For Anna Aho Rink, the Upper Peninsula isn’t just a place to live—it’s the community that built her. A Yooper born and raised, Rink has spent her life serving the families of her community. Now, she is running to represent Michigan’s 109th House District, bringing with her a deep understanding of the unique struggles and values of the U.P. From her 17 years working as a physician’s assistant to her life as a mother, union family member, and police officer’s wife, Rink’s campaign is rooted in everyday, commonsense solutions for working families.
A Healthcare Professional Who Knows What the U.P. Needs
As a physician’s assistant who has served patients in the U.P. for nearly two decades, Rink has seen the region’s healthcare crisis firsthand. She knows that Yoopers need more access to affordable, quality healthcare, not less.
For too long, Rink has watched patients be forced to drive for hours—often having to cross the bridge into the Lower Peninsula or travel all the way to Green Bay—just to receive basic medical care or women’s health services. Furthermore, getting in to see a specialist locally can often take months. In Lansing, she is committed to reversing this trend, fighting to ensure that Yoopers don’t have to drive hours out of their way to get the care they deserve.
After her clinic in Marquette closed, Anna kept fighting. She teamed up with other local providers and community members to restore access to care in our community and is fighting to stop the cuts from DC and Lansing.
Tackling the Cost of Living
Rink intimately understands the squeeze that skyrocketing costs are putting on local households. To bring tangible relief to working families and retirees, she is championing a robust affordability agenda.
Drawing on her medical background, Rink plans to vote to cap the out-of-pocket costs of insulin, inhalers, and other essential, life-saving drugs. Beyond healthcare, she will fight to lower taxes for working families, hold auto insurance companies accountable for unfair rate increases, stand up to big utility companies to stop rate hikes, and ban price gouging at the gas pump and in the grocery store aisles.
Backing Law Enforcement and Working People
The U.P. is built on hard work, and Rink believes families deserve fair benefits and a local economy that thrives. Coming from a union family herself, she is ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with working people, protect workers’ rights, and invest in good jobs and wages that keep our communities strong and allow families to sustain a high quality of life.
Community safety is equally personal to her. As the wife of a Marquette police officer, Rink sees firsthand, every single day, the vital role that local law enforcement plays in building and protecting the community. In the State House, she promises to be a strong vote to “back the blue,” ensuring police departments have the resources they need to keep neighborhoods safe.
A Champion for Public Schools
As a mother of two Marquette public school students who play local sports, Rink is deeply invested in the future of Michigan’s education system. When she isn’t working or volunteering at the community luge track, she is focused on how to set the next generation up for success.
Rink is fighting to ensure that every public school in Michigan is funded fairly, regardless of its zip code. She is a strong advocate for smaller class sizes, higher teacher pay to attract and retain the best educators, and the expansion of career and technical education (CTE) and apprenticeship programs. She will also stand firm against any efforts in Lansing that would siphon money away from U.P. public schools to pay for expensive private schools down in the Lower Peninsula.
A Voice for the 109th District
Anna Aho Rink’s life is woven into the fabric of Marquette and the wider U.P. Whether she is treating patients, supporting local law enforcement, or cheering on her kids, she has always shown up for her neighbors. Now, she is ready to take that same dedication to the State Capitol and ensure the Upper Peninsula has a fierce, hardworking advocate in Lansing.