John Anthony La Pietra, a Marshall attorney and Green Party nominee, is running for the Michigan State University Board of Trustees in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.
Ten candidates are competing for two eight-year terms, according to the Michigan Department of State’s official candidate list. Voters may choose up to two candidates.
La Pietra responded to the Birmingham-Bloomfield Bulletin candidate questionnaire on Oct. 4. Unless otherwise noted, the information and responses below come from that questionnaire.
Asked why he is running, La Pietra described his longstanding interest in politics and his involvement with the Green Party since its Michigan ballot-access petition drive in 2000.
He said the party’s values offered an alternative to the choices presented by the major parties. His priorities for MSU include more open governance, affordable education and greater use of the university’s agricultural expertise and Extension services.
Candidate information
Party: Green.
Occupation: La Pietra said he has worked as an attorney for 17 years. He also reported experience in state, regional and local government, nonprofit organizations and the private sector.
Education: La Pietra reported earning a bachelor’s degree in planning and public administration, cum laude, from Macalester College in 1978 and a law degree, cum laude, from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2008.
He said his legal studies concentrated on administrative law and constitutional law and civil rights. He also took nondegree classes at MSU in 1989 and 1990 to prepare for teaching English in Japan.
Family: La Pietra said he and his wife, Jennifer, have been married for 15 years and have two daughters.
Family in politics or government: La Pietra said his youngest sister works for the Maryland Department of Health and his nephew works as a special assistant in the U.S. Senate.
Experience and public service
La Pietra said he served several two-year terms as a Calhoun County Democratic precinct delegate during the 1980s and 1990s.
He also reported serving on Marshall’s Sister City and Future Energy Needs committees.
His previous campaigns include a 2016 run for Michigan’s 63rd House District, documented in WMUK’s candidate interview.
Asked what accomplishments prepare him for the trustees’ position, La Pietra cited government work involving project budgets, financing, reporting and explaining technical language.
He also pointed to legal research, writing, courtroom experience and advocacy for access to government information.
On the issues
Governance and transparency: La Pietra wants MSU to adopt broader policies supporting freedom of information and open meetings.
He also opposes nondisclosure agreements covering public university business.
“I am confident that, as a Trustee, I can contribute to the vital opening of MSU’s governance structures to comprehensive FOIA and Open Meetings policies and an end to Non-Disclosure Agreements for any MSU representatives at any level on any public business,” he said.
Agriculture and Extension: La Pietra wants MSU to build on its agricultural history through research, teaching and public outreach.
He supports regenerative agricultural practices and approaches that consider animal welfare. He said MSU Extension should help share those practices with communities.
Student affordability: La Pietra cited Green Party support for tuition-free public education through a bachelor’s degree or equivalent vocational training, along with student-loan forgiveness.
Those are broader party policy goals, rather than changes an MSU trustee could implement nationwide.
La Pietra said expanding Extension services and partnerships with schools, libraries and other public facilities could help make educational resources more widely available.
He also proposed a statewide public data center supporting people’s educational needs.
Higher education policy: La Pietra said he and Green Party Wayne State University candidate Paul M. Ragan support the American Association of University Professors’ “Building Power to Win the Future of Higher Education & Democracy” package.
The AAUP publishes the package among its 2026 biennial meeting materials. La Pietra identified his support for it as a distinction in his campaign.
Other candidates
The other candidates are Democrats Brianna T. Scott and Kelly Tebay Zemke; Republicans Julie Maday and Roger Victory; Libertarians Daniel R. Patterson and Will Tyler White; U.S. Taxpayers Party candidates Janet Sanger and John Sanger; and Working Class candidate Yaz Ozbek, according to the official candidate list.
Advice that guides him
La Pietra drew his answer from Terry Pratchett’s novel “Hogfather,” citing its discussion of justice, mercy and duty as ideals people must work to make real.
This profile draws primarily on John Anthony La Pietra’s responses to the Birmingham-Bloomfield Bulletin candidate questionnaire, with additional information from official election records, WMUK and the American Association of University Professors. Responses have been excerpted and paraphrased; direct quotations retain his wording.
