and county what it is today. Flint wouldn’t be Flint without the early and continuing influence of the Motts, the Ballengers, the Dorts, the Durants, the Whitings, and many others.
In recent years, though, a list of other well-known families have also played a critical role in the politics of Flint and the surrounding area. Those include many of the names we see on our ballots each year like the Cherry, Neeley, Clack, Stanley, McCree, Riegle, and Mueller families, among others.
But few family names have led Flint on the local, state, and national level as much as the Kildee family has. And with U.S. Representative Dan Kildee’s recent retirement and return to the city as President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint (CFGF), now seemed as good a time as any to dive into the family’s political history.
Dale Kildee and Dan Kildee at the 2010 Michigan Democratic Convention. (Photo by Paul Rozycki)
The Kildee legacy
For the last 60 years voters in Genesee County have voted for a Kildee. Since 1964, when Dale Kildee first ran for the state House, local voters have had the opportunity to support a Kildee for national, state, and local offices.
Dale Kildee
Dale Kildee taught at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy from 1954 to 1956. After returning to Flint, he taught Latin at Central High School until 1964, when he was elected to represent the 81st District in the Michigan House of Representatives.
Kildee served in that position for a decade before being elected to the State Senate in 1974 and serving there until 1976.
When Don Riegle resigned his U.S. House seat to be appointed to Phil Hart’s U.S. Senate seat, Kildee ran and was elected for the next 18 elections, most by a large margin.
While in Congress, Kildee emerged as a major voice for labor, the auto industry, and Native American rights, serving as co-chair of the Congressional Automotive Caucus and the Native American Caucus. He chose to retire following the 2012 election after 36 years in the House. He passed away in October 2021 at the age of 92.
Dan Kildee
Dan Kildee followed his uncle Dale’s footsteps when he was elected to the U.S. House in 2012, but he was no stranger to politics before then.
In 1977, he was elected to the Flint School Board at age 18, one of the youngest elected officials in the nation. Kildee went on to study at Mott Community College and the University of Michigan-Flint before earning a degree in Community Development from Central Michigan University. Kildee was named the Fannie May Foundation Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 2005.
In 1984 he was elected to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners, where he served for 12 years and as chair for five. In 1991 he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Flint and was later elected as Genesee County Treasurer in 1996 – a position to which he was reelected for the next 12 years.
In his role as treasurer Kildee created the Genesee County Land Bank, an organization dedicated to fighting blight and addressing the challenges around tax-foreclosed properties in the area, the first of its kind in the nation. Following Kildee’s lead, many other communities developed similar programs. In 2007, that effort earned him the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Innovations in American Government Award.
In 2009, Kildee resigned as county treasurer to lead the Center for Community Progress, a group aimed at urban revitalization. In 2010, he formed an exploratory committee to run for governor, but chose not to run.
When Dale Kildee then chose not to run for his U.S. House seat two years later, the Kildee name was strong and Dan was elected with a large margin for the next 12 years, even as congressional district maps changed.
As a member of Congress, Dan Kildee was a leading voice for those impacted by the Flint water crisis and a supporter of a number of urban renewal programs that impacted both Flint and Saginaw. In a Detroit Free Press interview, he said that he takes great pride in getting $170 million in federal funds to help Flint replace lead pipes during the water crisis.
The younger Kildee also helped establish the Flint Registry to aid those impacted by the water crisis and was elected to leadership positions by his fellow Democratic members of Congress – serving on the Ways and Means Committee and the Budget Committee.
In recent years the former congressman faced the turmoil of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, a cancer diagnosis and treatment, and the tragedy of his brother being shot and killed. (After his brother’s death, Kildee also urged support for both gun control and mental health policies in Congress.)
After choosing not to run for reelection in 2024, Kildee has returned to Genesee County to lead the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, a nonprofit public charity dedicated to causes that benefit Flint and Genesee County.
As reported by ABC 12, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also appointed Kildee to serve as chair of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, and he has also been selected as the Griffin Endowed Chair at Central Michigan University, where he will teach an undergraduate course in political involvement and critical government issues.
Dan Kildee’s return to Flint
It was a surprise to many when Kildee announced that he wasn’t going to run for reelection in 2024, but it also brought his career full circle from the local school board to the U.S. House and back.
In an interview posted by CFGF, Kildee outlined some of his reasons for the move and his hopes for the future of Flint and Genesee County.
When asked why he took on the challenge of the CEO of the Community Foundations he said:
“I saw the opportunity to continue the kind of work I’ve done, but with a different toolbox. It’s much more local — seeing the immediate impact of the work we do at the Community Foundation. Working with local grantees and being able to drive a mile or two, or even walk down the street, to see the work they’re doing is incredibly rewarding compared to some of my past experiences. I’m excited to be part of the change — right here at home.”
In terms of the challenges facing Flint and Genesee County he was both hopeful and realistic saying:
“Well, it’s changed in a lot of ways — some positive, some real challenges. We’ve lost population on one hand, but we’ve begun this transition from an economy focused on just one company to one that’s a lot more diverse. We have our challenges, but there’s this sort of through point, this thread, that runs through Flint. We never give up on ourselves. We’ve been through a lot of tough times. We don’t give up. To me, that is one characteristic of our community that I’m really proud of.”
Those last lines say a lot about Flint, but they also say a lot about Dan Kildee. We can be thankful that even after going through tough times, he’s come back home, ready to continue serving Flint and Genesee County in a new role.
This article also appears in East Village Magazine’s March 2025 issue.
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