John Reilly

John M. Reilly was an American businessman and Republican politician who represented Michigan's 46th House District in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023. A former automotive test engineer turned small business owner, he was known in northern Oakland County for his Catholic faith, his men's Bible study and a gentle, principled style of politics.

Reilly was born on January 31, 1958, in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Royal Oak Kimball High School and earned an associate's degree in automotive technology engineering from Oakland Community College. He spent about 20 years working in automotive test engineering before starting his own home service business, Log Cabin Handyman, which offered home repair and irrigation work. He ran the business for more than a decade before entering the legislature.

He came to elected office through grassroots party work. For several years he served as a Republican precinct delegate captain in Oakland Township, where he lived for many years. He was a candidate for the state House in District 23 in 2002, and in the 2014 Republican primary for the 46th District he lost to incumbent Bradford Jacobsen by 56 percent to 44 percent. In August 2016 he won the open-seat Republican primary by just 15 votes over Joe Kent, then won the November 2016 general election with about 69 percent of the vote against Democrat David Lillis. He was re-elected in 2018 and 2020 and left office at the start of 2023 because of term limits. His successor was Kathy Schmaltz.

The 46th District took in Addison, Brandon, Oxford and Orion townships and most of Oakland Township. In Lansing Reilly served on committees including Education Reform, Energy Policy, Regulatory Reform, Commerce and Tourism, Education, Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation, Communications and Technology, Financial Services and Energy. He was vice chair of the Oversight Committee, of the Financial Liability Reform Committee and of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. A conservative and self-described pro-life candidate, he said he wanted to decrease government involvement in people's lives and support local control of schools. He sponsored a 2019 bill to remove Michigan's training requirement for concealed pistol licenses and in 2021 co-sponsored House Bill 5444, the "fetal heartbeat protection act."

Away from politics Reilly's life centred on family and faith. He was married to his wife Karen for more than three decades, and they had four children, Katie, Renae, Hillary and Tom, and, by 2026, 13 grandchildren. He attended St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lake Orion and Kensington Community Church, directed the Alpha Course at both, and co-founded the Bravehearts men's group at St. Joseph. He enjoyed backpacking, camping, hunting and fishing, and liked to cycle instead of drive whenever he could.

At about 6 a.m. on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, Reilly was riding his bicycle along a pedestrian safety path near the post office on Lapeer Road in Orion Township, on his way to the weekly men's Scripture study he had started and led at St. Joseph, when he struck a large bypass pipe laid across the path as part of an Oakland County sewer-lining project. His family said he was wearing a helmet and had a large headlamp. Bystanders gave CPR, and he was taken to McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac with a severe spinal cord injury. The Oakland County Sheriff's Office announced his death on November 13, 2026. He was 68. The sheriff's Crash Reconstruction Unit opened an investigation into the scene and the sewer project, and no final determinations had been made at the time of his death.

Tributes came from across Michigan politics. State Sen. Jim Runestad, chair of the Michigan Republican Party, called him one of the kindest, most ethical and principled legislators he had served with, and Oakland County Executive David Coulter said he was passionate about serving his community, a strong business leader and a man who loved his family and faith.