Andy LaBarre is a Washtenaw County commissioner who represents District 7 in Ann Arbor. He also is executive vice president and director of government relations for the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Andy LaBarre at a May 8, 2014 working session of the Washtenaw County board of commissioners. (Photo courtesy of The Ann Arbor Chronicle.)
In January 2015 he was elected by his board colleagues to serve as chair of the board's ways & means committee, where items are first reviewed and given initial approval.
LaBarre, a Democrat, was first elected to the nine-member Washtenaw County board of commissioners in November 2012, for a two-year term starting Jan. 1, 2013. District 7 was one of the new Ann Arbor districts created after a 2011 redistricting process, which shrank the number of districts from 11 to nine. District 7 covers the northern and eastern part of Ann Arbor, and includes parts of Ward 1, 2 and 3 in Ann Arbor. He defeated former commissioner Christina Montague in the August 2012 Democratic primary, and prevailed over Republican David Parker in November. There was no incumbent in that race.
From 2013 through 2014 he served as chair of the board's working sessions and as such was part of the leadership group that includes the board chair, vice chair, and chair of the board's ways & means committee.
LaBarre won re-election in 2014. He was unopposed in the August Democratic primary and defeated Republican Joe Miriani in November. LaBarre got 8,911 votes (77.14%) compared to 2,604 votes (22.54%) for Miriani.
Prior to his job at the chamber, LaBarre worked for U.S. Representative John Dingell (D-District 12) – first as a personal assistant/legislative correspondent (2005-2006), then as field representative (2006-2008) and finally as district administrator (2009-2011). In 2004 he worked briefly as a press assistant for U.S. Senator Carl Levin.
LaBarre grew up in Ann Arbor and graduated from Pioneer High School. He holds a bachelors degree in religion and political science from Wittenberg University, and a masters degree in public administration from Eastern Michigan University.
He is married to Megan LaBarre, a special education teacher. The couple has a young son, Declan. They live on Ann Arbor's north side near the Dhu Varren Woods Nature Area. Another son, Rowan David, died soon after he was born in July 2014.
